Specify ClickOnce Publish properties
You can configure ClickOnce Publish properties on the Publish page of the Project Designer, or by using the Publish Wizard. In this article, you learn how to specify basic properties such as the publishing location, the installation URL, online or offline install mode, and the publish version.
Specify a publishing location
When you publish an application by using ClickOnce, the Publish Location property specifies the location where the application files and manifest are put. This can be a file path or the path to an FTP server.
You can specify the Publish Location property on the Publish page of the Project Designer, or by using the Publish Wizard. For more information, see How to: Publish a ClickOnce Application using the Publish Wizard.
Note
When you install more than one version of an application by using ClickOnce, the installation moves earlier versions of the application into a folder named Archive, in the publish location that you specify. Archiving earlier versions in this manner keeps the installation directory clear of folders from the earlier version.
With a project selected in Solution Explorer, on the Project menu, click Properties.
Click the Publish tab.
Note
In ClickOnce for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 or later, you set deployment properties using the Publish tool instead of the Publish wizard and the Publish page of the Project Designer. For more information, see Deploy a .NET Windows application using ClickOnce and ClickOnce for .NET.
In the Publish Location field, enter the publishing location by using one of the following formats:
To publish to a file share or disk path, enter the path by using either a UNC path (\\Server\ApplicationName) or a file path (C:\Deploy\ApplicationName).
To publish to an FTP server, enter the path using the format ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/<ApplicationName>.
Note that text must be present in the Publishing Location box in order for the Browse (...) button to work.
Specify the location where end users will install from
When publishing a ClickOnce application, the location where users go to download and install the application is not necessarily the location where you initially publish the application. For example, in some organizations a developer might publish an application to a staging server, and then an administrator would move the application to a Web server.
In this case, you can use the Installation URL property to specify the Web server where users will go to download the application. This is necessary so that the application manifest knows where to look for updates.
The Installation URL property can be set on the Publish page of the Project Designer.
Note
The Installation URL property can also be set using the PublishWizard. For more information, see How to: Publish a ClickOnce application using the Publish Wizard.
Specify an Installation URL
With a project selected in Solution Explorer, on the Project menu, click Properties.
Click the Publish tab.
Note
In ClickOnce for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 or later, you set deployment properties using the Publish tool instead of the Publish wizard and the Publish page of the Project Designer. For more information, see Deploy a .NET Windows application using ClickOnce and ClickOnce for .NET.
In the Installation URL field, enter the installation location using a fully qualified URL using the format
https://www.contoso.com/ApplicationName, or a UNC path using the format\Server\ApplicationName.
Specify the ClickOnce offline or online install mode
The Install Mode for a ClickOnce application determines whether the application will be available offline or online. When you choose The application is available online only, the user must have access to the ClickOnce publishing location (either a Web page or a file share) in order to run the application. When you choose The application is available offline as well, the application adds entries to the Start menu and the Add or Remove Programs dialog box; the user is able to run the application when they are not connected.
The Install Mode can be set on the Publish page of the Project Designer.
Note
The Install Mode can also be set using the Publish wizard. For more information, see How to: Publish a ClickOnce application using the Publish Wizard.
Make a ClickOnce application available online only
With a project selected in Solution Explorer, on the Project menu, click Properties.
Click the Publish tab.
Note
In ClickOnce for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 or later, you set deployment properties using the Publish tool instead of the Publish wizard and the Publish page of the Project Designer. For more information, see Deploy a .NET Windows application using ClickOnce and ClickOnce for .NET.
In the Install Mode and Settings area, click the The application is available online only option button.
Make a ClickOnce application available online or offline
With a project selected in Solution Explorer, on the Project menu, click Properties.
Click the Publish tab.
In the Install Mode and Settings area, click the The application is available offline as well option button.
When installed, the application adds entries to the Start menu and to Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
Set the ClickOnce publish version
The ClickOnce Publish Version property determines whether or not the application that you are publishing will be treated as an update. Each time version is incremented, the application will be published as an update.
The Publish Version property can be set on the Publish page of the Project Designer.
Note
There is a project option that will automatically increment the Publish Version property each time the application is published; this option is enabled by default. For more information, see Automatically Increment the ClickOnce Publish Version.
Change the publish version
With a project selected in Solution Explorer, on the Project menu click Properties.
Click the Publish tab.
Note
In ClickOnce for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 or later, you set deployment properties using the Publish tool instead of the Publish wizard and the Publish page of the Project Designer. For more information, see Deploy a .NET Windows application using ClickOnce and ClickOnce for .NET.
In Publish Version field, increment the Major, Minor, Build, or Revision version numbers.
Note
You should never decrement a version number; doing so could cause unpredictable update behavior.
Automatically increment the ClickOnce publish version
When publishing a ClickOnce application, changing the Publish Version property causes the application to be published as an update. By default, Visual Studio automatically increments the Revision number of the Publish Version each time you publish the application.
You can disable this behavior on the Publish page of the Project Designer.
Note
The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Reset settings.
Disable automatically incrementing the publish version
With a project selected in Solution Explorer, on the Project menu, click Properties.
Click the Publish tab.
Note
In ClickOnce for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 or later, you set deployment properties using the Publish tool instead of the Publish wizard and the Publish page of the Project Designer. For more information, see Deploy a .NET Windows application using ClickOnce and ClickOnce for .NET.
In the Publish Version section, clear the Automatically increment revision with each release check box.
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