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Visual Studio Icon Visual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing

Visual Studio starting with version 2026 follows the Microsoft Product Modern Lifecycle Policy and offers 2 years of support for each new major version. We plan to ship a new major version every year. The first year of support provides new features, platform updates, security updates, functionality fixes, and quality improvements. The second year of support provides only security updates to the Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC). Components and tools included with or depended upon by Visual Studio, such as Microsoft C++ or .NET, may have different lifecycle, servicing, and support policies.

Visual Studio is serviced on the Stable Channel and Insiders Channel through both cumulative monthly feature updates that include new features, platform updates, and bug fixes, and also through cumulative servicing updates to the last monthly update. Security fixes may be included in both monthly feature updates and in servicing updates. Feature updates are indicated by a change in the minor version number, such as 18.3 to 18.4, and servicing updates are indicated by a change in the servicing version number such as 18.4.5 to 18.4.6 or, for the Insiders Channel, to the build number.

For the best and most secure product experience, we strongly recommend that all customers always use the latest release of Visual Studio on their chosen channel.

How to get updates

Visual Studio will notify you that an update is available for your installed channel by displaying a notification icon in the status bar of the IDE or a notice in the Visual Studio Installer. You can also download the latest recommended update from VisualStudio.com, or the Microsoft Catalog. IT Administrators can also configure machines within their organization to automatically download and apply administrator security updates which are released monthly.

Stable Channel support

The Stable Channel enables teams to remain supported on the latest release of all Visual Studio editions. The Stable Channel is eligible for technical support from Microsoft Product Support. You can also provide bug reports and feature suggestions to the product team by using Developer Community. You can install the latest releases for the Stable Channel from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads or my.visualstudio.com.

Insiders Channel support

The Insiders Channel provides an early look at new features so that you can provide feedback to shape the direction of the product experience. Insiders Channel is provided as-is. Feedback is encouraged via Developer Community. You can install the latest releases for the Stable Channel from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/insiders/.

Community and Team Explorer edition support

Visual Studio Community is available on both the Stable and Insiders Channels. Visual Studio Team Explorer is available only on the Stable Channel. You must update to the latest release of the Community or Team Explorer edition within 50 days to continue using the product. Both editions are provided as-is.

Enterprise, Professional, and Build Tools editions support

Enterprise, Professional, and Build Tools editions are available on the Insiders Channel, the Stable Channel, and Long-Term Servicing Channels (LTSCs).

Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) support

We realize that sometimes large organizations can't adopt our product updates as quickly as we release them. So, with Visual Studio Enterprise, Professional, and Build Tools editions, we offer administrators and larger development teams more flexibility and control in how and when they advance their organization to the latest major version. An enterprise can choose to configure their client machines to get updates from one of the LTSC channels which will enable them to stay secure on the prior major version until they are ready to adopt the next major version. LTSC are offered at the end of the first year of support for a new major version, and are supported and kept secure for 1 year. The table below and the Support Lifecycle Database will reflect the appropriate dates for support.

LTSC Baseline GA Date LTSC Release Date End of Support Install Link
2026-LTSC November 11, 2025 November 10, 2026 (estimated) November 9, 2027 Release History
2027-LTSC November 2026 November 2027 November 2028 Release History

Customers who choose to remain on an LTSC can find the latest release of that LTSC from Visual Studio Release History, on My.VisualStudio.com, or on the Microsoft Catalog. Deployment, configuration and acquisition guidance can be found in the Visual Studio Administrator Guide.

Additional update guidance

Support for Older versions

For Visual Studio 2026 and later, we do not offer support or servicing for older Visual Studio releases other than LTSC releases. Visual Studio 2022, Visual Studio 2019, and Visual Studio 2017 are supported and serviced at their latest release.

The following table summarizes the current support state for versions of Visual Studio. For additional details, see Microsoft Product Lifecycle Information.

Visual Studio version Lifecycle Stage Baseline End of Support
Visual Studio 2026 Mainstream TBD Feature Update November 2028
Visual Studio 2022 Mainstream version 17.14 January 2032
Visual Studio 2019 Extended version 16.11 April 2029
Visual Studio 2017 Extended version 15.9 April 2027
Visual Studio 2015 Out of Support Update 3 including KB3165756 October 2025
Visual Studio 2013 Out of Support Update 5 April 2024
Visual Studio 2012 Out of Support Update 5 January 2023
Visual Studio 2010 Out of Support Service Pack 1 July 2020
Visual Studio 2008 Out of Support Service Pack 1 April 2018
Visual Studio 2005 Out of Support Service Pack 1 April 2016
Visual Studio 2003 Out of Support Service Pack 1 October 2013
Visual Studio .NET (2002) Out of Support Service Pack 1 July 2009
Visual Studio 6.0 (including Visual Basic 6) Out of Support Service Pack 6 September 2005
Visual Studio 97 Out of Support Service Pack 3 June 2003

Components not covered by Visual Studio servicing

Visual Studio includes a collection of compilers, languages, runtimes, environments, and other resources or tools that enable development for many platforms. As a convenience to Visual Studio customers, these components may be installed with Visual Studio and are subject to their own license and servicing, support, and lifecycle policies. For Microsoft components that are installed by Visual Studio and do not have an explicit lifecycle policy in the lifecycle database, the supported version is the latest version that is currently available for download.

Out of Support components

During the timeframe when these components are still under support within their respective support timeframes, the Visual Studio team will review any CVEs issued against these components, determine whether they constitute a vulnerability for Visual Studio use, and addresses the vulnerability appropriately per the Visual Studio support policy. When these components are no longer supported, they will be appended with the "(out of support)" label in the installer UI, and you may remove them during the next update using the Remove out-of-support components functionality. Click here for a listing of all the components that have already transitioned to be out of support.

.NET and .NET Framework

.NET and .NET Framework follow an independent product lifecycle. See the official .NET support policy. Additionally, see Versioning info for .NET SDK, MSBuild, and Visual Studio for specific support timeframes of the .NET SDK and how it relates to Visual Studio and MSBuild.

Microsoft C++

Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable

Starting with Visual Studio 2026, the Visual C++ Redistributable v14 and later follow the Modern Lifecycle Policy with a lifecycle separate from Visual Studio. They are supported according to the lifecycle of the Microsoft C++ Build Tools with which they first shipped. For reference, see the latest supported versions of the Visual C downloads. For details on supported scenarios, see Lifecycle FAQ - Visual C++ Redistributable and runtime libraries.

Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools

Starting with MSVC version 14.50, which releases in Visual Studio 2026, the MSVC Build Tools—including the C++ compiler, linker, headers, libraries, runtime MSMs and other components for building C++ applications—is supported and serviced for 9 months. An LTS is released every other year on the even numbered years and is supported and serviced for 3 years. After the first year, servicing is limited to security fixes.

The MSVC Build Tools versions 14.44 and earlier (first shipping with Visual Studio 2022 and earlier) follow the product lifecycle for the version of Visual Studio in which it first ships even if it ships in a subsequent version of Visual Studio. For example, the "MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 Build Tools (v14.44)" follows the support lifecycle of Visual Studio 2022 and the "MSVC v142 - VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 Build Tools (v14.20)" follows the support lifecycle of Visual Studio 2019.

For more information, see Lifecycle FAQ - Visual C++ Redistributable and runtime libraries and MSVC Compiler Support Lifecycle Update.

Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime

The Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime (VSTO Runtime) is not included with Visual Studio Enterprise, Professional, or Community. You must install Microsoft Office on your development machine to develop and debug using the VSTO Runtime. The VSTO Runtime ships with Visual Studio Build Tools and follows the Modern support lifecycle. If the VSTO Runtime needs to be serviced, only the latest version will be updated. You may also download and use newer versions of VSTO Runtime with Visual Studio. We recommended that developers install the latest version of the VSTO Runtime with their applications. It will be supported when running with supported versions Office. For more information, see Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime Lifecycle Policy. For more information on the Office Support Lifecycle, see Lifecycle FAQ - Office, Office 365, and Microsoft 365.

Tools and templates for components

When Visual Studio provides tools and templates that depend upon a component, the lifecycle and support policy for the tool will follow the support policy for the component. For example, the tooling for .NET 10 follows the support policy for .NET 10.

Independent components

The following list represents the most used list of components included with Visual Studio that are governed by their own policy. Additional Microsoft and third-party components are also included; see https://aka.ms/VS/ThirdPartyNotices.

Compilers & Languages

Runtimes & Environments

Other Resources

Feedback and Suggestions

We would love to hear from you! You can Report a Problem or Suggest a Feature Feedback Icon by using the Send Feedback icon in the upper right-hand corner of either the installer or the Visual Studio IDE, or from Help > Send Feedback. If you're an IT Administrator and don't have Visual Studio installed, you can submit IT Admin feedback here. You can track your issues by using Visual Studio Developer Community, where you add comments or find solutions. You can also get free installation help through our Live Chat support.

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