Visual Studio IDE
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Visual Studio Subscription Support
Frequently asked questions
Search the FAQ to find answers to common support questions about subscriptions, accounts, and billing. Use the buttons on the right to switch between subscriber and administrator.
To access a subscription, you should sign in with the email address to which the subscription is assigned. In most cases the subscription was assigned by your work or school, so you will want to use your work or school email and credentials to sign in to the Subscriber Portal.
If you're not sure what your work email or Microsoft Entra credentials are, you should reach out to your network administrator. For privacy reasons, Microsoft is unable to provide information about credentials.
If your subscription was provided to you by your work or school, you can reach out to the administrator(s) on the agreement for assistance. You can use the 'Contact my admin' form directly from the Subscriptions Portal. For more information, check out our Contact your subscriptions administrator article.
Information about your subscription is available in the Subscriber Portal. Connect to to see a list of your subscriptions and to view information such as expiration dates and support information. For retail subscriptions, you can also renew your subscription from that page.
Cloud subscriptions purchased through the Visual Studio Marketplace renew automatically, so if you're using a monthly or annual cloud subscription, you don't have to worry about it expiring until you cancel it.
Adding an alternate account to your Visual Studio subscription allows you to access the subscription benefits, like Azure DevOps and Azure, with a different identity than that which the subscription is assigned to. In the past, this functionality was available only if your Visual Studio (VS) subscription was assigned to a Microsoft Account (MSA). We have extended this functionality for work or school accounts in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).
This doesn't provide a copy of subscription to the other account; it only provides the ability to access the two benefits with the alternate account.
For all subscriptions, you can add a 'work or school account' so you can use that account with your benefits that require a login (VS IDE, Azure DevOps, and Azure).
Adding an alternate ID is easy. Connect to https://my.visualstudio.com/subscriptions, click on 'Add alternate account', enter the email address and click 'Add'. For more information on using alternate identities, check out our Alternate identities article.
The software downloads available depends on the subscription(s) you have. If you have more than one subscription, the downloads for the highest level subscription are visible from within all of your subscriptions. This makes it easy to get the downloads you want without switching between subscriptions.
Check out this list of the downloads available by subscription level. For more information about downloads, see the following articles:
Activation isn't always required for a product. In some cases, a single key can be used multiple times. In general, if a product key is required, you'll be asked to enter it during the installation process or on first use.
You can obtain product keys in two places:
- When you download a product you can click on the 'Get Key' link listed next to the product you're downloading.
- You can also find keys on the Product Keys page in the Subscriber Portal.
Note: Visual Studio 2026 doesn’t require a product key. Instead, the IDE is available when you sign in with the account your Visual Studio Subscription is assigned to. Product keys for other eligible products and earlier Visual Studio versions remain available on the Product Keys page in the subscriber portal.
If your organization uses Volume Licensing for qualifying broad, offline, or managed deployment scenarios, Visual Studio 2026 keys may still be available through your Volume Licensing admin.
For more information about obtaining and using product keys, please see these articles:
To have access to your product keys after your subscription expires, you need to export your claimed keys before the subscription expires. After it expires you will not be able to retrieve your keys.
To export your keys, simply click on the Export all keys link at the far right of the Product Keys page. An .xml file entitled KeysExport.xml will be created, and you'll have the option to open or save the file. You will need to open the file with an application capable of handling .xml files. For example, you can open the file as a read-only workbook in Excel. The file will contain any keys you've claimed, as well as any 'static' keys that are automatically claimed for you.
If you're looking for previous releases of Visual Studio 2022 specifically, you can find download links to the releases as well as instructions in the Visual Studio 2022 Releases article.
If you need earlier versions of Visual Studio, such as Visual Studio 2019, see Visual Studio Release Notes.
A list of the product keys available with your Visual Studio subscription is accessible in the subscriptions portal under the Product Keys tab at https://my.visualstudio.com/productkeys.
If you have a question about Visual Studio, several resources are available to assist you.
Visual Studio IDE technical support
Visual Studio IDE technical issues or questions should be directed to Visual Studio technical support. Before using the limited Visual Studio technical support incidents that may be included with your Visual Studio subscription, we suggest trying some other online resources.
- For Visual Studio installation issues, see Troubleshoot Visual Studio installation and upgrade issues for step-by-step guidance. You can also try the installation chat (English only) support option.
- Review tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and helpful resources within Visual Studio IDE documentation.
- Search the online Developer Community and get expert answers via a community supported forum. You can search keywords and read, vote, comment all without logging in. If you don’t find what you need with a search, you can suggest a feature or report a problem from the navigation menu. To submit a feature request, you’ll need to sign in to fill out the report and post. To report a problem or bug, a running instance of Visual Studio is required to report feedback.
- Search the Stack Overflow public Q&A tagged with visual-studio to get answers to already asked questions or sign up for an account and ask a new question.
Technical support incidents
If you’ve exhausted the options above and still don’t have an answer, activate a Visual Studio technical support ticket by visiting the subscriptions portal benefits page and clicking on the Technical Support benefit tile in the Support tab. Read more about the Technical Support benefit. (Technical support is not available with all subscriptions. Compare Visual Studio subscription benefits to find out what is included with your subscription.)
The types of benefits vary. So do the methods for activating and using them. For example, many of our benefits are provided by partners. The processes for setting up accounts, installing software, and using online resources vary widely.
For each benefit available in the subscriber portal, we've provided information such as which subscriptions include them, and steps to activate the benefits.
Check out our documentation to learn more (click on 'Subscriptions' in the left nav pane, and choose 'Benefits').
Available benefits vary by subscription level and are subject to change. To see which benefits are included for each paid subscription level, please visit https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/benefits/. You can select the subscription you're interested in, and then see which benefits are available in the various categories - Tools, Azure, Software and Downloads, Services, Training, and Support.
Visual Studio subscriptions with GitHub Enterprise are managed in two parts:
- The Visual Studio subscription (Enterprise or Professional)
- GitHub Enterprise
When you are assigned a Visual Studio subscription with GitHub, you'll receive an email letting you know that your Visual Studio Subscriptions administrator has assigned a subscription to you. At that point, you are able to view available subscription benefits at https://my.visualstudio.com/benefits. This includes the GitHub Enterprise benefit.
GitHub Enterprise is managed by a GitHub administrator, separately from Visual Studio subscriptions. When your company has set up a GitHub Enterprise account, you will receive an email from GitHub notifying you that your Visual Studio subscription has been linked and the benefit tile will update. Setting up this account may take some time and is dependent on your company completing the setup process. After you receive the email, you can reach out to the appropriate GitHub organization administrator to request an invitation to their organization and/or repo.
When an invitation is sent from your GitHub org administrator, you will receive an email from GitHub and the benefit tile will update again.
After you accept the GitHub org invitation, the appearance of the benefit tile at https://my.visualstudio.com/benefits will change from “Pending” to “Activated” and you can now start using GitHub Enterprise.
Read more details on the GitHub Enterprise set up process.
Your subscription level identifies which level of the Visual Studio IDE you have access to. For example, a Visual Studio Professional subscription does not have access to Visual Studio Enterprise. If you’re not sure which level you're using, see the subscriptions available to you by checking the subscriptions page in the portal.
How to download and activate
- Sign in to the subscriptions portal.
- For the latest release, locate the Visual Studio IDE tile in the Tools section and click on the Download link at the bottom of the benefit tile.
- You’ll be redirected to the Download Results page for Visual Studio, where you’ll have the opportunity to download the IDE.
- Follow the download and set up instructions.
- 5. Using the email your subscription is assigned to, you can sign into the IDE after installation. Visual Studio 2026 doesn't require a product key. Instead, signing in verifies the subscription and unlocks access to the IDE; no product key is required.
Find an older version
You can also search and download previous versions from the downloads page in the subscriptions portal.
Visual Studio subscriptions are available for purchase through a variety of channels, including Volume Licensing, the Visual Studio Marketplace, and Microsoft Store.
Compare subscription benefits and pricing to understand the benefits of each Visual Studio subscription. Check out the subscription benefits page for more help deciding which subscription is right for you.
Microsoft Store
Retail Visual Studio subscriptions available through the Microsoft Store include:
Each of these subscriptions offers the option to make an initial purchase or to renew an existing subscription. Renewal pricing reflects a significant discount and is only available for existing subscriptions. To qualify to renew subscriptions at the discounted renewal price, subscriptions should be renewed before they expire.
If you’re looking to make a one-time purchase of Visual Studio without a subscription or any of the benefits that are included with a subscription, visit the Microsoft Store for Visual Studio Professional 2026.
Microsoft Store support is available by phone through the Customer service phone numbers – Microsoft Support page or by chat using the Store Assistant on the Microsoft Store website.
Visual Studio Marketplace
With monthly subscriptions, you can rent Visual Studio and Azure DevOps without a long-term contract. Billing is handled through your Microsoft Azure subscription. If you don’t have an Azure subscription yet—it’s free to set up and you can do this while you make your first purchase.
- Visual Studio Professional - monthly subscription
- Visual Studio Enterprise - monthly subscription
Read more about monthly Visual Studio Subscriptions billing.
Volume Licensing
Volume Licensing subscriptions are available when an organization needs to purchase a large number of subscriptions. Read more about purchasing through Volume Licensing.
You can acquire Visual Studio subscriptions in several ways, and the process for renewing existing subscriptions depends on how you acquired them.
How to renew retail subscriptions
If you currently have a retail subscription, there are two ways to renew:
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Connect to the Subscriptions page on the Subscriptions Portal and click on the 'Renew' link.
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Visit the Microsoft Store and search for 'Visual Studio subscription' to see the available renewal opportunities. Here are some quick links:
Note You must renew your subscription within 30 days after the expiry to qualify for renewal pricing. If you renew through the Microsoft Store, be sure to activate your renewal with the 5x5 key that you receive or your subscription will not have an updated end date or be renewed.
Microsoft Store support is available by phone through the Customer service phone numbers – Microsoft Support page or by chat using the Store Assistant on the Microsoft Store website.
How to renew cloud subscriptions
Cloud subscriptions are those purchased through the Visual Studio Marketplace. Both monthly and annual cloud subscriptions renew until you cancel them, so there's no action needed to renew them.
How to renew subscriptions purchased through Volume Licensing
If your subscription is provided to you by your work, it is probably purchased and renewed through your company's Volume License agreement. You can reach out to your admin using the Contact my admin button at the top right of the Subscriptions Portal.
All Visual Studio subscriptions are licensed on a per-user basis. Each licensed user may install and use the software on any number of devices to design, develop, test, and demonstrate their programs. Visual Studio subscriptions also allow the licensed user to evaluate the software and to simulate customer environments in order to diagnose issues related to your programs. Each additional person who uses the software in this way must also have a license.
For more details, view the Microsoft Visual Studio Licensing white paper.
Monthly Visual Studio subscriptions (and annual subscriptions if purchased before December 2018) are billed through Azure and you can find your bill in the Azure portal.
To view your Visual Studio subscriptions invoice:
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Click on the Cost Management + Billing blade in the menu to find an overview, list of subscriptions, and invoices.
To cancel monthly and annual subscriptions purchased from the Visual Studio Marketplace, you need to sign in to the Administration Portal and set the number of subscriptions for your agreement to zero.
Follow these steps to reduce the number of subscriptions:
- Sign in to https://manage.visualstudio.com
- If you are an admin on more than one agreement, choose the desired agreement from the drop-down list.
- Select the Overview icon at the top left to display information about your subscriptions.
- Locate the entry for the subscriptions you wish to cancel, and select Change quantity. This will take you the Visual Studio Marketplace where you will be able to update your purchase quantity.
- Set the quantity to zero (0). Your subscriptions will remain in place until their scheduled billing date, but will not renew when the billing date is reached.
Azure monthly credits provide you with the ability to explore and try various Azure services at no cost. Examples include: