title | titleSuffix | description | ms.date | ms.topic | ms.custom | helpviewer_keywords | author | ms.author | manager | ms.subservice | ||||
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Modify Visual Studio workloads, components, & language packs |
Modify your Visual Studio installation with the Visual Studio Installer, add or remove workloads, components, and language packs. |
7/28/2023 |
how-to |
vs-acquisition |
|
anandmeg |
meghaanand |
mijacobs |
installation |
It's easy to modify Visual Studio so that it includes only what you want, when you want it. To do so, open the Visual Studio Installer, and then add or remove workloads, components, and language packs.
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By default, in order to install, update, or modify Visual Studio, the account performing the update must have administrative permissions on the machine and also must have permissions to the source where the product updates are located (either the internet or an internal location). If you are logged in as a typical user and try to perform one of these commands, then you'll get a User Account Control notice prompting you for admin credentials. Starting in August 2023, an admin can delegate control of modifying Visual Studio to standard users by configuring the
AllowStandardUserControl
policy. For more information, see User Permissions and Visual Studio. -
The following procedures assume you have an internet connection. For more about how to modify a previously created offline installation of Visual Studio, see:
To modify your Visual Studio installation, you first need to launch the Visual Studio Installer, and then select a Visual Studio installation to modify.
::: moniker range="vs-2019"
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Find the Visual Studio Installer on your computer.
In the Windows Start menu, you can search for "installer".
[!NOTE] You can also find the Visual Studio Installer in the following location:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\setup.exe
You might have to update the installer before continuing. If so, follow the prompts.
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In the installer, look for the edition of Visual Studio that you installed, and then choose Modify.
[!IMPORTANT] If you have an update pending, the Modify button is in a different place. This way, you can modify Visual Studio without updating it, should you want to. Choose More, and then choose Modify.
::: moniker-end
::: moniker range=">=vs-2022"
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There are many ways to open the Visual Studio Installer:
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In the Windows Start menu, you can search for "installer", and then select Visual Studio Installer from the results.
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Run the Visual Studio Installer executable, which is located at this path:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\setup.exe
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If you have Visual Studio open, select Tools > Get Tools and Features..., which opens the Visual Studio Installer.
You might be prompted to update the Visual Studio Installer before continuing. If so, follow the prompts.
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In the Visual Studio Installer, look for the installation of Visual Studio that you want to modify, and then choose the Modify button.
::: moniker-end
::: moniker range="vs-2019"
Workloads contain the features you need for the programming language or platform that you're using. Use workloads to modify Visual Studio so that it supports the work you want to do, when you want to do it.
Tip
For more information about which tool and component bundles you need for development, see Visual Studio workloads.
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In the Visual Studio Installer, choose the Workloads tab, and then select or deselect the workloads that you want.
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Choose whether you want to accept the default Install while downloading option or the Download all, then install option.
The "Download all, then install" option is handy if you want to download first and then install later.
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Choose Modify.
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After the new workloads are installed, choose Launch from the Visual Studio Installer to open Visual Studio.
::: moniker-end
::: moniker range=">=vs-2022"
Workloads contain the components you need for the programming language or platform that you're using. Use workloads to modify Visual Studio so that it supports the work you want to do, when you want to do it.
Tip
For more about which tools and component bundles you need for development, see Visual Studio workloads.
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In the Visual Studio Installer, choose the Workloads tab, and then select or deselect the workloads that you want.
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To add more components than a workload installs, choose the Individual components tab, and then select or deselect the individual components that you want.
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Choose whether you want to Install while downloading or Download all, then install. The default option, Install while downloading, saves overall time by starting the install earlier.
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Choose Modify.
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After the modified workloads or components are installed, choose Launch from the Visual Studio Installer to open Visual Studio 2022.
You can also use a configuration file to modify an existing installation to add or remove components. Learn more about using installation configuration files to configure Visual Studio.
::: moniker-end
Tip
For information about the SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) component, see Download and install SSDT for Visual Studio.
The Visual Studio Installer selects a default language pack for Visual Studio that matches the language of the operating system. However, you can change the default language whenever you want.
To do so:
- Choose the Language packs tab in the Visual Studio Installer.
- Select the language you prefer.
- Follow the prompts.
[!INCLUDEinstall_get_support_md]