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Troubleshoot Visual Studio installation and upgrade issues

Applies to: Visual Studio

This article includes step-by-step instructions to resolve common issues that affect the installation and upgrade of Microsoft Visual Studio.

Tip

Having a problem installing? We can help. We offer an installation chat (English only) support option.

Online installations or updates

To troubleshoot issues that affect a typical online installation issue, try the following possible resolutions in the given order.

Check whether the problem is a known issue

To check whether you're experiencing a known issue in the Visual Studio Installer that Microsoft is actively working on fixing, visit the following websites:

Try to repair Visual Studio

Try to repair your installation. A repair might fix many common update issues.

Learn what the developer community says about the error

If a repair doesn't fix your issue, search for your error message in the Visual Studio Developer Community. Other members of the community might find a solution or workaround to your problem.

Delete the Installer folder (update issues)

If you encounter an issue when you try to update the program, try deleting the Visual Studio Installer folder, and then rerun the installation bootstrapper. This action can solve certain update failures. It reinstalls the Visual Studio Installer files and resets the installation metadata. To delete the folder, follow these steps:

  1. Close the Visual Studio Installer.

  2. Delete the Visual Studio Installer folder. Typically, the folder path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer.

  3. Run the Visual Studio Installer bootstrapper.

    • You can get the bootstrapper for the latest version of Visual Studio from the downloads page. For previous Visual Studio versions, see the older downloads page.

    • You can also find the bootstrapper in your Downloads folder. The bootstrapper is named VisualStudioSetup.exe for Visual Studio 2022 and later, or vs_<edition>.exe for Visual Studio 2019 and earlier.

  4. Try again to install or update Visual Studio. If the Visual Studio Installer continues to fail, go to the next section.

5. Report the problem to Microsoft Support

In some situations, corrupted files cause issues that require case-by-case troubleshooting. Follow the appropriate steps for your version of Visual Studio.

  1. Collect your setup logs. For details, see How to get the Visual Studio installation logs.

  2. Open the Visual Studio Installer. Then, select Report a problem to open the Visual Studio Feedback tool.

    The Provide feedback button in the Visual Studio Installer.

  3. Give your problem report a title, and provide the relevant details. The most recent setup log for the Visual Studio Installer is automatically added to the Additional attachments section of your problem report.

  4. Select Submit.

Remove all Visual Studio installation files

As a last resort, you can remove all Visual Studio installation files and product information:

  1. Remove all files by using InstallCleanup.exe.

  2. Rerun the Visual Studio Installer bootstrapper.

    • You can get the bootstrapper for the latest version of Visual Studio from the downloads page. For previous Visual Studio versions, see the older downloads page.

    • You can also find the bootstrapper in your Downloads folder. The bootstrapper is named VisualStudioSetup.exe for Visual Studio 2022 and later, or vs_<edition>.exe for Visual Studio 2019 and earlier.

  3. Try again to reinstall Visual Studio.

7. Roll back to a previous install (Visual Studio 2022 and later)

If none of the previous steps help you to successfully update Visual Studio, you can roll back the program to your previously installed version by using the Visual Studio Installer or the command line.

Important

If you're in an organization that uses a layout to update Visual Studio, your IT administrator typically maintains the previous packages in the layout. Those packages enable the client to roll back the installation. Also, the rollback process might be disabled or your rollback attempt might be undone. This could occur if your organization has security compliance or software update requirements. For more details, contact your IT administrator.

Roll back by using the Visual Studio Installer

  1. Start Visual Studio Installer on your computer.

  2. In the installer, look for the edition of Visual Studio to match the installed edition.

  3. Select More.

  4. Select Rollback to previous version.

    Option to roll back to a previous program version.

  5. To confirm the action, select OK.

Roll back by using the command line

You can roll back the update programmatically. Use the installer on the client computer, and pass in the rollback command together with the installation path instance. For example:

VisualStudioSetup.exe rollback --installPath <VisualStudioInstallPath>

For more information, see Use command-line parameters to install Visual Studio.

Contact our live chat

If none of the previous resolutions help you successfully install or upgrade Visual Studio, contact us by using our live chat support option (English only) for more assistance.

Network layout or offline installations

To resolve issues that affect a network installation, see Error Codes or Troubleshoot network-related errors when you install or use Visual Studio.

Administrator updates

Various situations can prevent administrator updates from applying correctly. For more information, see Administrator updates troubleshooting error codes.

To provide feedback about Visual Studio administrator updates, or to report issues that affect the updates, use the following methods:

Collect installation logs for Microsoft Support

A Microsoft Support agent might ask you to collect setup logs by using the Microsoft Visual Studio and .NET Framework log collection tool. The log collection tool collects setup logs from all components that are installed by Visual Studio, including .NET Framework, Windows SDK, and SQL Server. It also collects computer information, a Windows Installer inventory, and Windows event log information for the Visual Studio Installer, Windows Installer, and System Restore.

To collect the logs, follow these steps:

  1. Download the tool.

  2. Open an elevated Command Prompt window.

  3. Run Collect.exe in the folder where you saved the tool.

    Note

    You must run the tool under the same user account that you used for the failed installation attempt. If you run the tool from a different user account, set the -user:<name> option to specify the user account for the failed installation. For more options and usage information, run Collect.exe -? at an elevated command prompt.

The collection tool generates a vslogs.zip file in your %TEMP% folder, typically at C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Temp\vslogs.zip.

Report product issues by using the Report a Problem tool that appears both in the Visual Studio Installer and in the Visual Studio IDE. If you're an IT administrator, and you don't have Visual Studio installed, you can submit IT admin feedback here.

Problems installing WebView2

If your organization's Group Policy settings block the installation of the WebView2 component, you can't install Visual Studio because the installer requires WebView2. If this issue occurs, check these policies:

Warning

If neither policy is configured, your organization allows WebView2 installation.

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