Visual Studio Channels and Release Rhythm

We continually enhance the capabilities of Visual Studio with monthly feature updates according to our Roadmap and servicing releases. We introduce most new features and bug fixes first on the Insiders Channel so that you can provide early feedback. When these new features are ready for widespread use, we release them on the Stable Channel. We also sometimes include preview features in the Stable Channel, which gives you an opportunity to try out new features and share your feedback without doing another install.

Annual releases

In keeping with the new Modern Lifecycle, beginning with Visual Studio 2026 we plan to deliver new major versions annually in November along with the new version of .NET. These annual releases will be in-place updates to the prior major version, rather than side-by-side as with Visual Studio 2022 and earlier.

The annual release will receive cumulative monthly feature updates and servicing releases. Along with the next annual release, we will make a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release available, providing a pause point for Visual Studio Professional and Enterprise customers who need additional time to update to the next major version.

Each annual release will be supported for 1 year of feature updates and servicing plus 1 year of security servicing as an LTSC.

Build tools choice

Visual Studio continues to carry a wide range of build tools and components to target the platforms you’ve come to expect. We will add new versions of these build tools and SDKs from time to time according to their availability. With multiple supported versions of these toolsets included, you can choose when to move your projects forward. You can adopt the latest compiler, runtime, or SDK on your schedule while still benefiting from IDE improvements and AI features each month. Because the IDE is decoupled from these build tools, you do not need to modify existing projects or rebuild working applications.

Stable and Insiders Channels

You can control when to adopt feature updates by selecting a channel. There are two options for installing and updating Visual Studio. You may have any combination of these on a single machine:

1. Stable Channel - The Stable Channel replaces the "Current Channel" that was available with Visual Studio 2022.
2. Insiders Channel - The Insiders Channel replaces the "Preview Channel" that was available with Visual Studio 2022.

You can determine which edition, channel, and version of Visual Studio update you are using by opening Help > About.

Installing, updating, and switching channels

You may select a channel by either installing a release of Visual Studio from that channel or, in some cases, by configuring the source ___location for updates. If your installation is managed by your IT administrator, they may also control the channel selection. The sections below link to the installation ___location for each channel.

You may install multiple channels side-by-side on the same machine. For example, you may install and use the Insiders Channel side-by-side with the Stable Channel. Note that some shared components, for example Windows SDK, are used by all channels on a machine and will be updated to whichever channel has the latest version.

Updates are delivered independently to each channel, and you will receive a separate notification within each Visual Studio instance if there's an update available on its channel. You may also update each channel by using the Visual Studio Installer.

Note that you may also change the channel of an existing installation of Visual Studio by "channel hopping". You can change the channel used for future updates of a specific installation by modifying the update channel in the Update Settings dialog. For more information, see Configuring source ___location of updates.

Stable Channel

Stable Channel keeps you up to date with the features ready for widespread mainstream production use. The updates released to the Stable Channel fall into the following two categories:

• Monthly Updates deliver new features every month to the Stable Channel, after being available in the Insiders Channel. Some features may appear directly in the monthly update. These updates also include bug fixes, support for new AI models, and changes to adapt to platform updates (for example, changes in Windows, Azure, Android, or iOS).
• Servicing Updates are releases of targeted fixes for critical quality, performance, reliability, or security issues.

We announce monthly updates through the Visual Studio blog and the Stable Channel release notes. Visual Studio also alerts you that a new update is available by the notification icon in the bottom right corner of the IDE, by an entry in the notification hub, and by text in the Visual Studio Installer.

All releases on the Stable Channel are cumulative. When you update your install of Visual Studio on the Stable Channel, you will also receive the latest servicing fixes.

The product version displayed in Help About for the Stable Channel is 18.<Minor>.<Servicing>, with <Minor> incrementing with every monthly feature update, and <Servicing> incrementing with servicing releases within that month.

Insiders Channel

Insiders Channel is meant for those who are eager to try out the very latest Visual Studio features and fixes. It provides you with an early peek of what's coming in the next monthly update of the Stable Channel. Sometimes we also release servicing updates to the Insiders Channel. You can learn about the features and fixes in the Insiders Channel release notes and the Visual Studio blog.

You can install both Insiders and Stable Channel versions of Visual Studio side-by-side on the same machine. At any given point, the Insiders Channel will contain the same or newer features and fixes compared to the Stable Channel. Visual Studio will notify you as newer versions are available for install.

Even though the Insiders Channel is not intended for use in production, it is at a sufficient quality level for you to generally use and provide feedback. We service only the latest Insiders Channel release.

The product version displayed in Help About for the Insiders Channel is 18.<Minor> Insiders <BuildNumber>, with <Minor> incrementing with every monthly Insiders update, and <BuildNumber> incrementing with each release within that month.

Preview Features

Although the Insiders Channel is recommended for trying out new features, we also encourage users in the Stable Channel to try out new features via Preview Features. Preview Features differ from the Insiders Channel in that each specific feature can be turned on or off by going to Tools > Manage Preview Features. The Preview Features dialog includes description for each feature to help you determine if the feature is relevant to you. We sometimes also run experiments with Preview Features, turning them on for a portion of customers to compare the impact against a control group. Finally, we hope that you will provide feedback on these features so that we can improve them before they are rolled out for all customers.

LTSC - Long-Term Servicing Channel - [Not Yet Available]

We strongly encourage everyone to try Insiders Channel to see what's coming and adopt the Stable Channel to stay current with the latest updates including security fixes, performance improvements, and new features. However, 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 LTSC Channel for users of the Professional, Enterprise, and Build Tools editions of Visual Studio 2026 will be available in November of 2026.

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.

Servicing Releases for Older Versions of Visual Studio

We will continue to service older versions of Visual Studio according to their product support lifecycles. For more information, see Visual Studio 2022 Product Lifecycle and Servicing and Product Lifecycle Search.

Update Notifications

You will receive notification of updates to the currently running Visual Studio through the notification icon in the IDE, through posts to the Visual Studio blog, and from the Visual Studio Installer. The Stable Channel release notes and Insiders Channel release notes will document the features and fixes available in that release to help you make an informed decision about when to install it. Lastly, we will update all the relevant feedback items on the Developer Community portal to let you know in which version an issue was fixed.

Feedback & Suggestions

We would love to hear from you! You can Report a Problem or Suggest a Feature 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. 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.