Get started with Visual Studio

New to Visual Studio and need help setting up and customizing the IDE or learning the basic building blocks? Learn your way around Visual Studio and get started with your first app within minutes.

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Getting started guidance

Are you new to Visual Studio, or returning after a long time, and looking for help to get started?

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Watch: Setting up your IDE

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Watch: Building your first app

Watch: Tips & Tricks

Watch: Debugging your code

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Watch: Opening a project from Source

Solutions

Windows apps

Develop apps and games to reach every device running Windows.

Windows apps

Universal apps

Mobile Apps

Create native or hybrid apps targeting Android, iOS, and Windows.

Xamarin

Apache Cordova

Games

Design, code, and debug games with cutting-edge graphics and scripting tools.

DirectX

Unity

Azure apps

Build, manage, and deploy cloud scale apps to Azure with ease.

Web apps

Develop modern web apps with flexibility and powerful open tools.

Office

Utilize powerful tools for all types of Office development.

Extensions

Write your own extensions for Visual Studio.

Technologies

C++

Use C++ for speed, performance, and compatibility across a wide range of devices.

Node.js

Turn Visual Studio into a powerful Node.js development environment.

Python

Leverage Python for cross-platform scripting, web services, IoT, and data science tasks.

R

Turn Visual Studio into a powerful R development environment.

.NET

Use .NET to create apps and services on any device and OS.

Visual Studio Community 2017

Free, fully-featured IDE for students, open-source and individual developers

Free download

Visual Studio Professional 2017

Professional developer tools, services, and subscription benefits for small teams

Free trial

Visual Studio Enterprise 2017

End-to-end solution to meet demanding quality and scale needs of teams of all sizes

Free trial

Visual Studio Community for Mac

Free, fully-featured IDE for students, open-source and individual developers

Download

Visual Studio Professional for Mac

Professional developer tools, services, and subscription benefits for small teams

Download

Visual Studio Enterprise for Mac

End-to-end solution to meet demanding quality and scale needs of teams of all sizes

Download