{"id":249465,"date":"2024-06-19T10:30:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T17:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/?p=249465"},"modified":"2024-08-07T12:52:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T19:52:11","slug":"automatically-install-visual-studio-security-updates-through-microsoft-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/automatically-install-visual-studio-security-updates-through-microsoft-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Visual Studio automatically updated and secure through Microsoft Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visual Studio is coming to Microsoft Update! We\u2019re pleased to announce that starting in August 2024, users of the Visual Studio Community edition who are not<\/em> part of an organization managed by an IT administrator can choose to receive monthly Visual Studio security updates through the Microsoft Update (MU) system on “patch Tuesdays”.\u00a0 This new update option will be available for Visual Studio 2022, Visual Studio 2019, and Visual Studio 2017. It won\u2019t be available for the Preview channel.<\/p>\n

How to enable Visual Studio updates through MU<\/h2>\n

Open Windows Settings and go to Windows Update > Advanced Options. If you can toggle the option at the top \u201cReceive updates for other Microsoft products\u201d, then you control your machine\u2019s update policies and can choose to receive updates for Visual Studio Community and other Microsoft products from MU. We encourage you to enroll in this capability, as it\u2019s by far the easiest way to keep your Visual Studio Community updated and secure on a monthly cadence. If this option is greyed out and you can\u2019t toggle it, this new feature does not apply to your machine (even if it is turned on) because your administrator controls your update policies.<\/p>\n

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Figure 1 – Microsoft Update policy that is controlled by the user<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

How it works<\/h2>\n

As with other Visual Studio update methods, Visual Studio must be closed to apply these updates; MU will never force-close Visual Studio to apply the update. Updates delivered through Microsoft Update typically happen during machine idle time at night. Once you have opted into receiving Visual Studio Community updates through MU, just remember to periodically save your work and close Visual Studio in the evening to make sure that the update isn’t blocked. The next morning, you can verify in the Windows Update history that the latest Visual Studio security update was successfully applied. You can also initiate the update manually on demand by closing Visual Studio and pressing the Windows Update \u201cCheck for updates\u201d button.<\/p>\n

Opting out of MU updates for Visual Studio<\/h2>\n

If you have chosen to receive updates for other Microsoft products, but you don\u2019t<\/strong> want to receive Visual Studio Community updates from MU, you can set this registry key value to opt out:\n[HKLM\\Software\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio\\Setup]\n“VSthroughMUUpdatesOptOut”=dword:1<\/p>\n

Preview the experience through July 2024<\/h2>\n

You can try out this new experience through July 2024 in advance of it rolling out in August. To opt in to the preview, toggle \u201cReceive updates for other Microsoft products\u201d to On, and set this registry key value:\n[HKLM\\Software\\Microsoft\\VisualStudio\\Setup]\n“PreviewAutomaticUpdates”=dword:1<\/p>\n

Starting in August 2024, this registry key won\u2019t be necessary.<\/p>\n

During June and July, the updates will have a \u201c[Microsoft Update Preview]\u201d prefix in the title. These updates are the same update as if you manually installed it from within the Visual Studio IDE.<\/p>\n

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Figure 2 – Visual Studio security updates delivered during the Preview timeframe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

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Planned improvements<\/h2>\n

There are a few improvements to this experience that we\u2019re working on.<\/p>\n