Visual Studio 2026 has arrived, offering faster performance, more intuitive tools, and the reduction of repetitive tasks through the new, deeper integration of Copilot.
This release is part of the new Insiders Channel, which replaces the Preview Channel from Visual Studio 2022. It gives users early access to most new features and bug fixes before they are rolled into the monthly update of the Stable release.
The full integration of GitHub Copilot is the main highlight of this release. The AI-powered coding assistant is now built directly into the editor, giving it access to the full context of the solution being worked on. This deeper integration improves results when searching the codebase, understanding dependencies, and referencing specific lines of code. In addition, the AI capabilities in the new version include:
- Bring your own model to chat: Users can connect external language models, such as those from Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI, to Visual Studio Chat.
- Adaptive Paste: Pasted code is automatically adjusted to fit the surrounding context, reducing the need for manual edits.
- Copilot in the context menu: Copilot actions are now available directly in the context menu. Options include Explain, Optimize Selection, Generate Comments, Generate Tests, and Add to Chat.
- "Did you mean?": The search feature uses intent detection to suggest more relevant results.
- Mermaid chart rendering: The Markdown editor can now render Mermaid charts. Users can either write the syntax themselves or generate it with Copilot.
- Copilot URL context: Users can now paste a URL into Copilot Chat to pull in the content of that page for better answers.
The developer experience has been refined with an updated Fluent Design, offering a cleaner, sharper interface that is easier on the eyes and suited for long coding sessions. Icons and other interface elements have also been updated, and Microsoft reports that Visual Studio 2026 is faster and more responsive than Visual Studio 2022 on the same hardware.
On the technology side, Visual Studio 2026 supports .NET 10, C# 14, and Aspire, a platform for simplifying cloud-native application development in the .NET ecosystem. It also adds support for C++ 26, improved Git tooling, GitHub Actions integration, and streamlined DevOps workflows.
Visual Studio 2026 is now available for download. According to Microsoft, it can be safely installed alongside Visual Studio 2022 without risk or disruption. The release is fully compatible with existing workloads, and user settings are automatically transferred from the previous version, making migration straightforward. Extensions developed for Visual Studio 2022 are also supported, allowing users to continue using their preferred tools.
For more information and to download Visual Studio 2026, visit the official Visual Studio Insiders page.
