This is useful for automation or IT administrators.
c:\VS2022Offline\vs_community.exe --noweb --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktop
The instructions above are consistent for Visual Studio 2022 (64-bit IDE). However, legacy projects may require older versions.
| Version | Bootstrapper Name | Key Difference |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| VS 2022 | vs_community.exe | 64-bit IDE; .NET 6/7/8 support only. |
| VS 2019 | vs_community.exe | 32-bit IDE; Supports .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5. |
| VS 2017 | vs_community.exe | Last version with full .NET Framework 4.x tooling. | visual studio community edition offline installer
Command for VS 2017 Offline Installer:
vs_community_2017.exe --layout C:\VS2017_Offline --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktop --lang en-US
Note: Microsoft has retired support for VS 2017 and 2019 (mainstream). Use these only for legacy builds. This is useful for automation or IT administrators
The offline installer (often called a layout) is not a single .exe file, but a local folder containing:
Once created, you can copy this folder to a USB drive, network share, or internal server and install Visual Studio Community on any target PC without downloading files again. The instructions above are consistent for Visual Studio
The setup engine will download all packages into the target folder. This can take from 20 minutes to several hours depending on your internet speed and selected components.
Solution: You forgot to restrict workloads. Re-run using --add only for your specific needs. Use --exclude to remove bloat. For example, to exclude Android and iOS SDKs:
vs_community.exe --layout C:\VS2022_Offline --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NetCrossPlat --exclude Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.UWP.Xamarin