Access and authenticate the Visual Studio IDE by signing in

Visual Studio Subscribers don't need a product key to use the Visual Studio IDE. Instead, sign in with the account that your subscription is assigned to. When you sign in, Visual Studio automatically verifies your subscription and unlocks the IDE.

How Visual Studio authentication works

Visual Studio authenticates access to the IDE through the account you sign in with. It checks for an active subscription associated with that account and maintains access using a license token tied to your account.

Once signed in, you can continue working without needing a product key.

Download Visual Studio from the Visual Studio page

To get started, download the Visual Studio installer package from the Visual Studio page instead of from the subscription portal.

  • Go to https://visualstudio.microsoft.com.
  • Select Download Visual Studio to download the installer.
  • The installer package is downloaded to the default downloads folder on your computer.
  • Start the installer.

The installer doesn't determine licensing. Your subscription is verified when you sign in to the Visual Studio IDE.

Sign in to authenticate the IDE

After Visual Studio is installed:

  • Launch Visual Studio.
  • When prompted, sign in using the email address your Visual Studio Subscription was assigned to. This address is normally the one where you received a notification that a subscription was assigned to you.
    • If you skipped sign-in, select Sign in in the upper-right corner of the IDE, or go to File > Account Settings. For more sign in information to the IDE, visit Sign in from the IDE

Once you're signed in, Visual Studio verifies your subscription and authenticates your access.

What to expect after signing in

  • In most cases, you stay signed in between sessions and don't need to reauthenticate each time you open Visual Studio.
  • Visual Studio uses a license token tied to your signed-in account. You might be prompted to sign in again if:
    • You sign out of the IDE.
    • You're offline for an extended period.
    • The license token needs to refresh.

If sign-in doesn't work

If you can't sign in, or Visual Studio doesn't recognize your subscription:

  • Confirm you're using the same account that your subscription is assigned to.
  • Review troubleshooting guidance for common sign-in issues. Including tenant limitations and account changes by visiting Sign in or switch Visual Studio user accounts

Note

The Visual Studio Subscriptions portal and admin portal don't support GCC High tenants, also known as private or government domains. This limitation also applies when you try to sign in to the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). To access Visual Studio Subscriptions, your organization needs to have a public tenant. For assistance in creating a public tenant, contact Azure support.

Product keys

Visual Studio Subscriptions include product keys for certain products, such as Windows and Office. For the Visual Studio IDE, sign-in is the only method used to verify your subscription and unlock access - product keys aren't available for the Visual Studio IDE on the Visual Studio Subscriptions portal.

To review product keys that are available with your subscription, sign in to the Visual Studio Subscriptions portal.

Important

No product key is required for Visual Studio 2026

Visual Studio 2026 is available when you sign in with the account your Visual Studio Subscription is assigned to. Product keys for other eligible products and earlier Visual Studio versions remain available on the Product Key page in the Subscriber portal.

If your organization uses Volume Licensing for qualifying broad, offline, or managed deployments, keys for Visual Studio 2026 may still be available through your Volume Licensing administrator.

Support resources

See also

Next steps

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