Microsoft’s flagship free IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is massive. Depending on the workloads you select (e.g., .NET desktop development, Game development with Unity, or C++ cross-platform tools), the download size can balloon from 1 GB to over 40 GB.
vs_community.exe --layout C:\VS2022_Layout_Selective --fix This compares your local packages against Microsoft’s servers and downloads only the changed files. This is much faster than a full redownload. Over time, your offline layout collects old packages. To remove outdated packages not required for the latest version, use: visual studio community 2022 offline installer
vs_community.exe --list Once you hit enter, the bootstrapper will download the manifest, then begin pulling .cab files. Wait for the final message: "The operation completed successfully." Do not close the window early. Part 3: Installing Without an Internet Connection You now have a portable folder (e.g., C:\VS2022_Layout_Selective ). Copy this folder to a USB drive (requires NTFS formatting due to file size), an external HDD, or a network location. This is much faster than a full redownload
Then, on the offline machine, run:
vs_community.exe --layout C:\VS2022_Layout_Selective --config C:\VS2022_Layout_Selective\install_config.json Edit that JSON file to set silent options (e.g., "installChannelUri": ".\\ChannelManifest.json" ). Wait for the final message: "The operation completed
vs_community.exe --layout C:\VS2022_Layout_Python --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.Python --lang en-US To see a list of all available workload IDs, use:
vs_community.exe --layout C:\VS2022_Layout_GameDev --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktop --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NetCrossPlat --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.CoreEditor --lang en-US Only Python and Data Science.