Install Visual Studio 2017 for Mac

Note

Visual Studio 2019 for Mac is now available. For older versions of Visual Studio for Mac, see the Visual Studio downloads page.

Downgrading from Visual Studio 2019 for Mac?

For the best experience, before you downgrade you should ensure that you uninstall Visual Studio 2019 for Mac.

Requirements

To start developing native, cross-platform apps when you download Visual Studio for Mac there are a couple of things that you must install and set up in preparation.

For working with iOS in Visual Studio you need the following pieces:

  • A Mac with macOS High Sierra 10.13 or above.
  • Xcode 9.3 or above. The latest stable version is usually recommended.
  • An Apple ID. If you don't have an Apple ID already you can create a new one at https://appleid.apple.com. It's necessary to have an Apple ID for installing and signing into Xcode.

Install

  1. Download Visual Studio for Mac from my.visualstudio.com

  2. Once the installer package is downloaded, click the VisualStudioForMacInstaller.dmg file to mount the installer and then run it by double-clicking the logo, as illustrated by the following image:

    Installer dialog

  3. You might be prompted with an alert dialog similar to the following image. In this case, click Open:

    alert dialog

  4. The installer inspects your system to verify which components need to be installed or updated:

    Assessing your system

  5. You'll then be presented with an alert dialog asking you to acknowledge the Privacy and License terms. Press the Continue button to acknowledge the terms:

    License dialog

  6. The installer presents a list of required components that are missing and that need to be downloaded and installed. Select the products you wish to download here:

    Select Items

    If you do not wish to install all platforms, use the guide below to help you decide which platforms to install:

    • Apps using Xamarin:
      • Xamarin.Forms – Select Android and iOS platforms.
      • iOS only – Select iOS platform (Note that you will need to install Xcode).
      • Android only – Select Android platform (Note that you should also select the relevant dependencies).
      • Mac only – Select macOS platform (Note that you will need to install Xcode).
      • Fully cross-platform Xamarin apps – Select Android, iOS, and macOS platforms.
    • .NET Core applications – Select .NET Core platform.
    • ASP.NET Core Web Applications – Select .NET Core platform.
    • Cross-platform Unity Game Development – No additional platforms need to be installed beyond Visual Studio for Mac.

    This installation screen displays the version and size of each individual component. You can click each component to display a list of dependencies for that component (for Android), see additional packages that it downloads (for .NET Core), or view any additional applications required (for iOS and macOS):

    Android additional dependencies

  7. Once you are happy with your selection, select the Install and Update button to start the installation process.

  8. The installer starts the download and install process of the selected items:

    Starting Installation

    Downloading Xamarin.Mac

    Finishing Installation

  9. You might be prompted to elevate the permissions necessary for individual components that are needed to complete installation. Enter your administrator credentials here to continue the installation process:

    Enter permissions to continue with installer

  10. Once the installation is successful, you can start developing apps in Visual Studio by pressing Start:

    Open Visual Studio

Note

If you chose not install a platform or tool during the original installation (by unselecting it in step #6), you must run the installer again if you wish to add the components later.

Install Visual Studio for Mac behind a firewall or proxy server

To install Visual Studio for Mac behind a firewall, certain endpoints must be made accessible in order to allow downloads of the required tools and updates for your software.

Configure your network to allow access to the following locations:

Next steps

Installing Visual Studio for Mac allows you to start writing code for your apps. The following guides are provided to guide you through the next steps of writing and deploying your projects.

iOS

  1. Hello, iOS
  2. Device Provisioning(To run your application on device).

Android

  1. Using the Xamarin Android SDK Manager
  2. Android SDK Emulator
  3. Set Up Device for Development

.NET Core apps, ASP.NET Core web apps, Unity game development

For other Workloads, refer to the Workloads section.

See also