Download and Install Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition

There is this old Xamarin solution I need to run before doing some migration work. It has a Windows Phone 8 project in it.

I tried running it using the latest Visual Studio, but it couldn’t build the project. All I need is one quick run, so I needed to install the Visual Studio version originally used to build it, which was Visual Studio 2015.

Since I needed a specific Visual Studio 2015 version to run this project, I’m going to share where to download it (using Microsoft’s official download links), how to install it, and how to fix some issues along the way.

• Video
• Download Visual Studio 2015
• Install Visual Studio 2015 Community (Step by Step)
• Create a New Project with Visual Studio 2015
• Uninstall Visual Studio 2015
• Final Thoughts
• References

Video

Not in the mood for reading? Watch the video instead.

Download Visual Studio 2015

The following installer files are for the final release of Visual Studio 2015, which is Visual Studio 2015 Update 3.

Select the edition that matches your license. You can use the Community edition for free, but make sure you’re working in an environment that complies with the license terms.

Edition	Installer
Visual Studio Community 2015 ISO	vs2015.3.com_enu.iso
Visual Studio Professional 2015 ISO	vs2015.3.pro_enu.iso
Visual Studio Enterprise 2015 ISO	vs2015.3.ent_enu.iso

After downloading the edition you need, follow the next section to install Visual Studio 2015 on a Windows 11 PC.

Install Visual Studio 2015 Community (Step by Step)

After downloading the installer (which I assume is the ISO file), mount it using File Explorer.

A security warning dialog may appear. Just click Open.

This ISO file wasn’t signed correctly by Microsoft, which is why the warning appears. If you’re feeling paranoid, you can always scan it for viruses first.

A new File Explorer window will open.

For example, if you’re using Visual Studio 2015 Community, you’ll see a new DVD drive named VS2015_COM_ENU. From there, run the installer file, such as vs_community.exe.

The first Visual Studio 2015 dialog will appear.

It’ll ask you to choose the installation type. You can select either Default or Custom.

If you just need the basic features, such as web and desktop development, Default is a good option. Simply click the Install button and wait for it to finish.

However, if you need features such as Xamarin mobile development or Windows Phone development, select Custom and click the Next button.

The next dialog will show a list of available features. Select whatever features you need, or leave the default selection.

These are the available options:

Programming Languages

• Visual C++
• Visual F#
• Python Tools for Visual Studio (January 2017)

Windows and Web Development

• ClickOnce Publishing Tools
• Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools
• Microsoft Web Developer Tools
• PowerShell Tools for Visual Studio [3rd Party]
• Silverlight Development Kit
• Universal Windows App Development Tools
• Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.0/8.1 Tools

Cross Platform Mobile Development

• C#/.NET (Xamarin v4.2.1)
• HTML/JavaScript (Apache Cordova) Update 10
• Visual C++ Mobile Development
• Microsoft Visual Studio Emulator for Android (July 2016)
• Common Tools and Software Development Kits

Common Tools

• Git for Windows [3rd Party]
• GitHub Extension for Visual Studio [3rd Party]
• Visual Studio Extensibility Tools Update 3

The next dialog will show the features you’ve selected.

Once you’ve confirmed that the feature list is correct, click the Install button.

You may want to grab a coffee because the installation can take a while, depending on how many features you choose.

Once the installation is complete, click the big blue LAUNCH button to start the Visual Studio 2015 IDE.

Before using Visual Studio, you’ll be asked to sign in with a Microsoft account. You can use an existing account or create a new one.

At this point, you’re done and ready to start using Visual Studio 2015.

Create a New Project with Visual Studio 2015

Once it’s installed, signed in, and activated, you can start using Visual Studio 2015.

My personal favorite test is creating an empty Windows Forms project.

Once that’s done, you can open your old legacy Visual Studio projects and get back to work!

Uninstall Visual Studio 2015

If you no longer need Visual Studio 2015 in the future, you can always uninstall it.

Here’s how to do it properly:

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps.

2. Search for “Visual Studio Community” (or whichever edition you installed).

3. Click the three dots (…) and select Modify.

   

4. A dialog will appear. Click the Uninstall button in the bottom-right corner.

   

5. Another dialog will appear as a final confirmation. Click Yes to continue, or No if you change your mind.

   

6. Sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee. The uninstall process will begin and may take some time to complete.

   

7. Once it’s done, the final dialog will display the following message:

   Setup Completed! All specified components have been uninstalled successfully.

   

8. (Optional) Even after uninstalling Visual Studio 2015, some files and components may be left behind. You can check Settings > Apps > Installed apps. If you don’t need those components, you can uninstall them as well.

   

Final Thoughts

That’s it for today’s post.

As it turns out, installing Visual Studio 2015 on a Windows 11 PC in 2026 is still pretty straightforward!

Now you can finally fix that old legacy project that’s been running in production for years without any compatibility issues.

As always, if you have any questions or know of a better method, leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

References

• Visual Studio 2015 Release Notes | Microsoft Learn
• Uninstall third-party applications deployed by secondary installer in Visual Studio 2015 - Visual Studio | Microsoft Learn