Install .NET on Windows

In this article, you’ll learn how to install .NET on Windows. .NET is made up of the runtime and the SDK. The runtime is used to run a .NET app and may or may not be included with the app. The SDK is used to create .NET apps and libraries. The .NET runtime is always installed with the SDK.

The latest version of .NET is 5.0.

Supported releases

The following table is a list of currently supported .NET releases and the versions of Windows they’re supported on. These versions remain supported until either the version of .NET reaches end-of-support or the version of Windows reaches end-of-life.

Windows 10 versions end-of-service dates are segmented by edition. Only Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations editions are considered in the following table. Check the Windows lifecycle fact sheet for specific details.

A + symbol represents the minimum version.

Operating System	.NET Core 2.1	.NET Core 3.1	.NET 5
Windows 10 / Windows Server, Version 20H2	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10 / Windows Server, Version 2004	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10 / Windows Server, Version 1909	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10 / Windows Server, Version 1903	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10, Version 1809	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10, Version 1803	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10, Version 1709	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 10, Version 1607	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 8.1	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows 7 SP1 ESU	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows Server 2019 Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2012 R2	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Windows Server Core 2012 R2	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Nano Server, Version 1809+	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ
Nano Server, Version 1803	вњ”пёЏ	вњ”пёЏ	вќЊ

Unsupported releases

The following versions of .NET are вќЊ no longer supported:

Runtime information

The runtime is used to run apps created with .NET. When an app author publishes an app, they can include the runtime with their app. If they don’t include the runtime, it’s up to the user to install the runtime.

There are three different runtimes you can install on Windows:

ASP.NET Core runtime
Runs ASP.NET Core apps. Includes the .NET runtime.

Desktop runtime
Runs .NET WPF and Windows Forms desktop apps for Windows. Includes the .NET runtime.

.NET runtime
This runtime is the simplest runtime and doesn’t include any other runtime. It’s highly recommended that you install both ASP.NET Core runtime and Desktop runtime for the best compatibility with .NET apps.

SDK information

The SDK is used to build and publish .NET apps and libraries. Installing the SDK includes all three runtimes: ASP.NET Core, Desktop, and .NET.

Dependencies

The following Windows versions are supported with .NET 5.0:

A + symbol represents the minimum version.

OS	Version	Architectures
Windows 10 Client	Version 1607+	x64, x86, ARM64
Windows Client	7 SP1+, 8.1	x64, x86
Windows Server	2012 R2+	x64, x86
Windows Server Core	2012 R2+	x64, x86
Nano Server	Version 1809+	x64

For more information about .NET 5.0 supported operating systems, distributions, and lifecycle policy, see .NET 5.0 Supported OS Versions.

The following Windows versions are supported with .NET Core 3.1:

A + symbol represents the minimum version.

OS	Version	Architectures
Windows Client	7 SP1+, 8.1	x64, x86
Windows 10 Client	Version 1607+	x64, x86
Windows Server	2012 R2+	x64, x86
Nano Server	Version 1803+	x64, ARM32

For more information about .NET Core 3.1 supported operating systems, distributions, and lifecycle policy, see .NET Core 3.1 Supported OS Versions.

.NET Core 3.0 is currently вќЊ out of support. For more information, see the .NET Core Support Policy.

The following Windows versions are supported with .NET Core 3.0:

A + symbol represents the minimum version.

OS	Version	Architectures
Windows Client	7 SP1+, 8.1	x64, x86
Windows 10 Client	Version 1607+	x64, x86
Windows Server	2012 R2+	x64, x86
Nano Server	Version 1803+	x64, ARM32

For more information about .NET Core 3.0 supported operating systems, distributions, and lifecycle policy, see .NET Core 3.0 Supported OS Versions.

.NET Core 2.2 is currently вќЊ out of support. For more information, see the .NET Core Support Policy.

The following Windows versions are supported with .NET Core 2.2:

A + symbol represents the minimum version.

OS	Version	Architectures
Windows Client	7 SP1+, 8.1	x64, x86
Windows 10 Client	Version 1607+	x64, x86
Windows Server	2008 R2 SP1+	x64, x86
Nano Server	Version 1803+	x64, ARM32

For more information about .NET Core 2.2 supported operating systems, distributions, and lifecycle policy, see .NET Core 2.2 Supported OS Versions.

The following Windows versions are supported with .NET Core 2.1:

A + symbol represents the minimum version.

OS	Version	Architectures
Windows Client	7 SP1+, 8.1	x64, x86
Windows 10 Client	Version 1607+	x64, x86
Windows Server	2008 R2 SP1+	x64, x86
Nano Server	Version 1803+	x64,

For more information about .NET Core 2.1 supported operating systems, distributions, and lifecycle policy, see .NET Core 2.1 Supported OS Versions.

Offline install for Windows 7

When doing an offline install for .NET Core 2.1 on Windows 7, you’ll first need to make sure that the latest Microsoft Root Certificate Authority 2011 has been installed on the target machine.

The certmgr.exe tool can automate installing a certificate and is obtained from Visual Studio or the Windows SDK. The following command is used to install the certificate before running the .NET Core 2.1 installer:

Be sure to review the dependencies required for Windows 7 below.

Windows 7 / Vista / 8.1 / Server 2008 R2 / Server 2012 R2

More dependencies are required if you’re installing the .NET SDK or runtime on the following Windows versions:

Operating System	Prerequisites
Windows 7 SP1 ESU	— Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 64-bit / 32-bit — KB3063858 64-bit / 32-bit — Microsoft Root Certificate Authority 2011 (.NET Core 2.1 offline installer only)
Windows Vista SP 2	Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 64-bit / 32-bit
Windows 8.1	Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 64-bit / 32-bit
Windows Server 2008 R2	Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 64-bit / 32-bit
Windows Server 2012 R2	Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable 64-bit / 32-bit

The previous requirements are also required if you receive an error related to either of the following dlls:

Install with PowerShell automation

The dotnet-install scripts are used for CI automation and non-admin installs of the runtime. You can download the script from the dotnet-install script reference page.

The script defaults to installing the latest long term support (LTS) version, which is .NET Core 3.1. You can choose a specific release by specifying the Channel switch. Include the Runtime switch to install a runtime. Otherwise, the script installs the SDK.

Install the SDK by omitting the -Runtime switch. The -Channel switch is set in this example to Current , which installs the latest supported version.

Install with Visual Studio

If you’re using Visual Studio to develop .NET apps, the following table describes the minimum required version of Visual Studio based on the target .NET SDK version.

.NET SDK version	Visual Studio version
5.0	Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 or higher.
3.1	Visual Studio 2019 version 16.4 or higher.
3.0	Visual Studio 2019 version 16.3 or higher.
2.2	Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 or higher.
2.1	Visual Studio 2017 version 15.7 or higher.

If you already have Visual Studio installed, you can check your version with the following steps.

1. Open Visual Studio.
2. Select Help >About Microsoft Visual Studio.
3. Read the version number from the About dialog.

Visual Studio can install the latest .NET SDK and runtime.

Select a workload

When installing or modifying Visual Studio, select one or more of the following workloads, depending on the kind of application you’re building:

• The .NET Core cross-platform development workload in the Other Toolsets section.
• The ASP.NET and web development workload in the Web & Cloud section.
• The Azure development workload in the Web & Cloud section.
• The .NET desktop development workload in the Desktop & Mobile section.

Install alongside Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a powerful and lightweight source code editor that runs on your desktop. Visual Studio Code is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

While Visual Studio Code doesn’t come with an automated .NET Core installer like Visual Studio does, adding .NET Core support is simple.

Windows Installer

The download page for .NET provides Windows Installer executables.

When you use the Windows installers to install .NET, you can customize the installation path by setting the DOTNETHOME_X64 and DOTNETHOME_X86 parameters:

If you want to install .NET silently, such as in a production environment or to support continuous integration, use the following switches:

/install
Installs .NET.

/quiet
Prevents any UI and prompts from displaying.

norestart
Suppresses any attempts to restart.

The installer returns an exit code of 0 for success and an exit code of 3010 to indicate that a restart is required. Any other value is generally an error code.

Download and manually install

As an alternative to the Windows installers for .NET, you can download and manually install the SDK or runtime. Manual install is usually done as part of continuous integration testing. For a developer or user, it’s generally better to use an installer.

Both .NET SDK and .NET Runtime can be manually installed after they’ve been downloaded. If you install .NET SDK, you don’t need to install the corresponding runtime. First, download a binary release for either the SDK or the runtime from one of the following sites:

Create a directory to extract .NET to, for example %USERPROFILE%\dotnet . Then, extract the downloaded zip file into that directory.

By default, .NET CLI commands and apps won’t use .NET installed in this way and you must explicitly choose to use it. To do so, change the environment variables with which an application is started:

This approach lets you install multiple versions into separate locations, then explicitly choose which install location an application should use by running the application with environment variables pointing at that location.

When DOTNET_MULTILEVEL_LOOKUP is set to 0 , .NET ignores any globally installed .NET version. Remove that environment setting to let .NET consider the default global install location when selecting the best framework for running the application. The default is typically C:\Program Files\dotnet , which is where the installers install .NET.

Docker

Containers provide a lightweight way to isolate your application from the rest of the host system. Containers on the same machine share just the kernel and use resources given to your application.

.NET can run in a Docker container. Official .NET Docker images are published to the Microsoft Container Registry (MCR) and are discoverable at the Microsoft .NET Docker Hub repository. Each repository contains images for different combinations of the .NET (SDK or Runtime) and OS that you can use.

Microsoft provides images that are tailored for specific scenarios. For example, the ASP.NET Core repository provides images that are built for running ASP.NET Core apps in production.

For more information about using .NET in a Docker container, see Introduction to .NET and Docker and Samples.

Install the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 8

You may need the .NET Framework 3.5 to run an app on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 8. You can also use these instructions for earlier Windows versions.

Download the offline installer

The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 offline installer is available on the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Download page and is available for Windows versions prior to Windows 10.

Install the .NET Framework 3.5 on Demand

You may see the following configuration dialog if you try to run an app that requires the .NET Framework 3.5. Choose Install this feature to enable the .NET Framework 3.5. This option requires an Internet connection.

Why am I getting this pop-up?

The .NET Framework is created by Microsoft and provides an environment for running applications. There are different versions available. Many companies develop their apps to run using the .NET Framework, and these apps target a specific version. If you see this pop-up, you’re trying to run an application that requires the .NET Framework version 3.5, but that version is not installed on your system.

Enable the .NET Framework 3.5 in Control Panel

You can enable the .NET Framework 3.5 through the Windows Control Panel. This option requires an Internet connection.

Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type «Windows Features», and press Enter. The Turn Windows features on or off dialog box appears.

Select the .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0) check box, select OK, and reboot your computer if prompted.

You don’t need to select the child items for Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) HTTP Activation and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Non-HTTP Activation unless you’re a developer or server administrator who requires this functionality.

Troubleshoot the installation of the .NET Framework 3.5

During installation, you may encounter error 0x800f0906, 0x800f0907, 0x800f081f, or 0x800F0922, in which case refer to .NET Framework 3.5 installation error: 0x800f0906, 0x800f0907, or 0x800f081f to see how to resolve these issues.

If you still can’t resolve your installation issue or you don’t have an Internet connection, you can try installing it using your Windows installation media. For more information, see Deploy .NET Framework 3.5 by using Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM). If you’re using Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or the latest Windows 10 version but you don’t have the installation media, create an up-to-date installation media here: Create installation media for Windows. Additional information about Windows 10 Features on Demand: Features on Demand.

If you’re not relying on Windows Update as the source for installing the .NET Framework 3.5, you must ensure to strictly use sources from the same corresponding Windows operating system version. Using sources from a different Windows operating system version will either install a mismatched version of .NET Framework 3.5 or cause the installation to fail, leaving the system in an unsupported and unserviceable state.