How to: Upgrade from a Trial Edition of Visual Studio
You can evaluate the Professional, Premium, and Ultimate editions of Visual Studio for 30 days, starting when you install the product. Signing into Visual Studio adds 60 days to the evaluation period, for a total of 90 days. If you don't register a trial edition of Visual Studio within 30 days, the trial period expires 30 days after you install them.
For example, if you download and use Visual Studio Premium for 10 days and then register it, you can use it for an additional 80 days. To continue to use the product after 90 days, you must provide a valid product key. For information about how to locate or obtain a product key, see How to: Locate the Visual Studio Product Key and How to buy Visual Studio.
Important
The trial period for Express editions of Visual Studio is also 30 days. To indefinitely extend the trial period for Express editions of Visual Studio, sign in to Visual Studio or register the product.
Before you upgrade, it's recommend that you download and review the Visual Studio and MSDN Licensing White Paper from the Microsoft website. For additional assistance, see Support for Visual Studio.
To upgrade from a trial edition of Visual Studio Professional, Premium, or Ultimate
Start Visual Studio in Run as Administrator mode.
On the menu bar, choose Help, Register Product.
Choose the Change my product license link.
Enter a valid product key, and then choose the Apply button.
Note
Internet access is required to register and unlock any edition of Visual Studio. After Visual Studio is registered, though, an internet connection is optional.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Locate the Visual Studio Product Key
Locate or Change the Product Key for Team Foundation Server
Concepts
Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio