How to: Find Product Updates
In the integrated development environment (IDE), you can check for service packs that apply to your installation of Visual Studio. To check for these updates, your computer must have an Internet connection. You can also look on the MSDN Web site for general distribution releases (GDRs) and hot fixes for your installation.
Note
Depending on the operating system settings, updates might be installed automatically as part of Windows Update.
If Visual Studio is open, then a message box might appear, requesting to close Visual Studio. If you are connected to a remote computer, such as a Web server or work item database, or if you are testing or debugging an application, then we recommend that you manually save and close Visual Studio before you install the update.
To check for service releases
On the Help menu, click Check for Updates.
This command takes you to the Microsoft Update Web site for Visual Studio where service releases are available for download.
Note
If you have changed the default settings for Security and Privacy in the Internet Options dialog box in Internet Explorer, you might receive an error when you try to check for updates. Reset your Security and Privacy settings to the default values and then check for updates again.
To check for other software updates
Go to the Shipped Software Updates Web site for Visual Studio.
Scroll through the Visual Studio sections to see which updates are available for your version.