Alex Ruben
How To Install Visual Studio on Windows 11 and Launch Your First ASP.NET Core Application
If you’ve ever tried to get a good dev setup on Windows 11, you know it can be kinda frustrating. Sometimes, Visual Studio just refuses to install smoothly, or you end up missing some essential workloads. This walkthrough is meant to cover the usual gotchas — like ensuring you’re using the right installer version, grabbing the correct workload, and avoiding common setup errors. By following this, you’ll end up with a decent environment for ASP.NET Core projects, and actually run your first web app locally. Because honestly, nothing beats the feeling of seeing that first Razor page load in your browser.
Prerequisites
Before diving into the install dance, make sure you have:
- A decent Windows 11 machine (ideally with a recent update).
- Good internet connection (because Visual Studio downloads a lot of gigs).
- Admin rights — because you’ll need them to install stuff.
How to Install Visual Studio on Windows 11
Getting the installer and starting the setup
- Head over to visualstudio.microsoft.com. You want the latest stable build, not some preview unless you’re feeling spicy.
- Click Download Visual Studio. Pick the Community edition — it’s free, and works just fine for most dev needs.
- Save the installer to your downloads folder or desktop — whatever crushes your vibe.
- Run the installer as admin (Right-click, then Run as administrator). Yeah, Windows sometimes throws a fit if you don’t run setup with those creds.
- If Windows asks for permission, give it — because of course, Windows has to make everything harder than necessary.
Choosing workloads and configuring
- Once the installer kicks in, click Continue. Then, go to the Workloads tab. Here’s where most issues happen: you gotta pick ASP.NET and web development — that’s what gives you all those web templates later.
- Pro tip: check the Install while downloading box if you want it to speed things up, but make sure your internet is solid. On some setups, this step fails the first time, then works after retrying (not sure why it works, but…).
- Click Install and wait. It’ll download and install a bunch of components; you might want to grab a coffee. Sometimes, Windows prompts for restart midway — so be ready to reboot and relaunch if needed.
- After install finishes, launch Visual Studio from the Start menu. Make sure it opens without crashing or errors. Sometimes, on fresh installs, it might hang or crash — wait a couple minutes, and if it still fails, rerun the installer or check your Windows updates.
How to Create and Run a Basic ASP.NET Core Web App
Starting your first project
- Open Visual Studio. On the welcome screen, click Create a new project (the button is in the middle now).
- Look for ASP.NET Core Web App (Razor Pages). Yep, that’s the one. It’s the simplest way to get a shiny web app running quickly.
- Name your project, choose a folder — basic stuff. I usually make it on the desktop for easy access.
- Pick .NET 8 (or whatever the latest stable version is). If it’s missing, you probably need to install additional SDKs via Microsoft .NET SDKs.
- Check the Enable HTTPS box. It’s default, but worth confirming — because every time I forget, the browser gives a security warning.
- Hit Create. Wait for the project to set itself up.
Running your app and troubleshooting
- Once the project loads, click that green Run button (looks like a play icon). Visual Studio will build and launch your app in the default browser.
- If your browser blares a security warning about the HTTPS cert, don’t sweat it — click Advanced then Continue. Sometimes, on certain setups, that warning stays stubborn and the page won’t load properly.
- Watch your app run locally. You’ll see a default Razor page. Not exactly pretty, but that’s your first app. Still, be aware that some setups might show a weird error or just hang when launching — try restarting Visual Studio or cleaning the project if that happens.
Extra Tips & Common Troubleshooting
In my experience, keeping Windows 11 up to date is crucial. Sometimes, missing patches cause weird Visual Studio errors. Also, check if the necessary SDKs are installed — Microsoft’s SDK page has all you need.
And, yeah, if Visual Studio crashes during launch or build, try running as administrator just to rule out permissions. If you’re stuck at a specific error message, searching that error with your setup details usually brings up some workaround.
Wrap-up
Getting Visual Studio installed and creating that first ASP.NET Core project isn’t exactly smooth sailing every time, but once it’s set, it’s pretty solid. Once you have your environment, building and experimenting with web apps becomes much easier. Just remember that sometimes, a reboot or a quick repair run helps clear errors. Because Windows is Windows.
Summary
- Download Visual Studio from the official site
- Pick the right workloads, especially ASP.NET and web development
- Allow some time for installation — it’s a lot of stuff
- Create your first project using the Razor Pages template
- Run and test your app in the browser
Final thoughts
Hopefully, this helps someone cut through the setup frustration. Visual Studio is powerful once it’s working, and seeing that demo page is a good start. If this gets one setup working, consider it a small victory. Fingers crossed this helps — good luck, and happy coding!