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c#environment-variablesvisual-studio-2022visual-studio-extensionsdirectory-structure

How to change the default extension install folder of Visual Studio 2022?

The default folder that the Visual Studio installs the extensions is the following: %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio<Visual Studio version>\Extensions. So I want to change the folder to a custom one because of a company policy does not allow programs on AppData to run.

I have done the same for nuget packages. I have created an environmental variable called NUGET_PACKAGES and specified the folder I want.

Is there a way to do the same for the extensions?

I have tried with some environment variables but there was no luck.

Solution

  • You can create a symbolic link to the folder %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio<Visual Studio version>\Extensions\

    For example

    mklink /D %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\<Visual Studio version>\Extensions\  "your custom folder"

    What's more,most extensions are per-user and are installed in the %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio<Visual Studio version>\Extensions\ folder. A few extensions are administrative extensions and are installed in the \Common7\IDE\Extensions\ folder.

    Hope it can help you.