# Visual Studio Extensions Overview

[Visual Studio Extensions for Telerik UI for WinForms](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=TelerikInc.TelerikWinFormsVSExtensions) are designed to streamline and enhance the development experience when creating desktop applications with **Telerik UI for WinForms**. These extensions provide comprehensive tooling support that simplifies common development tasks and accelerates project delivery.

The extensions provide robust support across the entire development lifecycle with **Telerik UI for WinForms**:

* **Project creation, conversion and configuration** – Streamlined reference management and project setup.

* **License Key Management** – Automatically downloads the license key file from your account to your home directory (`%appdata%\Telerik`).

* **Project Upgrade** – Seamless upgrading of **Telerik UI for WinForms** to newer versions with dependency management.

* **Common scenario page creation** – Wizards and templates for creating frequently-used **Telerik UI for WinForms** scenarios.

* **Toolbox configuration** – Easy selection and configuration of Telerik UI versions to populate in the Visual Studio Toolbox.

### Installation and Compatibility

**Visual Studio Extensions for Telerik UI for WinForms** are distributed with the **Telerik UI for WinForms** installer and can also be downloaded separately from the [Visual Studio Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=TelerikInc.TelerikWinFormsVSExtensions) for Visual Studio 2019 and later versions.

> important **Visual Studio Extensions for Telerik UI for WinForms** for Visual Studio 2015 and 2017 were discontinued in 2024 Q1 (version 2024.1.130) and are no longer distributed with the **Telerik UI for WinForms** installer. However, the extensions for Visual Studio 2015 and 2017 remain available as a separate package in the marketplace and can be downloaded from the [Visual Studio Marketplace listing for Progress WinForms extensions](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vs-publisher-443.TelerikUIforWinForms).

### Accessing the Extensions

The Visual Studio Extensions can be accessed through the **Telerik | Telerik UI for WinForms** menu which has different menu items depending on the selected project in Visual Studio. The extensions are also accessible through the context menu when right-clicking on a WinForms application project in Solution Explorer. For Visual Studio 2022, access the extensions through **Extensions | Telerik | Telerik UI for WinForms**.

Telerik menu adapts its available options based on your current project context:

#### Figure 1: **Telerik UI for WinForms menu (no project selected)**

![Visual Studio Telerik UI for WinForms menu with no project selected](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/c1b003254e0df2977d1e283b4ab2e1cd/installation-deployment-and-distribution-vsx-overview001.png)

#### Figure 2: **Selected project in Visual Studio is Standard WinForms Application**

![Visual Studio Telerik UI for WinForms menu for a selected standard WinForms project](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/c19d456be011fbe33816fc127a8a8773/installation-deployment-and-distribution-vsx-overview002.png)

#### Figure 3: **Selected project in Visual Studio is Telerik WinForms Application**

![Visual Studio Telerik UI for WinForms menu for a selected Telerik WinForms project](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/2ca1a8d243b427a1720135da3cee70cf/installation-deployment-and-distribution-vsx-overview003.png)

### Project Templates

When the extensions are installed, they add several specialized project templates to Visual Studio's New Project dialog, providing quick-start options for different types of Telerik WinForms applications:

#### Figure 4: **Telerik new project templates**

![Visual Studio New Project dialog showing Telerik UI for WinForms project templates](https://www.telerik.com/products/winforms/documentation/assets/84982401fdf8cbdc8a1d31148581cc96/installation-deployment-and-distribution-vsx-overview004.png)