The February update to Visual Studio 2026 brings expanded agent capabilities, smarter code completions, and deeper Copilot integration across debugging, testing, and modernization workflows in Visual Studio.

Highlights

Here’s what’s new with GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 2026:

  • Click to accept code completions: Accept just the part of a code completion you need with a single click. Hover over a suggestion to see highlighted segments, then click to accept up to your cursor position. You can also use Ctrl+right arrow for word-by-word acceptance.
  • Colorized code completions: Code completions from GitHub Copilot can now display syntax highlighting, making it easier to parse suggested code at a glance. Completions use lower opacity and italic styling to stay visually distinct from your existing code.
  • Copilot memories: Teach Copilot your coding standards and preferences, and it consistently applies them across all chat sessions. Memories are detected automatically as you chat and can be saved to your personal or repository-level instructions.
  • Custom prompts via slash commands: Invoke your favorite custom prompts faster by typing / in Copilot Chat. Two new commands, /generateInstructions and /savePrompt, help you create repository-level instructions and save reusable prompts from your current thread.
  • Preview markdown from chat: Preview any markdown content generated by Copilot Chat directly in the Visual Studio Markdown editor. Click the Preview button to see rendered output, then edit and save without copy-pasting.
  • NuGet MCP server: A built-in MCP server for NuGet helps you identify and fix package vulnerabilities, update packages to the latest compatible versions, or target specific versions through natural language prompts in Copilot Chat.
  • Smarter .NET test generation: Type @Test in Copilot Chat to create and refine unit tests for your C# code. This purpose-built testing workflow supports xUnit, NUnit, and MSTest, helping you boost coverage without leaving your workflow.
  • WinForms expert agent: A new agent provides comprehensive guidance for WinForms development, covering designer vs. regular code patterns, modern .NET 8–10 practices, layout best practices, CodeDOM serialization rules, and exception handling patterns.
  • C++ build performance agent: The @BuildPerfCpp agent uses Build Insights to identify and fix build performance issues in C++ projects, suggesting optimizations like precompiled headers, reduced function parsing, and modernized language features. This is now available in public preview.
  • C++ app modernization: The @Modernize agent helps you update C++ projects to the latest versions of MSVC and resolve upgrade-related issues. This is now available in public preview.
  • Analyze call stack with Copilot: A new Analyze Call Stack button in the Call Stack window sends your current debug state to Copilot for instant analysis. Copilot explains why execution is paused, what threads are waiting on, and annotates relevant frames in both sync and async stacks.
  • Profiler agent with unit test support: The @profiler agent now discovers and uses your existing unit tests to measure performance, making it easier to validate optimizations across more scenarios, including C++ projects where benchmarks aren’t always practical.

Download Visual Studio 2026 to experience all the new Copilot features today. To learn more about what’s new, check out the Visual Studio blog and release notes.

What’s next for Copilot in Visual Studio

Stay up to date on the latest Copilot features by following the Visual Studio blog, where you’ll find roadmap updates and opportunities to share feedback.