Merge pull request #6000 from MicrosoftDocs/main

Auto Publish – main to live - 2025-11-15 05:00 UTC

Author: learn-build-service-prod[bot]

.openpublishing.redirection.json

@@ -787,12 +787,12 @@
     },
     {
       "source_path": "uwp/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development.md",
-      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/advanced-settings/developer-mode",
       "redirect_document_id": false
     },
     {
       "source_path": "uwp/get-started/sign-up.md",
-      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/get-started/sign-up",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/publish/partner-center/open-a-developer-account",
       "redirect_document_id": false
     },
     {
@@ -5857,12 +5857,12 @@
     },
     {
       "source_path": "uwp/get-started/get-set-up.md",
-      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/windows-app-sdk/set-up-your-development-environment",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/uwp/get-started/winui2/getting-started",
       "redirect_document_id": false
     },
     {
       "source_path": "hub/apps/get-started/get-set-up.md",
-      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/windows-app-sdk/set-up-your-development-environment",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/get-started/start-here",
       "redirect_document_id": false
     },
     {
@@ -5887,7 +5887,7 @@
     },
     {
       "source_path": "hub/apps/project-reunion/set-up-your-development-environment.md",
-      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/windows-app-sdk/set-up-your-development-environment",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/get-started/start-here",
       "redirect_document_id": false
     },
     {
@@ -5982,7 +5982,7 @@
     },
     {
       "source_path": "hub/apps/windows-app-sdk/preview-experimental-install.md",
-      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/windows-app-sdk/set-up-your-development-environment",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/apps/get-started/start-here",
       "redirect_document_id": true
     },
     {
@@ -9599,6 +9599,11 @@
       "source_path": "hub/powertoys/dsc-configure.md",
       "redirect_url": "/windows/powertoys/dsc-configure/overview",
       "redirect_document_id": false
+    },
+    {
+      "source_path": "hub/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development.md",
+      "redirect_url": "/windows/advanced-settings/developer-mode",
+      "redirect_document_id": false
     }
   ]
 }

hub/advanced-settings/developer-mode.md

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+---
+ms.assetid: 54973C62-9669-4988-934E-9273FB0425FD
+title: Enable Developer Mode
+description: Activate Developer Mode on your PC to develop apps.
+keywords: Developer mode, Visual Studio, enable device
+ms.date: 11/12/2025
+ms.topic: how-to
+---
+
+# Settings for developers
+
+The **System > Advanced** page in Windows settings includes Developer Mode and additional features that you can use when Developer Mode is enabled. Developer Mode unlocks tools, settings, and features designed for building, deploying, and testing apps on Windows.
+
+:::image type="content" source="images/for-developers.png" alt-text="A screenshot of Windows Advanced settings for developers, showing Developer Mode, Device Portal, and Device discovery.":::
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Prior to Windows 11 25H2, these settings appear on the **For developers** page in Windows settings. In Windows 11 25H2 and later, they appear in the **For developers** section of the [Advanced settings](index.md) page.
+
+## Enable Developer Mode
+
+If you're writing software with Visual Studio, you *will* need to enable Developer Mode on both the development PC and on any devices you'll use to test your code.
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> If you're using your computer for ordinary day-to-day activities (such as gaming, web browsing, email, or Office apps), there is no need to activate Developer Mode. If you're trying to fix an issue with your computer, check out [Windows help](/windows).
+
+To enable Developer Mode, or access other settings:
+
+1. Open Windows Settings.
+2. Search for **Advanced** or go to **System > Advanced**, then scroll to the **For developers** section.
+3. Toggle the Developer Mode setting, at the top of the **For developers** section.
+4. Read the disclaimer. Click **Yes** to accept the change.
+
+   :::image type="content" source="images/use-developer-features.png" alt-text="Developer Mode dialog in Visual Studio":::
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Enabling Developer mode requires administrator access. If your device is owned by an organization, this option may be disabled.
+
+If you try to build a Windows project in Visual Studio when Developer Mode *isn't* enabled, the following dialog appears in Visual Studio:
+
+:::image type="content" source="images/enable-developer-mode-dialog.jpg" alt-text="Developer Mode dialog in Visual Studio that says Developer Mode needs to be enabled, with a link to settings for developers.":::
+
+If you see this dialog, select **settings for developers** to open the **System > Advanced** settings page.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> You can go to the **Advanced** settings page at any time to *enable* or *disable* Developer Mode.
+
+## Developer Mode features
+
+Developer Mode replaces the requirements for a developer license. In addition to sideloading, the Developer Mode setting enables debugging and additional deployment options. This includes starting an SSH service to allow deployment to this device. In order to stop this service, you need to disable Developer Mode.
+
+When you enable Developer Mode on desktop, a package of features is installed, including:
+
+- **Windows Device Portal**: Device Portal is only enabled (and firewall rules are only configured for it) when the **Enable Device Portal** option is turned on.
+- Installs and configures firewall rules for SSH services that allow remote installation of apps. Enabling **Device Discovery** will turn on the SSH server.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> _Device Portal_ and _Device discovery_ are useful when you need to develop on one machine, but deploy your app to another machine for testing. For example, if you need to deploy your app to a tablet to test a touch-optimized tablet user interface.
+
+### Device Portal
+
+To learn more about Device Portal, see [Windows Device Portal overview](/windows/uwp/debug-test-perf/device-portal) and [Device Portal for desktop](/windows/uwp/debug-test-perf/device-portal-desktop).
+
+### Device Discovery
+
+When you enable Device Discovery, you're allowing your device to be visible to other devices on the network through mDNS. This feature also allows you to get the SSH PIN for pairing to the device by pressing the **Pair** button exposed immediately after Device Discovery is enabled. This PIN prompt must be displayed on the screen in order to complete your first Visual Studio deployment targeting the device.
+
+:::image type="content" source="images/pair-device-with-device-discovery.png" alt-text="A screenshot of the Pair device dialog that displays the SSH Pin for device pairing.":::
+
+You should enable Device Discovery only if you intend to make the device a deployment target. For example, if you use Device Portal to deploy an app to a tablet for testing, you need to enable Device Discovery on the tablet, but not on your development PC.
+
+#### SSH
+
+SSH services are enabled when you enable Device Discovery on your device. This is used when your device is a remote deployment target for MSIX packaged applications. The names of the services are *SSH Server Broker* and *SSH Server Proxy*.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> This is not Microsoft's OpenSSH implementation, which you can find on [GitHub](https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH).
+
+In order to take advantage of the SSH services, you can enable Device Discovery to allow pin pairing. If you intend to run another SSH service, you can set this up on a different port or turn off the Developer Mode SSH services. To turn off the SSH services, turn off Device Discovery.
+
+SSH login is done via the *DevToolsUser* account, which accepts a password for authentication. This password is the PIN displayed on the device after pressing the Device Discovery **Pair** button, and it's only valid while the PIN is displayed. A SFTP subsystem is also enabled for manual management of the `DevelopmentFiles` folder where loose file deployments are installed from Visual Studio.
+
+##### Caveats for SSH usage
+
+The existing SSH server used in Windows is not yet protocol compliant. Using an SFTP or SSH client may require special configuration. In particular, the SFTP subsystem runs at version 3 or less, so any connecting client should be configured to expect an old server. The SSH server on older devices uses `ssh-dss` for public key authentication (which OpenSSH has deprecated). To connect to such devices, the SSH client must be manually configured to accept `ssh-dss`.

hub/advanced-settings/images/enable-developer-mode-dialog.jpg

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ The code in this walkthrough is adapted from the [MediaCapture WinUI 3 sample on
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Enable your device for development](/windows/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development).
+- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Settings for developers](/windows/advanced-settings/developer-mode).
 - Visual Studio 2022 or later with the **WinUI application development** workload.
 
 ## Create a new WinUI 3 app

hub/advanced-settings/images/for-developers.png

@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ To implement a feed provider using C++/WinRT, see [Implement a feed provider in
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Enable your device for development](/windows/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development).
-- Visual Studio 2022 or later with the **Universal Windows Platform development** workload. 
+- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Settings for developers](/windows/advanced-settings/developer-mode).
+- Visual Studio 2022 or later with the **Universal Windows Platform development** workload.
 
 ## Create a new C# console app
 

hub/advanced-settings/images/pair-device-with-device-discovery.png

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ To implement a feed provider using C++/WinRT, see [Implement a feed provider in
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Enable your device for development](/windows/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development).
+- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Settings for developers](/windows/advanced-settings/developer-mode).
 - Visual Studio 2022 or later with the **Universal Windows Platform development** workload. Make sure to add the component for C++ (v143) from the optional dropdown.
 
 ## Create a new C++/WinRT win32 console app

hub/advanced-settings/images/use-developer-features.png

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ This sample code in this article is adapted from the [Windows App SDK Widgets Sa
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Enable your device for development](/windows/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development).
+- Your device must have developer mode enabled. For more information see [Settings for developers](/windows/advanced-settings/developer-mode).
 - Visual Studio 2022 or later with the **Universal Windows Platform development** workload. Make sure to add the component for C++ (v143) from the optional dropdown.
 
 ## Create a new C# console app