Gemini 3 Pro active on GitHub web but not available in Visual Studio 2022

[hikmettfkc]

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hello everyone,

i'm seeing Gemini 3 Pro (Copilot) active on GitHub web, but I can't get it to appear or work inside Visual Studio 2022. I tried several things already but no luck hoping someone can point me to what I missed or what to check next.

what i see

on github.com my account shows Gemini 3 Pro / Copilot Pro is active.
In Visual Studio 2022 there is no option to select Gemini 3 Pro, and Copilot features (suggestions / chat) are not appearing.

[satwiksps]

Hi! This usually happens because GitHub Copilot (Gemini 3 Pro) being active on GitHub Web does not automatically mean it’s enabled or authenticated inside Visual Studio 2022. Here are the key things to check:

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1. Make sure Copilot extension is installed in Visual Studio 2022

Go to:

• Extensions -> Manage Extensions
• Search for GitHub Copilot
• Install it and restart Visual Studio

Without this extension, Copilot (and Gemini 3 Pro) will not appear.

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2. Confirm you're signed into the SAME GitHub account

Even if Copilot is active on github.com:

• Go to File -> Account Settings in Visual Studio
• Ensure you are logged into the same GitHub account that has Copilot Pro / Gemini 3 Pro enabled.

If not, sign out and sign back in.

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3. Verify Copilot is enabled

After installing:

• Go to Tools -> Options -> GitHub -> Copilot
• Make sure:
  • Enable GitHub Copilot
  • Enable suggestions

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4. Check Visual Studio version

Gemini 3 Pro requires:

• Visual Studio 2022 version 17.8 or later

Update via:

• Help -> Check for Updates

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5. Force re-authentication (common fix)

If VS hasn’t synced your entitlement:

1. Sign out of GitHub in Visual Studio
2. Close Visual Studio
3. Reopen and sign back in
4. Restart once more

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Important note

Gemini 3 Pro does not currently appear as a selectable model in Visual Studio like on GitHub Web.
Visual Studio automatically uses the best available model based on your plan.

So if Copilot is installed, enabled, and authenticated correctly, you're already using Gemini 3 Pro, even if it doesn’t explicitly say so.

---

Still not working?

Try:

• Resetting Visual Studio settings
• Reinstalling the GitHub Copilot extension
• Checking firewall / proxy restrictions

Hope this helps 👍

[devhindo]

this is unrelated

[sahildubey11]

Visual Studio 2022 does NOT support Gemini models yet. Right now:

🔹 GitHub Copilot in VS Code → supports model switching, including Gemini 2.0/3.0, Claude, GPT-4o, etc.
🔹 GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 2022 → only supports GitHub models (GPT-based)

No third-party model options are available in VS2022.

So:
You cannot use Gemini 3 Pro inside Visual Studio 2022 (as of now).
That’s why the menu doesn’t appear — it simply doesn’t exist yet.

🧪 How to confirm

Open Visual Studio > Extensions → GitHub Copilot → Settings

You’ll only see:

✔️ Copilot general settings

❌ No "Model selector" dropdown

❌ No Gemini model options

This confirms your VS2022 extension is still the older architecture.

🛠️ What you can do right now

1. Use VS Code if you want Gemini 3 Pro inside an IDE

VS Code already supports:

Switching to Gemini 3 Pro

Full chat

Inline completions

“Copilot Pro” advanced features

2. In Visual Studio 2022, you will still get GitHub Copilot suggestions, but only the old GitHub models.
3. Wait for GitHub to update the Visual Studio plugin

GitHub announced they are working on improved model support for Visual Studio, but no ETA.

[evaldas-raisutis]

I was very surprised to see that VS2026 does not yet support Gemini 3, while VSCode does.

What are we paying for? 😆

[devhindo]

It doesn't work with vscode either when providing your own Gemini API key. It's only available within Copilot Pro.