Create a Test Project

Start Visual COBOL. If you need instructions, see To start Visual COBOL.
Note: On Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows Server 2012, you use the Start screen to invoke programs.

When starting Visual Studio for the first time, you might be prompted to set the environment, depending on the Visual Studio version which is installed.
If you are prompted, choose General development environment. In this setup Visual Studio is customized for work with COBOL projects.
Click File > New > Project.
Expand Installed > COBOL.
Select Native.
In the center pane, select the Console Application template.
In the Name field, type a name for the project.
In the Location field, browse to the directory in which to store the project.
Click OK.
A default console application opens, showing the stub code for Program1.cbl.
Delete the line goback from near the end of the program.
Program termination steps will be added back into the source code as you work through the rest of the tutorial.

The next step is to update the properties for the project.