Microsoft’s Build developer conference returns to San Francisco in June with smaller, in-person format

Build shifts from Seattle to the Bay Area

Microsoft is bringing its Build developer conference back to San Francisco in June 2026, ending a run of in-person events centered in Seattle. The company has scheduled the conference for June 2–3, 2026, and selected Fort Mason as the venue.

The move returns Build to a city that previously hosted major Microsoft gatherings and places the event within a region that has become a focal point for artificial intelligence startups, established platform companies, and developer tooling firms. Microsoft has positioned Build as a developer-focused event where software engineers learn about product roadmaps, development platforms, and new capabilities across Microsoft’s ecosystem.

Attendance cap signals a tighter event design

Microsoft is limiting Build 2026 to about 2,500 attendees, a figure below the scale often associated with the company’s large technical conferences. The smaller cap suggests an event designed around closer interaction, with more emphasis on direct engagement among developers, product teams, and speakers.

Build typically features technical sessions and demonstrations spanning Microsoft’s developer stack, including Windows, Azure, and GitHub. While Microsoft has not published a full session catalog alongside the venue announcement, the company has indicated that the 2026 format is intended to be more focused and more intimate than prior iterations.

Notable speakers expected, including Microsoft leaders

Microsoft has indicated that senior executives are expected to participate, alongside external voices drawn from the developer community. The early speaker list includes Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and GitHub leadership, as well as independent developers and industry figures slated to present technical perspectives.

The planned mix reflects a long-standing Build format: company keynote presentations paired with engineering-level talks that translate platform strategy into implementation details, code patterns, and tooling guidance.

Context: broader conference activity in San Francisco

The Build announcement arrives amid a broader pattern of large-scale events booked for San Francisco’s conference calendar. Microsoft’s Ignite conference is also scheduled to take place in the city in November 2026 at Moscone Center, reinforcing Microsoft’s continued use of San Francisco for major convenings even as Build moves to a different venue and a different scale.

What to watch next

• Registration details and ticketing availability for the capped-capacity event.
• A complete agenda, including session tracks, hands-on labs, and developer workshops.
• Product and platform announcements typically timed to Build, especially across cloud services and developer tooling.

Build 2026 is set to run June 2–3 at Fort Mason, with attendance limited to roughly 2,500 developers.