How to fix “Root element is missing.” when doing a Visual Studio (VS) Build?

Question

How to fix \"Root element is missing.\" when doing a Visual Studio (VS) Build?

Any idea what file I should look at in my solution?

Actually, I am getting thi

Answer 1

In my case I received a message like this: See this picture

I just commented the snipped code below in the project file (.csproj) and the problem was fixed.

<Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />

Answer 2

In xamarin form project. I deleted

.VS Project folder.
ProjectName.Android.csProj.User
ProjectName.Android.csProj.bak

Answer 3

No one of these solutions fixed my problem.

In my case, I finished my work and I shut down my computer. The day after I wasn't able to compile my project. I tried some of these solutions and I realized all my projects weren't work.

To Fix it, I reinstall .net core Framework.

Visual Studio 2017

Answer 4

You can also search for the file. Navigate to your project directory with PowerShell and run Get-FileMissingRoot:

function Get-FileMissingRoot {

    dir -recurse |
        where {
            ($_ -is [IO.FileInfo]) -and 
            (@(".xml", ".config") -contains $_.extension) 
        } |
        foreach {
            $xml = New-Object Xml.XmlDocument;
            $filename = $_.FullName
            try {
                $xml.Load($filename)
            }
            catch {
                write ("File: " + $filename)
                write ($_.Exception.Message)
            }
        }
}

Answer 5

In my case, i was using vs 2010 with crystal report. Innerexception revealed root element is missing error. Go to directory like C:\Users\sam\AppData\Local\dssms\dssms.vshost.exe_Url_uy5is55gioxym5avqidulehrfjbdsn13\1.0.0.0 which is given in the innermessage and make sure user.config is proper XML (mine was blank for some reason).

Answer 6

I had Blue Screen while running Visual Studio 2013, when I Restart I intended to run again my project, but I had always this headius Error. anyway

Deleting The Folders with the Temp info Fix this problem. in my case the Project was a Windows Server, and Basically it Creates a Folder with some Tem info.

the folder was

C:\Users\User_NAME\AppData\Local\NAme_OF_THeProject

inside Exist a Folder with the Name of the Project+ some Generated GUI Service.ServerHostLoader_Url_u2jn0xkgjf1th0a3i2v03ft15vj4x52i

this is the Folder I deleted and now I can run again the Project.