How do I rename a Project Folder from within Visual Studio?

Question

Hi,

My current solution for renaming the project folder is:

• Remove the project from the solution.
• Rename the folder outside Visual Studio.
• Re-add the project to the solution.

Is there a better way?

Answer 1

Currently, no. Well, actually you can click the broken project node and in the properties pane look for the property 'Path' then click the small browse icon and select the new path.

Voila :)

Answer 2

There is no simple, one-click way of doing it. Not from within Visual Studio, anyways.

Answer 3

There is another way doing this, using the *.sol, *csproj files.

1. open your solution file
2. search for the *.csproj you would like to change

3. it will be like this (relative to the *.sol file):

   Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "Shani.Commands.Impl", "Shani.Commands.Impl\Shani.Commands.Impl.csproj", "{747CFA4B-FC83-419A-858E-5E2DE2B948EE}"

4. and just change the first part to the new diretory for example:

   Impl\Shani.Commands.Impl\Shani.Commands.Impl.csproj

5. of course don't forget to move the whole project to that directory

Have fun.

Answer 4

To clarify Mortens solution:

• Close the solution.
• Rename the folders outside Visual Studio.
• Open the solution, ignoring the warnings.
• Go through all unavailable projects.
  • Set the property 'File Path' to the new location.
  • Reload the project.
  • In case you didn't rename the project, rename it (F2).

Answer 5

NOTE: This fix is for Visual Studio 2008, but should work here.

1. Using Windows Explorer, rename both the solution folders (the parent folder and the child folder) to the new solution name.
2. Delete the .sln file located in the parent folder.
3. In Visual Studio, select File|Open Project.
4. Drill into the new folder you just renamed and open the .csproj file (located in the child folder).
5. Right-click the project name and rename it to what you want. (Should be the same name as the folder in step 1.)
6. Select File|Close Solution. A dialog will ask if you want to save changes to the .sln file. Click Yes.
7. In the Save File As dialog, point to the newly renamed PARENT folder and click save. (NOTE: Make sure the .sln file has the same name as the folder. Not required, but maintains consistency.)

DONE.

Answer 6

In andersjanmyr's answer its easier to rename the project first.

• Rename project
• Close the solution (save it)
• Rename the folders outside Visual Studio.
• Open the solution, ignoring the warnings.
• Go through all unavailable projects and set the
  property 'File Path' to the new
  location of your project file. ie someproject.csproj
• Reload the project

Also, after those steps are carried out you might want to rename other references to your old project name.

In project properties, update the Assembly Name and Default Namespace. This will update the following in the project file...

<RootNamespace>SomeProjectName</RootNamespace>
<AssemblyName>SomeProjectName</AssemblyName>

...and will get rid of the error "Namespace does not correspond to file location, should be: 'SomeProjectName'"

Rename your root namespace (if you have resharper right click the Namespace and go Refactor -> Rename).

Change all occurences of your old project name in AssemblyInfo.cs

Answer 7

See item 3 in linked article.

a. Close the solution and the IDE

b. In Explorer: Change the directory name to the new name.

c. In Explorer: Open the .sln file with a text editor.

c. Change the directory name to the new name and save.

d. Restart the IDE and open the solution from the File, Recent Files menu if it doesn't start automatically.

e. Click on the Project folder of the Solution Explorer and check the path property in the properties at the bottom. It will now be referencing to the new project folder.

It worked for me.

Answer 8

@andersjanmyr's Solution: you may press Alt+Enter to bring up the Properties Page for the unavailable project and set the "File Path" property there; since it is not available in the right-click_context-menu of the unavailable project (in VS2008).