Where should I store referenced DLL binaries in my visual studio solution

Question

When writing programs (C#.NET) I'll commonly use external libraries I've downloaded from various websites such as custom WinForm controls, or other libraries. Even if the source is available I usually prefer to reference the compiled DLL files rather then create another whole project in my solution for the 3rd party library or control.

So my question is where would people typically store external DLLs like this in the solution? The referencing project folder? The solution folder? Another folder?

Answer 1

I always create a lib folder at the same level of the src folder and put all external DLLs there. They are referenced through a relative path.