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Visual Studio 2022 - 'The system how to find the file specified' when trying to add a reference to an existing project

šŸ‘€ Views: 86 šŸ’¬ Answers: 1 šŸ“… Created: 2025-06-13
visual-studio project-references dotnet6 C#

I'm working through a tutorial and I'm confused about I've searched everywhere and can't find a clear answer. I've been struggling with this for a few days now and could really use some help. I've been struggling with this for a few days now and could really use some help... I'm working with an scenario in Visual Studio 2022 while trying to add a reference to an existing project in my solution. Every time I attempt to add a reference, I get the behavior message: 'The system want to find the file specified'. I've checked that the project I’m trying to reference is indeed present in the solution, and it builds without any issues. I've tried the following steps to resolve the question: 1. I made sure that both projects (the one I'm referencing and the one trying to add the reference) are targeting the same .NET version (both are targeting .NET 6). 2. I cleared the Visual Studio cache using `devenv /clearcache` and restarted Visual Studio, but the scenario continues. 3. I also tried manually editing the `.csproj` file to add the reference directly, like so: ```xml <ItemGroup> <ProjectReference Include="..\SomeOtherProject\SomeOtherProject.csproj" /> </ItemGroup> ``` But even this doesn't seem to resolve the scenario; upon building, I still receive the same behavior. I also checked the Output window for any additional details, but it only reiterates the same behavior message without further context. Is there something specific I might be missing in the project configuration or settings? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. For context: I'm using C# on Linux. For context: I'm using C# on Ubuntu. For context: I'm using C# on Windows 11. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks for any help you can provide! This issue appeared after updating to C# 3.11.