Error while removing project dependency in VS2010

Question

I have a large solution with number of projects. Some the projects depend on others (never a circular dependency though).

When I tried to remove a dependency of a project, I am getting an error message like "The dependency was added by the project system and cannot be removed". What is the cause for this error? How I can solve this?

Solution 1

I sometimes get this problem when I try to manually edit projects/solutions generated by our CMake system. I solve it manually:

• Open the dependent .vcproj file in your favorite text editor.
• Find <ProjectReference> tag corresponding to the dependency you want to remove (the include attribute of the tag will contain the name of the dependency project).
• Remove the whole <ProjectReference> element (i.e. starting with <ProjectReference> and ending with </ProjectReference> inclusive). Save the file.
• Reload the solution.

Solution 2

I faced the same issue. But i could solve it by following

• Right click project, select Properties.
• Select Framework and References under Common Properties
• Select the references thats not needed.
• Click on Remove Reference.

Solution 3

Or =>
To remove a reference in Visual C#:

1. In Solution Explorer, open the References node under the project node.
2. Right-click a reference and click Remove

To remove a reference in Visual Basic:

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the My Project node for the project and select Properties.
2. Click the References tab.
3. In the References list, select the reference you want to remove.
4. Click the Remove button

Solution 4

For Visual Studio 2013: On C++ projects (hope the same for others too)

1. From the Solution Explorer, select the project and right click to select the properties
2. In the properties window, on left pane, select Common properties => References
3. Right side of the window, you have the option to Add or Remove the other dependency items.
4. Then select OK, to save

Solution 5

If your project only has the .sln file but not any .csproj, you may want to

1. check the ProjectReferences property and remove the reference project there
2. remove the section from Project to EndProject
3. also remove the related rows under GlobalSection(ProjectConfigurationPlatforms)

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Comments

[jw_]

VS2017+C++: In Solution Explorer, remove the dependencies under the References node under the project. And you also need to edit the sln file, and remove the ProjectSection(ProjectDependencies) = postProject section. And sometimes VS will restore the sln file, so if it doesn't work, you can check the sln file again and remove them.

[onaclov2000]

I have tried this and was getting the error that is listed in the original write-up, just a note.

[echawkes]

This also worked for me with a .vcxproj file in Visual Studio 2015.