Visual Studio for Mac: No SDK found at specified location.

Lars Gossard 51

After updating Visual Studio for Mac to version 8.9 the Apple SDK is no longer found. When entering /Applications/Xcode.app Visual Studio states XCode 12.4 found at default location. After restarting Visual Studio it is set back to /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools stating No SDK found at specified location.

Also, there is no longer an iOS item in section Projects.

Trying to compile an iOS project on the command line throws this error:
Could not find a valid Xcode app bundle at '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools'. Please update your Apple SDK location in Visual Studio's preferences (Projects > SDK Locations > Apple > Apple SDK).

What happened? I could not find any related information in the Release notes.

Ken Tucker 5,851 Reputation points

2021-03-03T13:49:40.15+00:00

did you open xcode? First time it is run it installs some needed stuff
Lars Gossard 51 Reputation points

2021-03-03T13:57:57.523+00:00

Yes, see my 4th screenshot. I also uninstalled and reinstalled Visual Studio for Mac. No success.
SchmidtHelmut-8495 6 Reputation points

2021-03-05T09:00:42.78+00:00

I can confirm the original poster's problem.

I haven't tried yet reinstalling XCode as I've already installed most recent version (12.4) and wouldn't want to reinstall the ca. 15 GB just to test this out.
João Paquete 26 Reputation points

2021-03-05T09:29:11.813+00:00

Trailing slash was the problem thx!
Jacob Clark 21 Reputation points

2021-03-08T19:03:15.77+00:00

Good lord have mercy!
So I struggled with this and wasted a day of work trying to figure out why, all of the sudden, this began happening.
Same exact situation. no reasonable solution

This is a bug in VS for Mac. Please fix this.

1st off, the recent VS update broke this. I re-installed my entire mac. Wiped the hard drive completely. Re-Installed XCode, VS for Mac, Everything. Whaat a mess.

and it was fixed.... for a bloody day!

Next thing I know, back to the same problem.

Browsing to the correctly installed XCode.app should be all you would need to do.

However, Thanks to paulpflug up there, I did not have to resort to hari-kari. The trailing slash (how did you figure that out??) fixed it.

sheesh, folks.
Özer Şengezer 11 Reputation points

2021-03-09T20:35:15.3+00:00

How can such a mistake really happen. You can't see it in any release notes and we lost a whole day to solve the problem. I really can't understand how such a ridiculous mistake can be made.
softlion 1 Reputation point

2021-03-10T13:05:39.147+00:00

It happens for me after installing brew, required to install gh the new gitbuh command line, as standard git is now unable to get any github repo.

I reinstalled xcode, same issue.

Using the / at the end worked.
You are really silly noobs ms guys.

Same issue in Vs Windows.
Neville Dastur 1 Reputation point

2021-03-12T19:10:41.447+00:00

Frankly I have come to expect this from MS. Their QC is just awful.
Nino Padrutt 1 Reputation point

2021-03-15T11:16:24.403+00:00

I did reinstall XCode but that didn't help. Also I have it on the latest stable as well as on the preview of VS for Mac.
Emil Alipiev 276 Reputation points

2022-01-14T20:29:14.097+00:00

same for me after installing brew. I followed suggestion paulpflug and it worked fine but why brew caused this issue? was something changed in Xcode or VS?

4 answers

Paul Pflug 121 Reputation points

2021-03-05T08:53:44.227+00:00

Try to change the location to /Applications/Xcode.app/ (with trailing slash). After restarting VS it works for me.
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24 people found this answer helpful.
SchmidtHelmut-8495 6 Reputation points

2021-03-05T09:02:59.3+00:00

Thank you, that fixed the problem for me.

ThiloE 1 Reputation point

2021-03-09T13:00:22.427+00:00

Thanks! This prevented me from deinstalling Visual Studio for Mac and reverting back to developing with a Windows PC.

Pablo Erick 6 Reputation points

2021-03-11T17:36:02.993+00:00

Thank... thank !!!!!!!!!!!!!! but
what is the logic of this "/" in the end?
And how HOW by God did you think of that?
Never mind, it worked and ready.
]1

Lars Gossard 51 Reputation points

2021-03-19T09:50:07.107+00:00

Damn, I'm already reinstalling Xcode while reading this. I'll mark this as the accepted answer as soon as I can try it and confirm it solves the problem.

Pablo Erick 6 Reputation points

2021-03-19T10:08:18.217+00:00

all of us friends, we all did it… and it was just… /

Quorfee 1 Reputation point

2021-03-28T20:13:44.553+00:00

@Paul Pflug simple and obvious fix that I completely failed to think of for hours. A day of my life I'll never get back but at least with your fix tomorrow will be a more productive day.

Michael Hu 1 Reputation point

2021-06-08T01:20:59.843+00:00

yes, it works for me too, thanks

ray2day 1 Reputation point

2022-11-02T19:02:32.403+00:00

hell yeah.. finaly fixed - thx for the solution to this problem!

Lino Garcia Vallejo 1 Reputation point

2022-12-07T23:06:08.57+00:00

It worked for me!
Thank you very uch
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Hui Li 6 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-04-21T20:17:47.123+00:00

@Lars Gossard
You can set the path to /Applications/Xcode.app to fix the issue.
You can open xcode on your macbook and check "Locations" , then "Command Line Tools", choose Xcode that you installed, copy the location to the Visual Studio preferences-->SDK Locations-->Apple-->Location
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1 person found this answer helpful.
kajal pokale 1 Reputation point

2022-01-24T06:25:15.443+00:00

I have faced the same issue after installing brew,
but your solution worked for me, thanks.
After setting this location need to restart the visual studio.
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Robert de Jongh 5 Reputation points

2023-08-24T11:49:10.34+00:00

I fixed it by starting Xcode then select "Settings..." and then in the Locations tab I choose Command Line Tools. Initially the path /Application/Xcode.app was empty.

I hope this helps.
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Robert de Jongh 5 Reputation points

2023-08-24T11:51:11.3666667+00:00
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Cole Xia (Shanghai Wicresoft Co,.Ltd.) 6,751 Reputation points

2021-03-22T03:16:30.76+00:00

A fix for this issue has been released! Install the most recent release from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/.
Check https://developercommunity2.visualstudio.com/t/VS-2019-Mac-Fails-To-Find-Xcode-12/1193691 .
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Visual Studio for Mac: No SDK found at specified location.

4 answers