VS could not find 'Microsoft.VisualBasic.Strings'

Question

Designer window for .VB files in Visual Studio shows error for references to 'Microsoft.VisualBasic.Strings'. This error occurs randomly.

Answer 1

Hello @Gnugs ,

Thanks for your question.

The Visual Studio Designer does not read your code directly. To load visual elements quickly, it reads from a temporary, background cache. Sometimes, this cache becomes corrupted or out of sync with your actual project. When this happens, the Designer temporarily "forgets" the path to standard, built-in libraries like Microsoft.VisualBasic.Strings.

You can refer to these following steps:

1. Please clean and rebuild

• In Visual Studio, click Build in the top menu.
• Click Clean Solution and let it finish.
• Click Build again, then Rebuild Solution. Check if the error is gone.

2. Delete the hidden memory folder

• Close Visual Studio completely.
• Open your project folder in Windows File Explorer.
• Make sure you can see hidden files (check Hidden items under the View tab).
• Delete the hidden folder named .vs.
• Reopen your project. Visual Studio will safely rebuild its memory, and the Designer should work normally.

I hope this addresses your question. If this response was helpful, please consider following the guidance to provide feedback. Thank you.