How do I set a path in Visual Studio?

Question

How do I set a path for DLL files to be searched in Visual Studio for a particular project alone?

Now I am setting it in the environment path variable, but I would like better control over this.

Do you mean that you're attempting to run something in the debugger, and because the DLLs aren't in PATH, it's not finding them? — Roger Lipscombe, Jan 09 '09 at 13:49
Are you talking about the debugger or running the application from the Window's shell? — Jordan Parmer, Jan 09 '09 at 13:53
Also, are you talking about a DLL you wrote or 3rd-party DLLs you are consuming? — Jordan Parmer, Jan 09 '09 at 14:08
I was asking abt running the exe that is created in debug or release folder — yesraaj, Jan 09 '09 at 15:13

score 117 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 31 '17 at 10:02

117

Search MSDN for "How to: Set Environment Variables for Projects". (It's Project>Properties>Configuration Properties>Debugging "Environment" and "Merge Environment" properties for those who are in a rush.)

The syntax is NAME=VALUE and macros can be used (for example, $(OutDir)).

For example, to prepend C:\Windows\Temp to the PATH:

PATH=C:\WINDOWS\Temp;%PATH%

Similarly, to append $(TargetDir)\DLLS to the PATH:

PATH=%PATH%;$(TargetDir)\DLLS

edited Jul 31 '17 at 10:02

CharlesB

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answered May 26 '10 at 19:28

Multicollinearity

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Works great, but do you know how to do the same for C#? – parsley72 Mar 12 '12 at 04:55
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Be sure not to put spaces around '=' sign. – durasm Feb 27 '17 at 13:31
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I didn't find this in visual studio 2017, anyone else can tell me where can I find it? – RandomEli Dec 07 '17 at 16:44
This answer best matches what I see when using Visual Studio 2019. – Liam Gallagher Mar 31 '21 at 19:23
How can I do this in premake? – Ak01 Jan 28 '22 at 15:15
This works when I run the code in the IDE. But when I manually run the exe, it doesn't work and it can't find the dll (unless I put the dll in the same directory as the exe). How do I fix this? Also, how do I specify this in premake? – Ak01 Jan 28 '22 at 15:38
Project properties are not available when loading a directory (for example, when you are building a CMake code). – elcuco Jun 11 '23 at 20:46

score 55 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

55

You have a couple of options:

You can add the path to the DLLs to the Executable files settings under Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > VC++ Directories (but only for building, for executing or debugging here)
You can add them in your global PATH environment variable
You can start Visual Studio using a batch file as I described here and manipulate the path in that one
You can copy the DLLs into the executable file's directory :-)

edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

Community

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answered Jan 09 '09 at 14:26

Timo Geusch

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With Visual Studio 2010, you can go in your project's property pages, and it's under "Configuration Properties -> VC++ Directories". – Kevin Doyon Jun 29 '10 at 03:34
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@Kevin This is for building, not for running or debugging – user362515 Apr 30 '16 at 15:35
Bullet 1 is deprecated in VS Community 2015. "It is now available as a user property sheet that is added by default to all projects." – Richard Jessop Feb 05 '19 at 17:32
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In VS 2019 you set this in `Project properties -> Common properties -> VC++ Directories -> Executable Directories` you can also add project property sheet and set it there and add the property sheet to all new projects. – metablaster May 25 '20 at 15:50
Alternatively if it doesn't work then: `Project properties -> Common properties -> Debugging -> Environment` add this `PATH=%PATH%; MY_DLL_DIR` replacing the `MY_DLL_DIR` with directory to DLL directory, note the semicolon! – metablaster May 25 '20 at 15:56

score 11 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 11 '16 at 20:13

11

If you only need to add one path per configuration (debug/release), you could set the debug command working directory:

Project | Properties | Select Configuration | Configuration Properties | Debugging | Working directory

Repeat for each project configuration.

edited Apr 11 '16 at 20:13

Jorgesys

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answered May 09 '09 at 16:49

sean e

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 09 '09 at 14:19

Set the PATH variable, like you're doing. If you're running the program from the IDE, you can modify environment variables by adjusting the Debugging options in the project properties.

If the DLLs are named such that you don't need different paths for the different configuration types, you can add the path to the system PATH variable or to Visual Studio's global one in Tools | Options.

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 26 '19 at 10:56

None of the answers solved exactly my problem (the solution file I was running was trying to find xcopy to copy a dll after generation).

What solved it for me was going into menu "Project -> Properties"

Then in the window that opens choosing on the left pane: "Configuration Properties -> VC++ Directories

On the right pane under "General" choosing "Executable Directories "

And then adding:

$(SystemRoot)\system32;$(SystemRoot);$(SystemRoot)\System32\Wbem;$(SystemRoot)\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;$(ExecutablePath)

How do I set a path in Visual Studio?

5 Answers5

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