Unable to copy file .exe in Visual Studio 2017

Question

I have an asp.net core project that references .NET Framework and I'm using Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise. When I try to build my solution, I came across with this error:

Unable to copy file "obj\Debug\net461\MyProject.exe" to "bin\Debug\net461\MyProject.exe". 
Access to the path 'bin\Debug\net461\MyProject.exe' is denied.

Even if I cleaned the solution and build again, I still have this error.

Anyone faced this error?

This solution solves my issue: https://stackoverflow.com/a/73686473/12678101 — pear95, Sep 12 '22 at 11:07

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 28 '17 at 18:24

7

Go to Task Manager and look for Microsoftvshost.exe and kill them all. Even though you stop debugging the exe can continue to run in the background. This causes a lock on the file.

answered Jul 28 '17 at 18:24

Ottak

293
1
6

Thanks for your help @Ottak. I also had to close my antivirus for a while, it looked like it was holding that file. – Tiago Ávila Jul 28 '17 at 19:03

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 12 '22 at 16:55

1

Close the application and delete Obj and bin folder

answered Feb 12 '22 at 16:55

Jinal Bhanushali

41
3

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 27 '21 at 06:29

0

First, make sure you have the .net core localhost server stopped, before trying to build the solution.

answered Sep 27 '21 at 06:29

dezox

146
9

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 02 '21 at 12:00

I have seen this error before. Trying the following has worked for me:

1. Close the current solution.
2. Close Visual Studio.
3. Start Visual Studio in Administrator mode.
4. Re-open and build the solution.

The above can avoid the common copy file and file Access Denied errors.

Unable to copy file .exe in Visual Studio 2017

4 Answers4