How to fully clean bin and obj folders within Visual Studio? - visual-studio

Question

If you right click on a folder, you will see a "Clean" menu item. I assumed this would clean (remove) the obj and bin directory.
However, as far as I can see, it does nothing.
Is there another way?
(please don't tell me to go to Windows Explorer or the cmd.exe)
I'd like to remove the obj and bin folder so that I can easily zip the whole thing.

Answer 1

As others have responded already Clean will remove all artifacts that are generated by the build. But it will leave behind everything else.
If you have some customizations in your MSBuild project this could spell trouble and leave behind stuff you would think it should have deleted.
You can circumvent this problem with a simple change to your .*proj by adding this somewhere near the end :
<Target Name="SpicNSpan"
AfterTargets="Clean">
<RemoveDir Directories="$(OUTDIR)"/>
</Target>
Which will remove everything in your bin folder of the current platform/configuration.
------ Edit
Slight evolution based on Shaman's answer below (share the votes and give him some too)
<Target Name="SpicNSpan" AfterTargets="Clean">
<!-- Remove obj folder -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)" />
<!-- Remove bin folder -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseOutputPath)" />
</Target>
---- Edit again with parts from xDisruptor but I removed the .vs deletion as this would be better served in a .gitignore (or equivalent)
Updated for VS 2015.
<Target Name="SpicNSpan" AfterTargets="Clean"> <!-- common vars https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c02as0cs.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(TargetDir)" /> <!-- bin -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(ProjectDir)$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)" /> <!-- obj -->
</Target>
He also provides a good suggestion on making the task easier to deploy and maintain if you have multiple projects to push this into.
If you vote this answer be sure to vote them both as well.

Answer 2

If you are using git and have a correct .gitignore in your project, you can
git clean -xdf --dry-run
to remove absolutely every file on the .gitignore list, i.e. it will clean obj, and bin folders (the x triggers this behavior)
Note: The parameter --dry-run will only simulate the operation ("Would remove ...") and show you what git would delete. Try it with dry-run, then remove the parameter and it will really delete the files+folders.
Optionally, after that clean command, you can use dotnet restore mySolution.sln to get all the NUGET packages restored. And if you have a developer console open anyway, you can quickly run msbuild -m mySolution.sln afterwards (without having Visual Studio open) to see if it was successful.

Answer 3

For Visual Studio 2015 the MSBuild variables have changed a bit:
<Target Name="SpicNSpan" AfterTargets="Clean"> <!-- common vars https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c02as0cs.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(TargetDir)" /> <!-- bin -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(SolutionDir).vs" /> <!-- .vs -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(ProjectDir)$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)" /> <!-- obj -->
</Target>
Notice that this snippet also wipes out the .vs folder from the root directory of your solution. You may want to comment out the associated line if you feel that removing the .vs folder is an overkill. I have it enabled because I noticed that in some third party projects it causes issues when files ala application.config exist inside the .vs folder.
Addendum:
If you are into optimizing the maintainability of your solutions you might want to take things one step further and place the above snippet into a separate file like so:
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="SpicNSpan" AfterTargets="Clean"> <!-- common vars https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c02as0cs.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(TargetDir)" /> <!-- bin -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(SolutionDir).vs" /> <!-- .vs -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(ProjectDir)$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)" /> <!-- obj -->
</Target>
</Project>
And then include this file at the very end of each and every one of your *.csproj files like so:
[...]
<Import Project="..\..\Tools\ExtraCleanup.targets"/>
</Project>
This way you can enrich or fine-tune your extra-cleanup-logic centrally, in one place without going through the pains of manually editing each and every *.csproj file by hand every time you want to make an improvement.

Answer 4

To delete bin and obj before build add to project file:
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<!-- Remove obj folder -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)" />
<!-- Remove bin folder -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseOutputPath)" />
</Target>
Here is article: How to remove bin and/or obj folder before the build or deploy

Answer 5

This site: https://sachabarbs.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/powershell-to-clean-visual-studio-binobj-folders/ uses William Kempf's powershell commands to remove any bin and obj folders from the current directory and sub directories. It should be possible to run it from the root of the drive.
Here is William's version
gci -inc bin,obj -rec | rm -rec -force
In William's own words:
That wipes out all of the “bin” and “obj” directories in the current
directory and every subdirectory. Super useful to run in your
workspace directory to get to a “clean” state, especially when someone
messes up and there’s something that a Clean or Rebuild inside the IDE
doesn’t catch.
For those of you reading that may not know, PowerShell supports
command aliases, here it is rewritten again not using the aliases
Get-ChildItem -inc bin,obj -rec | Remove-Item -rec -force
NOTE : You should have this stored in a PowerShell file and place that
file at the root of your solution (where the .sln file resides), and
then run it when you want a proper clean (not the micky mouse one that
VisualStudio does, and reports success too).

Answer 6

Check out Ron Jacobs fantastic open source CleanProject It even takes care of the zipping if you like.
Here is the CodePlex link

Answer 7

Visual Studio Extension
Right Click Solution - Select "Delete bin and obj folders"

Answer 8

You can easily find and remove bin and obj folders in Far Manager.
Navigate to you solution and press Alt+F7
In search setting dialog:
Type "bin,obj" in field "A file mask or several file masks"
Check option "Search for folders"
Press Enter
After the search is done, switch view to "Panel".
Select all files (with Ctrl+A) and delete folders (press "Shift+Del")
Hope it helps someone.

Answer 9

Based on Joe answer, I've converted the VB code into C# :
/// <summary>
/// Based on code of VSProjCleaner tool (C) 2005 Francesco Balena, Code Archirects
/// </summary>
static class VisualStudioCleaner
{
public static void Process(string rootDir)
{
// Read all the folder names in the specified directory tree
string[] dirNames = Directory.GetDirectories(rootDir, "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories);
List<string> errorsList = new List<string>();
// delete any .suo and csproj.user file
foreach (string dir in dirNames) {
var files = new List<string>();
files.AddRange(Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.suo"));
files.AddRange(Directory.GetFiles(dir, "*.user"));
foreach (string fileName in files) {
try {
Console.Write("Deleting {0} ...", fileName);
File.Delete(fileName);
Console.WriteLine("DONE");
} catch (Exception ex) {
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine(" ERROR: {0}", ex.Message);
errorsList.Add(fileName + ": " + ex.Message);
}
}
}
// Delete all the BIN and OBJ subdirectories
foreach (string dir in dirNames) {
string dirName = Path.GetFileName(dir).ToLower();
if (dirName == "bin" || dirName == "obj") {
try {
Console.Write("Deleting {0} ...", dir);
Directory.Delete(dir, true);
Console.WriteLine("DONE");
} catch (Exception ex) {
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine(" ERROR: {0}", ex.Message);
errorsList.Add(dir + ": " + ex.Message);
}
}
}
Console.WriteLine(new string('-', 60));
if (errorsList.Count == 0) {
Console.WriteLine("All directories and files were removed successfully");
} else {
Console.WriteLine("{0} directories or directories couldn't be removed", errorsList.Count);
Console.WriteLine(new string('-', 60));
foreach (string msg in errorsList) {
Console.WriteLine(msg);
}
}
}
}

Answer 10

In windows just open the explorer
navigate to your SLN folder
click into search field and type kind:=folder;obj --> for obj folders
use CTRL+A and delete 'em - same for bin
Done
No need for any tool or extra software ;)

Answer 11

Clean will remove all intermediate and final files created by the build process, such as .obj files and .exe or .dll files.
It does not, however, remove the directories where those files get built.
I don't see a compelling reason why you need the directories to be removed.
Can you explain further?
If you look inside these directories before and after a "Clean", you should see your compiled output get cleaned up.

Answer 12

I use VisualStudioClean which is easy to understand and predictable. Knowing how it works and what files it is going to delete relieves me.
Previously I tried VSClean (note VisualStudioClean is not VSClean), VSClean is more advanced, it has many configurations that sometimes makes me wondering what files it is going to delete? One mis-configuration will result in lose of my source codes. Testing how the configuration will work need backing up all my projects which take a lot of times, so in the end I choose VisualStudioClean instead.
Conclusion : VisualStudioClean if you want basic cleaning, VSClean for more complex scenario.

Answer 13

I can't add a comment yet (no minimal reputation reached)
so I leave this reply to underline that:
the "BeforeBuild" action with <RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)" /> is great but, for me, is conflicting with an Entity Framework model included into the same project.
The error I receive is:
Error reading resource '{mymodel}.csdl' -- 'Could not find a part of the path '{myprojectpath}\obj\Release\edmxResourcesToEmbed\{mymodel}.csdl
I suppose, the "edmxResourcesToembed" is created before the "BeforeBuild" target action is executed.

Answer 14

This is how I do with a batch file to delete all BIN and OBJ folders recursively.
Create an empty file and name it DeleteBinObjFolders.bat
Copy-paste code the below code into the DeleteBinObjFolders.bat
Move the DeleteBinObjFolders.bat file in the same folder with your solution (*.sln) file.
#echo off
#echo Deleting all BIN and OBJ folders...
for /d /r . %%d in (bin,obj) do #if exist "%%d" rd /s/q "%%d"
#echo BIN and OBJ folders successfully deleted :) Close the window.
pause > nul

Answer 15

Update: Visual Studio 2019 (Clean [bin] and [obj] before release). However I am not sure if [obj] needs to be deleted. Be aware there is nuget package configuration placed too. You can remove the second line if you think so.
<Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent" Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Release'">
<!--remove bin-->
<Exec Command="rd /s /q "$(ProjectDir)$(BaseOutputPath)" && ^" />
<!--remove obj-->
<Exec Command="rd /s /q "$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)Release"" />
</Target>

Answer 16

I store my finished VS projects by saving only source code.
I delete BIN, DEBUG, RELEASE, OBJ, ARM and .vs folders from all projects.
This reduces the size of the project considerably. The project
must be rebuilt when pulled out of storage.

Answer 17

Just an addendum to all the fine answers above in case someone doesn't realize how easy it is in VB/C# to automate the entire process down to the zip archive.
So you just grab a simple Forms app from the templates (if you don't already have a housekeeping app) and add a button to it and then ClickOnce install it to your desktop without worrying about special settings or much of anything. This is all the code you need to attach to the button:
Imports System.IO.Compression
Private Sub btnArchive_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnArchive.Click
Dim src As String = "C:\Project"
Dim dest As String = Path.Combine("D:\Archive", "Stub" & Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss") & ".zip")
If IsProjectOpen() Then 'You don't want Visual Studio holding a lock on anything while you're deleting folders
MsgBox("Close projects first, (expletive deleted)", vbOKOnly)
Exit Sub
End If
If MsgBox("Are you sure you want to delete bin and obj folders?", vbOKCancel) = DialogResult.Cancel Then Exit Sub
If ClearBinAndObj(src) Then ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory(src, dest)
End Sub
Public Function ClearBinAndObj(targetDir As String) As Boolean
Dim dirstodelete As New List(Of String)
For Each d As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(targetDir, FileIO.SearchOption.SearchAllSubDirectories, "bin")
dirstodelete.Add(d)
Next
For Each d As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(targetDir, FileIO.SearchOption.SearchAllSubDirectories, "obj")
dirstodelete.Add(d)
Next
For Each d In dirstodelete
Try
Directory.Delete(d, True)
Catch ex As Exception
If MsgBox("Error: " & ex.Message & " - OK to continue?", vbOKCancel) = MsgBoxResult.Cancel Then Return False
End Try
Next
Return True
End Function
Public Function IsProjectOpen()
For Each clsProcess As Process In Process.GetProcesses()
If clsProcess.ProcessName.Equals("devenv") Then Return True
Next
Return False
End Function
One thing to remember is that file system deletes can go wrong easily. One of my favorites was when I realized that I couldn't delete a folder because it contained items created by Visual Studio while running with elevated privileges (so that I could debug a service).
I needed to manually give permission or, I suppose, run the app with elevated privileges also. Either way, I think there is some value in using an interactive GUI-based approach over a script, specially since this is likely something that is done at the end of a long day and you don't want to find out later that your backup doesn't actually exist...

Answer 18

this answer is great I just want to comment on the last part of the answer
NOTE : You should have this stored in a PowerShell file and place that
file at the root of your solution (where the .sln file resides), and
then run it when you want a proper clean (not the micky mouse one that
VisualStudio does, and reports success too).
Alternatively, you can add the following to your profile.ps1
function CleanSolution {
Get-ChildItem -inc bin,obj -rec | Remove-Item -rec -force
}
Set-Alias cs CleanSolution
Then you can use either CleanSolution or cs to run. That way you can use it for any project and without the ./ prefix of the filename

Answer 19

Complete one-liner you can invoke from within Visual Studio
In your solution root folder create a file called "CleanBin.bat" and add the following one-liner:
Powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoExit -Command "Get-ChildItem -inc bin,obj -rec | Remove-Item -rec -force"
Run the .bat file. Enjoy.
Original creds to the answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/43267730/1402498
The original answer shows the powershell command, but I had a lot of trouble making it work smoothly on my system. I finally arrived at the one-liner above, which should work nicely for most folks.
Caveat:
Microsoft seems to be great at making Windows security cause stranger and stranger behavior. On my machine, when I run the script, all obj and bin folders are deleted but then reappear 2 seconds later! Running the script a second time causes permanent deletion. If anyone knows what would cause this behavior, please let me know a fix and I'll update the answer.

Answer 20

for visual studio 2022
you can use:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=MadsKristensen.CleanSolution

Answer 21

If you need to delete bin and obj folders from ALL of your projects...
Launch git Bash and enter the following command:
find . -iname "bin" -o -iname "obj" | xargs rm -rf

Answer 22

For C# projects, I recommend appending $(Configuration) to obj folder, so-as to avoid deleting nuget files which are stored on obj base directory.
<Target Name="CleanAndDelete" AfterTargets="Clean">
<!-- Remove obj folder -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)$(Configuration)" />
<!-- Remove bin folder -->
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BaseOutputPath)" />
</Target>
If you delete the nuget files, it can be problematic to recreate them. Moreover, I've never seen a case where "Restore NuGet Packages" fixes this issue after these files have been deleted.