How can I rename a project folder from within Visual Studio?

Question

My current solution for renaming the project folder is:

• Remove the project from the solution.
• Rename the folder outside Visual Studio.
• Re-add the project to the solution.

Is there a better way?

Answer 1

TFS users: If you are using source control that requires you to warn it before your rename files/folders then look at this answer instead which covers the extra steps required.

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To rename a project's folder, file (.*proj) and display name in Visual Studio:

• Close the solution.
• Rename the folder(s) outside Visual Studio. (Rename in TFS if using source control)
• Open the solution, ignoring the warnings (answer "no" if asked to load a project from source control).
• Go through all the unavailable projects and...
  • Open the properties window for the project (highlight the project and press Alt+Enter or F4, or right-click > properties).
  • Set the property 'File Path' to the new location.
    • If the property is not editable (as in Visual Studio 2012), then open the .sln file directly in another editor such as Notepad++ and update the paths there instead. (You may need to check-out the solution first in TFS, etc.)
  • Reload the project - right-click > reload project.
  • Change the display name of the project, by highlighting it and pressing F2, or right-click > rename.

Note: Other suggested solutions that involve removing and then re-adding the project to the solution will break project references.

If you perform these steps then you might also consider renaming the following to match:

1. Assembly
2. Default/Root Namespace
3. Namespace of existing files (use the refactor tools in Visual Studio or ReSharper's inconsistent namespaces tool)

Also consider modifying the values of the following assembly attributes:

1. AssemblyProductAttribute
2. AssemblyDescriptionAttribute
3. AssemblyTitleAttribute

Answer 2

This is straightforward in Visual Studio 2015 (possibly works in older versions)

1. In Solution Explorer, right click on Main solution → Rename
2. In Solution Explorer, right click on project (under solution) → Rename
3. In Solution Explorer, double click, or right click on Properties → goto Application Tab, rename Assembly name and Default namespace to match.
4. If you wish to also rename the namespace, open one of your class files. Right click the namespace → Rename.... This should search and replace all references to your namespace throughout the project.
5. Close the project → rename the project folder.
6. Edit the .sln file in Notepad, and change the path to the csproj, i.e., fu\bar.csproj → bar\bar.csproj.