How to: Exclude Projects from a Build

  • Article

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

You can build a solution without building all projects that it contains. For example, you might exclude a project that breaks the build. You could then build the project after you investigate and address the issues.

You can exclude a project by taking the following approaches:

  • Removing it temporarily from the active solution configuration.

  • Creating a solution configuration that doesn’t include the project.

    For more information, see Understanding Build Configurations.

To temporarily remove a project from the active solution configuration

  1. On the menu bar, choose Build, Configuration Manager.

  2. In the Project contexts table, locate the project you want to exclude from the build.

  3. In the Build column for the project, clear the check box.

  4. Choose the Close button, and then rebuild the solution.

To create a solution configuration that excludes a project

  1. On the menu bar, choose Build, Configuration Manager.

  2. In the Active solution configuration list, choose <New>.

  3. In the Name box, enter a name for the solution configuration.

  4. In the Copy settings from list, choose the solution configuration on which you want to base the new configuration (for example, Debug), and then choose the OK button.

  5. In the Configuration Manager dialog box, clear the check box in the Build column for the project that you want to exclude, and then choose the Close button.

  6. On the Standard toolbar, verify that the new solution configuration is the active configuration in the Solution Configurations box.

  7. On the menu bar, choose Build, Rebuild Solution.

See Also

Understanding Build Configurations How to: Create and Edit Configurations How to: Build Multiple Configurations Simultaneously