How do I delete NuGet packages that are not referenced by any project in my solution?

nuget visual-studio-2012
Howard Pinsley picture Howard Pinsley · Aug 17, 2012 · Viewed 163.2k times · Source

Somehow during the upgrade to VS2012 and .NET 4.5, I've managed to get NuGet confused. There are packages that appear in the package manager (and the packages folder) that I cannot delete (I believe they are legacy ASP.NET NuGet packages that have been replaced with new package names with the new version. They each have only a Manage button -- but no uninstall button. And when you look to see where they are used, you can see that they are referenced by none of the solution's projects? They are NOT displaying an Uninstall?

Answer

James L picture James L · Oct 29, 2013

I've found a workaround for this.

  1. Enable package restore and automatic checking (Options / Package Manager / General)
  2. Delete entire contents of the packages folder (to Recycle Bin if you're nervous!)
  3. Manage Nuget Packages For Solution
  4. Click the restore button.

NuGet will restore only the packages used in your solution. You end up with a nice, streamlined set of packages.

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