No exports were found that match the constraint contract name Visual Studio 2013

The “No exports were found that match the constraint contract name” error in Visual Studio can be frustrating, but it can be resolved by following these steps:

Table of Contents

Step 1: Navigate to the AppData Folder

Open “My Computer” or “This PC” on your computer.
Locate and open the “C Drive.”

Look for the “Users” folder and open it.
Choose your specific user folder (usually your username, e.g., codegainer).
The “AppData” folder is hidden by default. To access it, you need to enable hidden folders. In the “View” menu, check “Hidden items” to make the “AppData” folder visible.

Step 2: Locate the ComponentModelCache Folder

Inside the user’s folder, navigate to the “AppData” folder.
Within “AppData,” find and open the “Local” folder.
Look for the “Microsoft” folder and open it.

Depending on your Visual Studio version (e.g., 12.0 for Visual Studio 2013), locate and open the corresponding folder (e.g., “12.0” folder).

Step 3: Delete or Rename the ComponentModelCache Folder

Inside the Visual Studio version folder, find the folder named “ComponentModelCache.”
You can either delete this folder or rename it to something else (e.g., “ComponentModelCache_old”). Deleting or renaming this folder will remove any cached data that might be causing the error.

Step 4: Restart Visual Studio

Before proceeding, make sure to close Visual Studio if it is currently open.
After deleting or renaming the “ComponentModelCache” folder, restart Visual Studio.

Step 5: Verify if the Error is Resolved

Open the existing project in Visual Studio or create a new project to check if the error still persists.

With the “ComponentModelCache” folder cleared, the error should be resolved, and Visual Studio should load the project without any issues.

Conclusion

The “No exports were found that match the constraint contract name” error in Visual Studio can be fixed by removing the “ComponentModelCache” folder, which contains cached data that might be causing conflicts. By following the steps mentioned above, you can successfully clear the cache and resume working on your projects in Visual Studio without encountering this error. Remember that clearing the cache will not cause any data loss, as Visual Studio will recreate the necessary cache files as needed. Happy coding!