How to make a Copy of a Project/Solution in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012?

Question

As title states: How to make a Copy of a Project/Solution in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012?

It is such a simple option, and it seems to be unavailable.

Answer 1

What I've found to work so far, assume you have a solution folder structure like so:

mysolution
    mysolution
    mysolution.sln

You then copy (literally Ctrl+C & Ctrl-V) everything so it looks like this:

mysolution
    mysolution
    mysolution-copy
    mysolution.sln
    mysolution-copy.sln

Open file mysolution-copy.sln with a text editor and replace "mysolution\mysolution.vbproj" with "mysolution-copy\mysolution.vbproj"

Then open mysolution-copy.sln file with Visual Studio and build it...now it should all work again.

Answer 2

Here is the good news: If you have Blend for Visual Studio 2012 installed, which came with my Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Professional installation, then you can do the following:

1. Save the project in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.
2. Open Blend for Visual Studio 2012.
3. Open the project you are working on.
4. Go to File > Save Copy of Project
5. Open copy of project in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.

And here is your new copy. A few remarks:

• The copy function does act like a Clean Build though, so keep in mind that you need to rebuild everything.
• Also make sure that you select the correct Configuration in Microsoft Visual studio 2012 again.
• You will still need to remove the project itself in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.