How to Add Existing Folder to Visual Studio

How to Add Existing Folder to Visual Studio

Visual Studio has a nice feature to add existing files to a project and the process if simple and straightforward. What about adding an existing folder to a project? This is especially useful if you accidentally remove a folder from a project. A typical action done by developers in this case is to create a new folder in the project, add existing files there, delete the existing folder and then rename the new folder.

Visual Studio has functionality to easily add existing folders to the project. However, this functionality is not visible. In other words, there is no "Add Existing Folder..." menu item neither in the main menu, nor in the project's shortcut menu.

To add an existing folder to Visual Studio project first click the Show All Files button in Solution Explorer. This will show all files and folder even if they are excluded from the project. Now just right click a particular folder and select the Include In Project menu item.

For your convenience, please have a look at the screen shot. We have circled in red the Show All Files button and the folder that we would like to include.