dotnet --list-sdks
x86 or x64 architecture
Each version of the .NET SDK is available in both x86 and x64 architecture. The project might be trying to find the .NET SDK for the wrong architecture, or the .NET SDK for the architecture your project needs might not be installed. Check the installation folders for the architecture you need. For example, on Windows, the x86 version of the .NET SDK is installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet and the x64 version is installed in C:\Program Files\dotnet. See How to check that .NET is already installed and choose your operating system to find out how to detect what's installed on your machine.
If the version you need isn't installed, find the one you need at the .NET Downloads page.
Visual Studio version
The .NET SDK might have been installed with Visual Studio 2022, so upgrading to a later version of Visual Studio might install a later .NET SDK and resolve this error. For more information, see Update Visual Studio.
Preview not enabled
If you have a preview installed of the requested .NET SDK version, you also need to set the option to enable previews in Visual Studio. Go to Tools > Options > Environment > Preview Features, and make sure that Use previews of the .NET Core SDK is checked.
Visual Studio version
For example, .NET Core 3.0 and later require Visual Studio 2019. Upgrade to Visual Studio 2019 version 16.3 or later to build your project.
Visual Studio for Mac
VS for Mac supports both dotnet msbuild and MSBuild on Mono. But the .NET SDK version is downgraded when MSBuild on Mono is used, and this can result in the NETSDK1045 error.
Open the Solution Properties window (ctrl-click the solution in the Solution window and select Properties), select Build - General, and uncheck Build with MSBuild on Mono. This Build with MSBuild on Mono option will be checked if there are any classic projects in the solution, and this can cause problems since Mono does not support the later .NET SDKs.
For more information about which Visual Studio for Mac 2022 versions support which .NET versions, see Supported versions of .NET.
PATH environment variable
The build tools use the PATH environment variable to find the right version of the .NET build tools. If the PATH environment variable contains direct paths to older build tools, this error message could appear. Make sure the only path to the .NET tools in the PATH environment variable is to the top-level dotnet folder, for example, C:\Program Files\dotnet. An example of an incorrect PATH would be something like C:\Program Files\dotnet\2.1.0\sdks.
MSBuildSDKPath environment variable
Check the MSBuildSDKPath environment variable. This optional environment variable is recognized by MSBuild and if set, overrides the default value. It might be set to a specific older version of the .NET SDK. If it's set, try deleting it and rebuilding your project.
global.json file
Check for a global.json file in the root folder in your project and up the directory chain to the root of the volume, since it can be anywhere in the folder structure. If it contains an SDK version, delete the sdk node and all its children, or update it to the desired newer .NET Core version.
"sdk": {
"version": "2.1.0"
The global.json file is not required, so if it doesn't contain anything other than the sdk node, you can delete the whole file.
Directory.build.props file
The Directory.build.props file is an optional MSBuild file that can set global properties. Check for these files in the solution folder and up the directory chain to the root of the volume, since they can be anywhere in the folder structure. Look for TargetFramework elements, or settings of MSBuildSDKPath that could override your desired settings.
See also
.NET Downloads
The Current .NET SDK does not support targeting .NET Core 3.0 – Fix
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