dotnet reference remove

This article applies to: ✔️ .NET 6 SDK and later versions

NAME

dotnet-reference-remove - Removes project-to-project (P2P) references.

If you’re using .NET 9 SDK or earlier, use the “verb first” form (dotnet-remove-reference) instead. The “noun first” form was introduced in .NET 10. For more information, see More consistent command order.

SYNOPSIS

dotnet reference remove [-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>] [--project <PROJECT>]


     <PROJECT_REFERENCES>
dotnet reference remove -h|--help

DESCRIPTION

The dotnet reference remove command provides a convenient option to remove project references from a project.

ARGUMENTS

PROJECT

Target project file. If not specified, the command searches the current directory for one.

PROJECT_REFERENCES

Project-to-project (P2P) references to remove. You can specify one or multiple projects. Glob patterns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_(programming)) are supported on Unix/Linux based terminals.

OPTIONS

•: -?|-h|--help

Prints out a description of how to use the command.

•: -f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>

Removes the reference only when targeting a specific framework using the TFM format.

EXAMPLES

•: Remove a project reference from the specified project:

dotnet reference remove lib/lib.csproj --project app/app.csproj

•: Remove multiple project references from the project in the current directory:

dotnet reference remove lib1/lib1.csproj lib2/lib2.csproj

•: Remove multiple project references using a glob pattern on Unix/Linux:

dotnet reference remove **/*.csproj` --project app/app.csproj

2025-10-30