After cleaning up some data from my user profile, when I launched SQL Server Management Studio 17.4, I got an error. related to automatically saved settings.
Here is the text of the message.
The automatically saved settings file ‘c:\users\<UserName>\documents\visual studio 2015\settings\sql server management studio\NewSettings.vssettings’ cannot be found. You can change this file on the ‘Import and Export Settings’ Tools Options page. The IDE will use your most recent settings for this session.
Once I clicked OK, I was able to get SSMS working and error never appeared. I was curious to know the cause of the error. After capturing Process Monitor I was able to find the location from where SSMS picks the value of the settings file.
Most of the settings are stored in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\14.0
I noticed that I get this error first time when I rename “sql server management studio” folder to “sql server management studio_1” in windows explorer. When I opened SSMS, the folder got created automatically and hence no error appeared again.
Sometimes, you may get an error about network location so you need to find the key which is pointing to a network location and fix that.
Have you ever faced this issue? If yes, please share your experience.
Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)
First appeared on SQL SERVER – The Automatically Saved Settings file NewSettings.vssettings Cannot be Found