"VisualStudioTools" module not found after all standard fixes

Development Programming & Scripting C++
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1

Hello,

I’m encountering a persistent, critical build error that has stopped my development completely. I have spent months troubleshooting this and have exhausted all standard fixes. I’m hoping someone in the community might have seen such a deep environmental issue before.

The Core Error:

The build fails with this specific message, even on a brand new, blank C++ project:
Expecting to find a type to be declared in a module rules named 'VisualStudioTools' in 'UE5Rules, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'. This type must derive from the 'ModuleRules' type defined by UnrealBuildTool.

My Environment:

  • OS: Windows 11
  • IDE: Visual Studio 2022 Community (latest version)
  • Engine Versions Tested: The error occurs on both a custom 5.6 build and the official Epic Games Launcher version of UE 5.4.

What I Have Already Tried:

This error persists even after performing a complete “clean slate” diagnosis. My troubleshooting steps include:

  • Testing on multiple brand new, blank C++ projects.
  • Testing on two engine versions (UE 5.4 and 5.6).
  • Performing a full repair of Visual Studio 2022 (uninstalled and reinstalled all Unreal Engine integration components).
  • Deleting Binaries, Intermediate, Saved, and .vs folders multiple times.
  • Clearing the Unreal Build Tool cache folder (%localappdata%/UnrealBuildTool).
  • Verifying Engine Files via the Epic Games Launcher.
  • Running the Windows System File Checker (sfc /scannow) with no integrity violations found.

Even after all of these steps, a brand new C++ project on a verified UE 5.4 installation fails to build with the same VisualStudioTools error. This strongly suggests the problem is not the project or the engine, but a deep issue in my Windows environment.

Has anyone ever encountered this error persisting after all of these steps? Any ideas on what a deeper OS-level conflict could be?

Thank you for your time reading this.

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2

I’ve ran into this issue myself and there are two ways to solve this.

Approach #1 (I went with this):

Disable Visual Studio Integration Tool.

If you go to the Fab page for this plugin, it states the following:

This plugin is no longer required for Visual Studio Unreal Integration. You can now directly install required components from the Visual Studio Unreal Engine Configuration page inside the IDE.

You’ll get a warning in your Unreal Engine Integration Configuration status checker when running that in Visual Studio, but I haven’t encountered any blocking issues. You’re able to get all the integration features without this plugin.

Per the official Setting Up Visual Studio instructions, UnrealVS Extension in Visual Studio is the only recommended thing that you should install outside of the normal boilerplate stuff for UE C++ development (and even that is not required).

Approach #2:

You can copy the VisualStudioTools plugin folder from UE Engine’s Plugins directory to your project’s Plugins directory. For example (assuming UE 5.6):

  1. Create a Plugins folder in the root of your UE project.
  2. Copy C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.6\Engine\Plugins\VisualStudioTools and paste it into your project’s Plugins folder that you created in step #1.

I don’t know if this is desirable, but it worked for me. Still, I prefer the first approach, given that even the official Fab page states that this plugin is no longer required and I’m sure that the Unreal Engine Integration Configuration checker will be updated to reflect that eventually.

Hope this helps.