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TRoman's avatar
TRoman
New Member
5 months ago

Method not found: 'Void Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializerSettings..ctor(Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer"

Hi everyone,   After updating to the March 2026 release (2.152.882.0), I'm unable to open any .pbip (Power BI Project) files. Opening .pbix files works without any issues. Error message: Method n...
Need Help
hale's avatar
hale
Icon for Helper II rankHelper II
4 months ago

This issue happens to me today while setting up a new laptop. If you have visual studio, it is quite straight forward to fix, hopefully will help someone:

  1. Assuming you have this issue because you have a lower version of this dll  Newtonsoft.Json.dll in the following folder C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Newtonsoft.Json
  2. Search your drive for Newtonsoft.Json.dll and find one with version 13.0.3.27908. You should have plenty as most applications ship with the dll that they compile with.
  3. Make another folder and copy that dll with higher version in that folder.
  4. Open Visual Studio then open Developer Command Prompt or you can go straight to Visual Studio Command Prompt.
  5. Change default directory to the directore you created in step 3
  6. run command gacutil -i Newtonsoft.Json.dll
  7. Confirm the new dll has been registered with GAC by seeing this message: Assembly successfully added to the cache.
  8. Open PBI project file again and the issue should be fixed.

Hope this helps.

  • Rami20's avatar
    Rami20
    New Member
    4 months ago

    Does anyone still have this issue? i downloaded the April update and it still exists.

    Thanks

    • v-echaithra's avatar
      v-echaithra
      Icon for Community Support rankCommunity Support
      4 months ago

      Hi Rami20 ,

      Even with the April update, this issue can still occur because it is environment dependent rather than strictly tied to the Power BI Desktop version. Please check the version of Newtonsoft.Json in the GAC at C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Newtonsoft.Json. If it is 13.0.1, the issue will persist, whereas 13.0.3 or higher should resolve it. Power BI (March/April) requires Newtonsoft.Json ≥ 13.0.2, but if an older version exists in the GAC, it overrides the bundled version, causing .pbip files to fail. As a temporary workaround, you can try using the January version.
      Previous monthly updates to Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

      Hope this helps.

  • markmak77's avatar
    markmak77
    New Member
    4 months ago

    Thanks - this helped me resolve the issue.

     

    One thing I'd suggest improving in the instructions though is step 2. You can get the dll directly from NuGet: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Newtonsoft.Json/13.0.3 -> download package -> rename extension from "nupkg" to "zip" -> extract -> dll is located in "lib/net45".

  • RomanTesolkin's avatar
    RomanTesolkin
    Frequent Visitor
    1 month ago

    this worked, however need admin rights to perform such change