An error occurred while signing: SignTool.exe not found

Visual StudioVisual Studio-2010

Visual Studio Problem Overview


While I was trying to Update my Project I was making - I got an error for the first time I've seen:

> 'An error occurred while signing: SignTool.exe not found.'

I've never seen this before, So I looked up that SignTool.exe is what signs my project for ClickOnce Deployment.

I also read that is it a part of Windows SDK - but when I looked to find where SignTool.exe is - I saw it right there!

  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin

I saw no problem, and I've always published my Project all the time - I'm on Version 68. But this is the first time I've seen this - I didn't touch any options that would do this.

Any help?

Visual Studio Solutions


Solution 1 - Visual Studio

ClickOnce Publishing Tools are not installed as part of the Typical Installation Options. So you have to install it in advanced mode. ClickOnce installation

This dialog can be found in Windows 7 by going to Control Panel > Uninstall a program, right-clicking on Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2015 and selecting Change. A Visual Studio dialog will open up. Select Modify from the set of buttons at the bottom and the above dialog will appear.

Solution 2 - Visual Studio

Please Click Once application --> Properties --> Signing -> Unchecked the Sign the ClickOnce manifests.

Problem will be solved.

Note: Be aware that this solution removes security from your project. Seek assitance from a more learned colleague before doing so.

Solution 3 - Visual Studio

SignTool is moved to another location in the last SDK: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\bin\x86

Need to install ClickOnce Publishing Tools during Visual Studio 2015 setup.

You can re-run the Installation from the Programs and Features section; find Visual Studio in the list and click Change.

Solution 4 - Visual Studio

You can fix this by clicking on installation application of VS. Then click Modify > Mark ClickOnce App and then upgrade your VS. Also i think @Alex Erygin is right. It is a bad solution to Click Once application --> Properties --> Signing -> Uncheck Sign the ClickOnce manifests. This is not a solution. It only circumambulated the problem.

Solution 5 - Visual Studio

This is a simple fix. Open the project you are getting this error on. Click "Project" at the top. Then click " Properties" ( Will be the name of the opened project) then click "Security" then uncheck "Enable ClickOnce security settings."

That should fix everything.

Solution 6 - Visual Studio

Click "Project" at the top. Then click " Properties" -> Signing -> Unchecked [Sign the ClickOnce manifests] is now working

Solution 7 - Visual Studio

Now try to publish the ClickOnce application. If you still find the same issue, please check if you installed the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 Developer Preview on the system. The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 Developer Preview is a prerelease version of the .NET Framework, and should not be used in production scenarios. It is an in-place update to the .NET Framework 4. You would need to uninstall this prerelease product from ARP.

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vsnetsetup/2013/11/18/an-error-occurred-while-signing-signtool-exe-not-found/

Lastly you might want to install the customer preview instead of being on the developer preview

Solution 8 - Visual Studio

None of the answers above talk about disabling ClickOnce. In my situation, I never used ClickOnce for my applications but after I upgraded to VS 2015 it was suddenly enabled and I got the 'SignTool.exe not found' error when I tried to compile.

To disable you go into the properties of your Project (right click) and choose Security | Uncheck Enable ClickOnce security settings.

You can leave the manifest checked in the Signing tab because it has nothing to sign if it's been disabled.

I've confirmed that unchecking the security resolved the compile error on my projects.

Solution 9 - Visual Studio

I needed Signing hence couldn't un-check as suggested.

Then goto Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Click Change then the installer will load and you need to click Modify to add ClickOnce Publishing Tools feature.

Solution 10 - Visual Studio

I did have similar problem. For some reason under project properties -> Signing -> Sign ClickOnce manifests was enabled.

I unchecked it and the problem went away.

Solution 11 - Visual Studio

Reinstalling SDK did not help me but installing SDK+.NET 3.5 did from link below: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3138

Solution 12 - Visual Studio

Windows 10 users can find signtool.exe in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.18362.0\x64 folder (10.0.18362.0 in my case, or other version).


But first, make sure you've installed Windows 10 SDK

Then, check Windows SDK Signing Tools for Desktop Apps is installed by going to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features, choose Windows Software Development Kit - Windows 10.0.18362.1 (in my case, you version may be different), right-click, choose Change, choose options Change then click Next.

Solution 13 - Visual Studio

I had the same issue/error message just after upgrading Visual Studio Pro 2019 V16.6.0. Solution was to make sure that the signing certificate is valid as mine had expired by a day.

Look in properties and signing to either enter a valid or temporary certificate. To keep the file name the same as before then un-click the security as mentioned above and then delete the key file linked to the programme.

Create a new key file and then add back the security.

Solution 14 - Visual Studio

  1. Solution Explorer
  2. Your app Right Clik
  3. Propatis
  4. Security
  5. Unchek (Enable ClickOnce Security Settings) Thats Solve..... __:)
  6. https://i.stack.imgur.com/62nKZ.png See

[enter image description here]

Solution 15 - Visual Studio

After upgrading build tools in DevOps build agent to visual studio 2019, we started getting the below error for 64-bit build step of a WPF application.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Professional\MSBuild\Current\Bin\amd64\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(3975,5): error MSB3482: An error occurred while signing: SignTool.exe was not found at path

I tried all the above answers except the ones to disable signing or signing security and nothing helped.

Disabled the default MSBUILD step enter image description here

Added a cmd prompt step enter image description here

The path is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Professional\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MsBuild.exe"

Note: Removed amd64 from the path above.

This is still a workaround. I hope Microsoft will fix it in the following release.

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QuestionAlexView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Visual StudioAlex EryginView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Visual StudioVigneshView Answer on Stackoverflow
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