In my case it was to first launch Visual Studio in safe mode. You can create a shortcut for visual studio with a target like this:
'"F:\Program Files\Visual Studio\VS2013\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" -safemode'
Once launched in safe mode, you can remove the problematic extension via the Addin Manager
. However, this wont work for some extensions, as the uninstall option might be disabled for certain extensions when running in safe mode, particularly if you have already uninstalled another extension in the same session.
In My case the problem was caused by Paradox Game engine, in which I had uninstalled it via 'Programs and Features' - which in return did not remove the extension which was originally installed via Nuget package. Uninstalling Paradox via "Programs And Features" left the extension itself still registered in Visual Studio, presumably causing a hidden NullReferenceException
.
This issue can be caused by any extension that may have an error in it, or by extensions that were not properly uninstalled.
Also, see this article...