SourceTree fails to start with "Root element is missing" error

Jen-Lung Chiu

I installed SourceTree a while back and everything worked fine until this morning when the machine rebooted abruptly. After the reboot, SourceTree fails to start with the following error. Uninstall then reinstall does not help. Would appreciate if someone could help resolve this issue. Thanks,

 

(34a8.349c): CLR exception - code e0434352 (first chance) CLR exception type: System.Xml.XmlException

     "Root element is missing."

 (34a8.349c): CLR exception - code e0434352 (first chance)

CLR exception - code e0434352 (!!! second chance !!!)

 CLR exception type: System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException

     "Root element is missing."

 

105349

Hey Jen-Lung!

Are you on Windows?  If so, navigate to this directory:

%USER%\AppData\Local\Atlassian\

And delete a file that looks like this:

SourceTree.exe_Url_xxxxxxxxxx

Where xxxxxxxxx is a random hash.  This is your user.config file, and sometimes it can become corrupt during a sudden interruption of service.  You should be able to just move it to another location too, if you don't want to delete it straightaway.  

Good luck!