"XAML Parse Error: Root element is missing" appears when trying to launch 3ds Max

Autodesk Support

Oct 8, 2023

Products and versions covered

Issue:

The following error messages appear when trying to start 3ds Max and the 3ds Max Ribbon may then not appear properly. after startup:

"XAML Parse Error
Error parsing XAML file: Root element is missing."

After clicking OK another message appears:

"Reset Ribbon?
The main Ribbon configuration file is possibly corrupt. Reset to factory defaults?"

Causes:

One or more user-related preference files may have become corrupted or are missing. This can be caused by a variety of issues, including 3ds Max plugins writing to those files, or multiple open copies of 3ds Max being closed quickly and attempting to write to the same files simultaneously.

Solution:

Reset the 3ds Max user preferences back to default, as described in the following article: How to reset 3ds Max user preference settings back to default.

Note: After the reset, the preference folder will be created automatically the next time the program is launched. This process is specific to the active user login on the system, as 3ds Max saves settings for each user profile in Windows.

Products:

3ds Max; 3ds Max Design;

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