error: “A project with the name X already exists” (Java/Maven/VScode)

Question

I'm following the instructions in this VScode tutorial: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/java/java-webapp . It is based on this tutorial by Spring Boot: https://github.com/spring-guides/gs-spring-boot

I'm at the step of building the project. I open the Application.java file in complete/bin/src and press F5 to build. I get this error every time:

"A project with the name spring-boot already exists.
The supplied phased action failed with an exception.
Duplicate root element spring-boot"

The 'Maven' tab of VScode's explorer does show two projects titled "spring-boot". I think this is because there is also a maven project in the "initial" folder. I tried deleting this "initial" folder but the error persisted.

This is my first time building a web app, and first time using Maven, VSCode, and Spring Boot. Also, my question might be specific to the combo of Spring Boot/Maven/VScode. Here is a screenshot of my the VScode project, showing all the elements discussed here: https://imgur.com/a/qPkCTNz

Answer 1

Here's how I solved the same issue.

The repository contains two projects: initial and complete. To follow the tutorial:

• Delete the "complete" project; you should delete the "complete" folder where you stored it on your host and restart VS-code to see the changes.

• In case, like happened to me, you are unable to delete it in VS code directly, you can also try deleting the "initial" folder that way. It worked for me.