“Access to the path ‘XXXX’ is denied" or "Object reference is not set to instance of an object." “Access to the path ‘XXXX’ is denied" or "Object reference is not set to instance of an object."

“Access to the path ‘XXXX’ is denied" or "Object reference is not set to instance of an object."

Common causes for this exception upon opening SSMS are:

  • The format style files path and/or snippets folder path are not accessible. Please ensure you have full control over these folders.
  • The format style files path and/or snippets folder path do not exist anymore.  Please remove the below registry key(s) and restart SSMS:

    mceclip0.png

If this doesn't help please raise a support ticket.