I’ve developed a Windows Forms app in VS2022 which has a couple int-typed User Settings so that when the user modifies certain parameters their values are saved and loaded in the next app execution. This has generated an App.config xml file in my project with Build Action->None and Copy to Output Directory->Do not copy properties.

When I publish my app (with publish option Produce single file), 3 files are generated in my output directory: the .exe, a .pdb and a .dll.config file.

If I move the .exe to a different folder it throws the following exception when I launch it:

System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException: Configuration system failed to initialize`

So it appears to be dependent on being in the same directory as the .dll.config file.

I’ve tried setting App.configs Build Action to Embedded Resource but it still throws the exception, is there a workaround to this dependency?