Import-Module : Could not load type ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.DesignPackageType’ from assembly ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Client, Version=16.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c’

Problem: When trying to import the PowerShell module for SharePoint Online with “Import-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell”, I got an error message:
PS C:\> Import-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell                 
Import-Module : Could not load type ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.DesignPackageType’ from assembly ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Client, Version=16.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c’.
At line:1 char:1
+ Import-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Import-Module], TypeLoadException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.TypeLoadException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Command
   s.ImportModuleCommand

PS C:\>

Or other similar errors:

  • Import-Module : Could not load type ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.CustomerRecoveryKeyMode’
  • import-module could not load type ‘microsoft.sharepoint.administration.spresiliencemodetype’
  • import-module could not load type ‘microsoft.sharepoint.client.clientauthenticationmode’
  • import-module could not load type ‘microsoft.sharepoint.client.customer keyvault key type’
  • import-module could not load type ‘microsoft.sharepoint.client.header layouttype’
  • import-module could not load type ‘microsoft.sharepoint.client.publishing
  • import-module could not load type ‘officedevpnp.core.pages.defaultclientsidewebparts’
  • import-module could not load type ‘system.management.automation.pssnapin’
  • import-module microsoft.online.sharepoint.powershell could not load type

Solution:

This is due to the DLL Version mismatch. To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

  1. Uninstall SharePoint Online Management Shell and SharePoint Online Client SDK if installed.
  2. Delete SharePoint Online Client Assemblies from: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL, remove all Folders starting with name: Microsoft.SharePoint*
    Could not load type Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.DesignPackageType from assembly
  3. Uninstall the module with “Uninstall-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -AllVersions” and reinstall the module “Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell”

In case you face any trouble installing the module, You can download and install the SharePoint Online Management Shell. More here: How to Download and Install SharePoint Online Management Shell?

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - SharePoint Expert with Two decades of SharePoint Experience. Love to Share my knowledge and experience with the SharePoint community, through real-time articles!

9 thoughts on “Import-Module : Could not load type ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.DesignPackageType’ from assembly ‘Microsoft.SharePoint.Client, Version=16.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c’

  • Great Post! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  • I couldn’t get my on-prem SharePoint 2016 server to connect to my SharePoint Online server because of the .dll mismatch issue. (From what I can tell you just can’t run the regular SharePoint Online Shell on an on-prem server with SharePoint installed.) I WAS able to get the new SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell to work though, thanks to your other post here: http://www.sharepointdiary.com/2021/02/how-to-install-pnp-powershell-module-for-sharepoint-online.html

    Thanks so much for posting that! Now I can connect our SP on-prem to our SPO and sync data between them with PowerShell! Game changer!

    Reply
  • I’m getting this same error with my on-prem server. No matter what I try, I can’t seem to run the SharePoint Online shell on my on-prem SharePoint server. I’m trying to run a script that will sync fields from our SharePoint Online instance over to our on-prem server (running SP2016). I thought I could accomplish this on the same machine with 1 script. Is this not possible? The only workaround I can think of is to have 1 machine that can run the SPO shell dump the values in a csv file that the on-prem server can pickup 15 minutes later in another script. That seems crazy though when I should be able to just run 1 PowerShell script to do the whole thing at once. Am I missing something? Any help is greatly appreciated!

    Reply
  • Thank you Thank you Thank you!

    Reply
  • I think you should specify unless you’re hosting SharePoint server on step 2 ;). This would break SharePoint.

    Remove all Folders starting with name: Microsoft.SharePoint*

    Reply
  • This doesn’t work for everyone. I’m having the same issue but I did not have SharePoint Online Management Shell (or SDK). Nor did I have the assemblies mentioned under …/GAC_MSIL). Tried uninstalling from both VSCode/7.1.5 and from PS ISE and reinstalling. Can’t even import it now. I had to install SPOME (used Gil’s link, since it’s current) just to be able to service a client request until I can spend the time to figure it out.

    Reply
  • Awesome, thank you very much. Tried following other guides and nothing worked until I came across your article here and now it works.

    Reply
  • Totally Works for me. Thanks!

    Reply
  • Thank you it worked! The last Install-Module step failed for me but I just downloaded the installation package from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/confirmation.aspx?id=35588

    Reply

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