I had just the same problem in Visual Studio 2015. But Utamaru's solution worked for me.

Make a folder: Assets/Plugins where you put the *.dll file and add it as a reference.

To add a reference you highlight the Analyzers in the Solution Explorer in Visual Studio and under Project > Add Reference you can find your *.dll file located in Assets/Plugin by browsing to it.

Answer from KollKode on Stack Overflow
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Unity
docs.unity3d.com › Packages › com.unity.nuget.newtonsoft-json@2.0 › manual › index.html
Newtonsoft Json Unity Package | Newtonsoft Json | 2.0.2
LINQ to JSON for manually reading and writing JSON ... Supports .NET Standard 2.0, .NET 2, .NET 3.5, .NET 4, .NET 4.5, Silverlight, Windows Phone and Windows 8 Store · This is a package intended for internal Unity Development Projects and as such this package is not supported.
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GameDev.tv
community.gamedev.tv › unity courses › ask
How to install NewtonSoft Json in unity or Visual studio code? - Ask - GameDev.tv
April 22, 2025 - Hello. I’m transitioning to Json saving trying following the Brian’s tutorial but I must admit i’m a little bit confuse according NewtonSoft Json. I assume I haven’t any Json install in my unity version: or Json: …
Discussions

c# - Adding Json.Net to a Unity3D project - Stack Overflow
To add a reference you highlight ... your *.dll file located in Assets/Plugin by browsing to it. ... Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments. ... I also had to restart Unity. 2018-05-26T00:16:34.573Z+00:00 ... Or if you dont require Newtonsoft.Json (Json.NET), ... More on stackoverflow.com
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Newtonsoft Json package - Unity Engine - Unity Discussions
So now that Unity has brought in Newtonsoft.Json.dll in their own package, the docs say: “To avoid assembly clashes, please use this package if you intend to use Newtonsoft Json.” But the docs for the package say: "This is a package intended for internal Unity Development Projects and as ... More on discussions.unity.com
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September 3, 2020
Trying to use NewtonSoft.Json or Unity.Newtonsoft.Json, getting an installation error.
I've written a bit about this in the past. http://www.what-could-possibly-go-wrong.com/unity-and-nuget/ I created the fork of Json.net for Unity. It is tested with Unity on PC and Android platforms. https://github.com/codecapers/Unity.Newtonsoft.Json More on reddit.com
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1
March 4, 2017
Newtonsoft Json package - Unity Engine - Unity Discussions
So now that Unity has brought in Newtonsoft.Json.dll in their own package, the docs say: “To avoid assembly clashes, please use this package if you intend to use Newtonsoft Json.” But the docs for the package say: "This is a package intended for internal Unity Development Projects and as ... More on forum.unity.com
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September 3, 2020
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GitHub
github.com › applejag › Newtonsoft.Json-for-Unity
GitHub - applejag/Newtonsoft.Json-for-Unity: Newtonsoft.Json (Json.NET) 10.0.3, 11.0.2, 12.0.3, & 13.0.1 for Unity IL2CPP builds, available via Unity Package Manager · GitHub
June 1, 2023 - Newtonsoft.Json-for-Unity.Converters package for converting Unity types, such as the Vector3, Quaternion, Color, and many, many more!
Starred by 1.3K users
Forked by 134 users
Languages   C#
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Medium
rehtse-studio.medium.com › made-with-unity-newtonsofts-json-net-b64236d59e76
Made With Unity | Newtonsoft’s Json.NET | by Rehtse Studio | Medium
October 6, 2022 - I’m holding on to the other two ... get the Newtonsoft package. On Unity go to Windows->Package Manager, once the Package Manager window opens, go to Add package from git URL, type com.unity.nuget.newtonsoft-json press Add and ...
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Unity
discussions.unity.com › unity engine
Newtonsoft Json package - Unity Engine - Unity Discussions
September 3, 2020 - So now that Unity has brought in Newtonsoft.Json.dll in their own package, the docs say: “To avoid assembly clashes, please use this package if you intend to use Newtonsoft Json.” But the docs for the package say: "This is a package intended ...
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Unity
docs.unity3d.com › Packages › com.unity.nuget.newtonsoft-json@1.1 › manual › index.html
Netwonsoft Json Unity Package | Newtonsoft Json | 1.1.2
LINQ to JSON for manually reading and writing JSON ... Supports .NET Standard 2.0, .NET 2, .NET 3.5, .NET 4, .NET 4.5, Silverlight, Windows Phone and Windows 8 Store · This is a package intended for internal Unity Development Projects and as such this package is not supported.
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NuGet
nuget.org › packages › Unity.Newtonsoft.Json
NuGet Gallery | Unity.Newtonsoft.Json 7.0.0
March 23, 2015 - <PackageReference Include="Unity.Newtonsoft.Json" Version="7.0.0" />
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/unity3d › trying to use newtonsoft.json or unity.newtonsoft.json, getting an installation error.
r/Unity3D on Reddit: Trying to use NewtonSoft.Json or Unity.Newtonsoft.Json, getting an installation error.
March 4, 2017 -

I know Newstonsoft.Json doesn't work with Unity projects, but someone made a UnityJson, and it's giving me the same error.

Could not install package 'Unity.Newtonsoft.Json 7.0.0'. You are trying to install this package into a project that targets '.NETFramework,Version=v3.5,Profile=Unity Full v3.5', but the package does not contain any assembly references or content files that are compatible with that framework. For more information, contact the package author. 0

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Open Collective
opencollective.com › newtonsoftjson-for-unity
Newtonsoft.Json for Unity - Open Collective
June 1, 2020 - For the .NET community and all of us that just want to parse JSON within our Unity projects. Using Newtonsoft.Json inside the Unity3D game engine is simple at first. Just push in the .dll and start coding. Perhaps even use some NuGet downloader to keep the binaries out of your git repository.
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GitHub
gist.github.com › onionmk2 › d2e3e4cca27a37a89796e084e05de212
Json.Net ( Newtonsoft.Json ) in Unity · GitHub
June 23, 2017 - Move \Bin\net35\Newtonsoft.Json.dll to Asset\ Add NewBehaviourScript.cs to any object in Scene · Play · Copy link · Author · According to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36239705/serialize-and-deserialize-json-and-json-array-in-unity, Unity's JsonUtility does not support array as it is still new.
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Lunalabs
docs.lunalabs.io › json in unity playworks plugin
JSON in Unity Playworks Plugin | Unity Playworks - Developer Docs
... First you will need to download the Newtonsoft package from NuGet (link here). After downloading the package you will see the file type is .nupkg, change this to .zip and then extract the contents. Inside the extracted contents navigate to /lib/netstandard2.0 and copy the Newtonsoft.Json.dll ...
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Unity
docs.unity3d.com › Packages › com.unity.nuget.newtonsoft-json@2.0 › index.html
Home Page. | Newtonsoft Json | 2.0.2
November 11, 2021 - Home Page · This is the home page for this package · Back to top · Copyright © 2023 Unity Technologies — Terms of use · Legal · Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information · Your Privacy Choices (Cookie Settings)
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Unity
docs.unity3d.com › 2019.4 › Documentation › Manual › com.unity.nuget.newtonsoft-json.html
Unity - Manual: Newtonsoft Json
June 3, 2022 - To avoid assembly clashes, please ... to use Newtonsoft Json. Package version 3.0.2 is verified for Unity Editor version 2019.4. These package versions are available in Unity version 2019.4: ... Copyright © 2021 Unity Technologies. Publication Date: 2022-06-03. TutorialsCommunity AnswersKnowledge ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/unity3d › using json.net with unity?
r/Unity3D on Reddit: Using JSON.NET with Unity?
March 16, 2015 -

Using the NET 2.0 DLL since Unity doesn't support any higher. With the following code:

using Newtonsoft.Json;

public static class ItemDatabase {
    public static void Test() {
        ItemData boots = new ItemData {
            name = "Boots",
            description = "Keeps your feet warm",
            sprite = "boots"
        };
        ItemData[] dataArray = { boots };
        int[] intArray = { 1 };

        JsonConvert.SerializeObject(boots); // works
        JsonConvert.SerializeObject(dataArray); // crashes
        JsonConvert.SerializeObject(intArray); // works
    }
}

public struct ItemData {
    public string name;
    public string description;
    public string sprite;
}

When I serialize "ItemData" it works fine, but when I serialize an "ItemData" array Unity crashes. The log it dumps is cryptic so I don't know what's happening. I'm sure there are others out there using JSON.NET because that's what I see recommended here often, any ideas?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/unity3d › newtonsoft.json v12.0.1 for unity via unity package manager
r/Unity3D on Reddit: Newtonsoft.Json v12.0.1 for Unity via Unity Package Manager
July 18, 2019 - Unity + Json.NET Here's a Newtonsoft.Json v12.0.1 package for Unity with support for built projects and even IL2CPP built projects (such as WebGL…