The view 'Index' or its master was not found.

The view 'Index' or its master was not found. The following locations were searched:
~/Views/ControllerName/Index.aspx
~/Views/ControllerName/Index.ascx
~/Views/Shared/Index.aspx
~/Views/Shared/Index.ascx

I got this error when using ASP.Net mvc area. The area controller action are invoked, but it seems to look for the view in the 'base' project views instead of in the area views folder.

What you need to do is set a token to your area name:

for instance:

context.MapRoute(
        "SomeArea_default",
        "SomeArea/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
        new { controller = "SomeController", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
    ).DataTokens.Add("area", "YOURAREANAME");

This error was raised because your Controller method name is not same as the View's name.

If you right click on your controller method and select Go To View (Ctrl+M,Ctrl+G), it will either open a View (success) or complain that it couldn't find one (what you're seeing).

1. Corresponding Controllers and View folders name have the same names.
2. Corresponding Controller methods & Views pages should same have the same names.
3. If your method name is different than view name, return view("viewName") in the method.

Global.asax file contain the URL Route. Default URL route like this.

"{controller}/{action}/{id}"

So,Try this.

1. Right click your controller method as below.

Example: let say we call Index() method.Right click on it.

2. Click Add View.. and give appropriate name.In this example name should be Index.

Then it will add correct View by creating with relevant folder structure.

Check the generated code at MyAreaAreaRegistration.cs and make sure that the controller parameter is set to your default controller, otherwise the controller will be called bot for some reason ASP.NET MVC won't search for the views at the area folder

public override void RegisterArea(AreaRegistrationContext context)
    {
        context.MapRoute(
            "SomeArea_default",
            "SomeArea/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
            new { controller = "SomeController", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
        );
    }

Where this error only occurs when deployed to a web server then the issue could be because the views are not being deployed correctly.

An example of how this can happen is if the build action for the views is set to None rather than Content.

A way to check that the views are deployed correctly is to navigate to the physical path for the site on the web server and confirm that the views are present.