Unity Issue Tracker - Animator window has a dropdown button that throws “MissingReferenceException” error on a new project when the previous project had a GameObject with an animation

Fixed

Fixed in 6000.0.54f1, 6000.1.12f1, 6000.2.0b10, 6000.3.0a2

Votes

Found in

Issue ID

Regression

Animator window has a dropdown button that throws “MissingReferenceException” error on a new project when the previous project had a GameObject with an animation

-

May 22, 2025

Steps to reproduce:

Create a new Unity project using the Universal 3D template
Create a Cube GameObject (GameObject > 3D Object > Cube)
Open the Animation window (Window > Animation > Animation)
Create a new animation
Open the Animator window (Window > Animation > Animator)
Dock the Animator window
Close the Editor
Repeat step 1
If Animator window is not opened, repeat step 5
Click the "eye" button in the Animator window to hide the Layers and Parameters tab
Click the dropdown button next to the "eye" button in the Animator window
Observe the Console window

Actual results: "MissingReferenceException: The variable m_AnimatorController of AnimatorControllerTool doesn't exist anymore." error is thrown

Expected results: The dropdown should not be in the Animator window and should not throw any errors

Reproducible with versions: 2021.3.51f1, 2022.3.62f1, 6000.0.50f1, 6000.1.4f1, 6000.2.0b3

Tested on (OS): macOS Silicon Sequoia 15.3