Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference · error · InvalidOperationException

You shouldn't call Cleanup for Editors. Dispose resources in

Error message

You shouldn't call Cleanup for Editors. Dispose resources in Editor.OnDisable

What it means

Editor.Cleanup is the counterpart to Initialize: hidden via EditorBrowsable(Never) and throwing InvalidOperationException. Resource disposal for editors must happen in OnDisable, so calling Cleanup directly is disallowed.

Source

Thrown at Editor/Mono/Inspector/Editor.cs:1516

            return true;
        }

        public virtual bool UseDefaultMargins()
        {
            return true;
        }

        [EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]
        public void Initialize(UnityObject[] targets)
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("You shouldn't call Initialize for Editors");
        }

        [EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]
        public void Cleanup()
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("You shouldn't call Cleanup for Editors. Dispose resources in " +
                "Editor.OnDisable");
        }

        public bool MoveNextTarget()
        {
            referenceTargetIndex++;
            return referenceTargetIndex < targets.Length;
        }

        public void ResetTarget()
        {
            referenceTargetIndex = 0;
        }

        // Implement this method to show a limited inspector for showing tweakable parameters in an Asset Store preview.
        internal virtual void OnAssetStoreInspectorGUI()
        {
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 225b0fbdb5)

Solutions

1. Do not call Cleanup; release resources in Editor.OnDisable.
2. If a container requires explicit teardown, route it to destroy the editor (DestroyImmediate/UnityEngine.Object lifecycle) rather than calling Cleanup.
3. Exclude Cleanup from any convention-based method invoker.

Example fix

// before
editor.Cleanup(); // InvalidOperationException

// after
// move disposal into OnDisable; do not call Cleanup

// Cleanup is intentionally non-functional; do not call it.
// Dispose resources in OnDisable instead.

When it happens

Trigger: Explicitly calling editor.Cleanup(), or an auto-disposal/reflection routine that invokes public methods matching a cleanup convention.

Common situations: DI/container frameworks calling a Cleanup/Dispose-like method by convention. Code that pairs an Initialize call with a Cleanup call. Assuming Cleanup frees native resources.

Related errors

• You shouldn't call Initialize for Editors
• gameObject
• Delegate already registered for dropDestinationId:{dropDstId
• You can't set the target on an editor.
• Value for parameter atlases is null

AI-assisted analysis of Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference@225b0fbdb5 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/599374add562dd10. Report an issue: GitHub.