Failed to load AppCompat ActionBar with unknown error in android studio

Question

Below is my xml file. In preview there is two error'Failed to load AppCompat ActionBar with unknown error' & 'Failed to instaniate more than one class'. How ever am able to run the app.But the app crashes and in Logcat no errors are shown.

This is my preview screen shot

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/drawer_layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
    tools:openDrawer="start">


    <include
        layout="@layout/app_bar_main"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="506dp" />

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/layout_main"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
        xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:weightSum="1"
        tools:context=".Activity.MainActivity">


    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/main_layout"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
        xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_weight="0.7"
        tools:context=".Activity.MainActivity">

        <!-- our tablayout to display tabs  -->
        <android.support.design.widget.TabLayout
            android:id="@+id/tabLayout"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginTop="50dp"
            app:tabMode="scrollable"
            app:tabSelectedTextColor="@color/colorBlack"
            app:tabTextColor="@color/colorWhite"
            android:background="@color/colorOran"
            android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
            />

        <!-- View pager to swipe views -->
        <android.support.v4.view.ViewPager
            android:id="@+id/pager"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"/>

    </LinearLayout>

        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/ll"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="64dp"
            android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
            android:background="#ffffff"
            android:orientation="horizontal"
            android:layout_weight="0.3"
            android:weightSum="4"
            tools:layout_editor_absoluteX="8dp"
            android:layout_marginBottom="8dp"
            android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
            android:layout_alignParentStart="true">

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/btn_home"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1"
                android:src="@drawable/ta_home_icon"
                android:background="@color/colorOran"
                android:layout_marginRight="1dp"
                android:scaleType="fitCenter"/>

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/btn_new"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1"
                android:src="@drawable/ta_todaydeals_icon"
                android:background="@color/colorOran"
                android:layout_marginRight="1dp"
                android:scaleType="fitCenter"/>

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/btn_fav"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1"
                android:src="@drawable/ta_fav_icon"
                android:background="@color/colorOran"
                android:layout_marginRight="1dp"
                android:scaleType="fitCenter"/>

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/btn_auth"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_weight="1"
                android:src="@drawable/ta_franchie_icon"
                android:background="@color/colorOran"
                android:scaleType="fitCenter"
                android:layout_marginRight="1dp"
                />

        </LinearLayout>

    </LinearLayout>


    <android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        android:id="@+id/nav_view"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
        app:headerLayout="@layout/nav_header_main"
        app:menu="@menu/activity_main_drawer" />


</android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout>

Below is appbar_main

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context="com.jeyashri.kitchen.jeyashriskitchen.Activity.MainActivity">

    <android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme.AppBarOverlay">


        <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
            android:id="@+id/toolbar"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
            android:background="@color/colorOran"
            app:popupTheme="@style/AppTheme.PopupOverlay">

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/app_logo"
                android:layout_width="80dp"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:src="@drawable/img"/>

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/btn_social"
                android:layout_width="75dp"
                android:layout_height="35dp"
                android:layout_marginRight="1dp"
                android:src="@drawable/share_icon" />

    </android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>

    </android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

    <include layout="@layout/content_main" />


</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

For a solution without changing the appcompat library, see: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44223687#45002903 — Mr-IDE, Nov 26 '17 at 14:51
Possible duplicate of [Android Studio rendering problems](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18195807/android-studio-rendering-problems) — Shayan, Aug 18 '18 at 06:13
I pity you all slaves working with this * of an IDE. Get some life before you are dead. — user30478, Jan 08 '19 at 12:05

score 326 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 07 '18 at 12:17

326

The solution to this problem depends on the version of the Android support library you're using:

Support library `26.0.0-beta2`

This android support library version has a bug causing the mentioned problem

In your Gradle build file use:

compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.0.0'

with:

buildToolsVersion '26.0.0'

and

classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.0.0-alpha8'

everything should work fine now.

Library version 28 (beta)

These new versions seem to suffer from similar difficulties again.

In your res/values/styles.xml modify the AppTheme style from

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

to

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Base.Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

(note the added Base.)

Or alternatively downgrade the library until the problem is fixed:

implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha1'

edited Aug 07 '18 at 12:17

michael-slx

665
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answered Jul 01 '17 at 08:26

Debashis Choudhury

3,392
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14
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23

Thank you! that did it. BTW for us Android dev newbiew is worh saying that change should be performed on build.gradle(Module: app) file – Julian Borrero Jul 18 '17 at 15:53
The response and the comment made my life so much easier! – Articulous Jun 18 '18 at 14:02
2

I just started today. I came across this issue. This answer asks to compile something, of which I have no idea as it does not explain how to do it. But the answer by tanchap solves issue. He/She clearly explained what to do. It was a simple task fora fresher like me. So I think that should be the answer. – Buddhika Ariyaratne Jul 07 '18 at 19:10
1

Newb error for me! When I set up my new project, I forgot to uncheck the "Backwards Compatibility" option (I don't need backwards compatibility). I re-created the project with this unchecked and all is good! – Doug J. Huras Jul 15 '18 at 19:44
Well 28.0.0-beta01 has this problem again. Not sure why android studio still has this problem when its over a year. – kks21199 Aug 03 '18 at 17:56
7

Just curious: how does one go about figuring something like this out? I would never have guessed... – BareMetalCoder Aug 07 '18 at 14:05
3

Thanks, but why this bug still exists in 2018? For an Android newbie, I cannot create a "Hello World" project because of this bug. – Searene Aug 12 '18 at 08:51
1

Changing from `implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-rc01'` to `implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha1'` works just fine. – Avijit Aug 17 '18 at 06:34
1

– Csongi77 Nov 05 '18 at 18:27
Perfect! In my case, changing back to the alpha1 fixed it. Thank you so much! – Renato Jan 15 '19 at 11:17
1

Dears, please answer my question, I have done what mentioned in the answer, and it fixed the problem, BUT THE QUESTION IS: How on earth should I know that this is the problem ? How should I know (without searching SO) that if I upgraded the version then this may/or will happen ? – Mostafa Alayesh Feb 04 '19 at 22:03

score 277 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 11 '18 at 16:09

277

found it on this site, it works on me. Modify /res/values/styles.xml from:

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
</style>

to:

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Base.Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
</style>

edited Jun 11 '18 at 16:09

meesern

2,518
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answered Dec 02 '17 at 19:55

tanchap

2,771
2
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Can you add an explanation of why this works? It will help people who revisit this in the future. – Thomas Smyth - Treliant Dec 02 '17 at 20:17
13

March 1st, 2018 confirmed this fixed my issue. – John Riselvato Mar 02 '18 at 03:09
Just note that, if it doesn't work after adding "Base" in your AppTheme, just goto Theme Option from top of your layout preview,Click on Menifest Themes From Left side options and then select your AppTheme. It will automatically refresh the layout. – Khaled Saifullah Apr 10 '18 at 06:10
4

This also worked for me. Does anyone know why this is necessary, though? I've been away from Android for a few years and I cannot believe how much finagling I've had to do to get a simple project up and running. (This includes trying to build/run some of the sample projects provided by Android Studio.) – pdoherty926 Jun 08 '18 at 00:01
July 8th, 2018. This solved my issue. This should be the correct answer. – Buddhika Ariyaratne Jul 07 '18 at 19:06
Worked for me. Thanks. Though I have changed `com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha3` to `com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha1` before. in `Module:app` – Jul 08 '18 at 19:04
2

July, 16th, 2018, works for me too with 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha3'. – CoolMind Jul 16 '18 at 15:54
26th of July 2018, works for me too with 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha3 – Mohammed Aouf Zouag Jul 26 '18 at 12:10
28 july 2018, only added Base. – DivineCoder Jul 28 '18 at 16:36
Worked for me, too, without needing to change `implementation [...]-alpha[whatever]` – Pistos Aug 12 '18 at 20:40
This worked for me. 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-rc01' – Anil Aug 21 '18 at 16:56
Works as of 31/08/18 :) – Lumin Aug 31 '18 at 13:29

Abhishek · Answer 3 · 2018-06-25T13:08:55.753

26

June 2018 Issue fixed by using a different appcompact version. Use these codes onto your project dependencies...

In build.gradle(Module: app) add this dependency

implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha1'

Happy Coding... :)

edited Jun 25 '18 at 13:08

answered Jun 12 '18 at 09:46

Abhishek

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It's again broken in beta :( – nifCody Jul 28 '18 at 11:10

duyuanchao · Answer 4 · 2018-08-05T03:59:28.863

Method 1:

Locate /res/values/styles.xml

Change

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

To

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Base.Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

Method 2:

Modify template file(locate: android-studio/plugins/android/lib/templates/gradle-projects/NewAndroidModule/root/res/values/styles.xml.ftl)

Change

backwardsCompatibility!true>Theme.AppCompat<#else><#if

To

backwardsCompatibility!true>Base.Theme.AppCompat<#else><#if

Watch Solution On YouTube

Muhammad Azam · Answer 5 · 2018-08-25T13:03:40.830

17

I also had this problem and it's solved as change line from res/values/styles.xml

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

to

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
<style name="AppTheme" parent="Base.Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

both solutions worked

edited Aug 25 '18 at 13:03

answered Aug 25 '18 at 12:57

Muhammad Azam

535
7
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happy coding :) – Muhammad Azam Oct 09 '18 at 14:41

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 29 '18 at 15:23

Faced the same problem in Android Studio 3.1.3

Just go to style.xml file

and replace Theme name

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

with

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Base.Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

Then clean and rebuild the project.This will solve the error.

score 6 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 30 '17 at 12:45

6

Open preview mode

follow the below link to fix the issue

Fix - Rendering Problems The Following classes could not be found : android.support.v7.internal

goto appTheme ----> select Holo Theme ---> refresh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MxBnwpcUjA

answered Nov 30 '17 at 12:45

Upendranath Reddy

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just changing theme from preview pane to some theme other than AppTheme worked – Qasim Dec 28 '17 at 08:22
It worked for me, just changing the theme other than AppTheme – gIrL Aug 30 '18 at 06:11

score 5 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 20 '17 at 21:52

5

Try this:

Just change:

compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.0.0-beta2'

to:

compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.0.0-beta1'

Reference

answered Jul 20 '17 at 21:52

Vishal Yadav

3,642
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score 5 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 06 '18 at 13:41

5

Replace implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-beta01' with

implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha1'

in build.gradle (Module:app). It fixed my red mark in Android Studio 3.1.3

answered Aug 06 '18 at 13:41

Kashif

439
6
10

Great happy coding – Kashif Aug 08 '18 at 09:44
Is there a way to change this at the app level? So that this need not be replicated for every project that I have. – TheGeeko61 Sep 15 '18 at 03:35

score 4 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 16 '17 at 16:24

4

in android 3.0.0 canary 6 you must change all 2.6.0 beta2 to beta1 (appcompat,design,supportvector)

answered Jul 16 '17 at 16:24

reza rahmad

1,009
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score 3 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 09 '18 at 08:52

3

This is Worked for me i have made the following changes in Style.xml

Change the Following Code:

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

With

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Base.Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">

answered Jul 09 '18 at 08:52

tech.mohit.garg

631
8
18

score 2 · Answer 12 · edited Jul 25 '17 at 15:45

2

Use this one:

implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.0.0-beta1'
implementation 'com.android.support:design:26.0.0-beta1'

instead of

implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.0.0-beta2'
implementation 'com.android.support:design:26.0.0-beta2'

In my case it removed the rendering problem.

edited Jul 25 '17 at 15:45

Tamás Sengel

55,884
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answered Jul 25 '17 at 14:16

vikash singh

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score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 13 '18 at 16:51

This is the minimum configuration that solves the problem.

use:

dependencies {
    ...
    implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:26.1.0'
    ...
}

with:

 compileSdkVersion 26
 buildToolsVersion "26.0.1"

and into the build.gradle file located inside the root of the proyect:

buildscript {
    ...
    ....
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.0.1'
        ...
        ...
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Jul 10 '18 at 09:08

I was also facing the same problem. Nothing like changing theme from Layout preview window helped me.

What helped me was adding this to Apptheme in styles.xml:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:27.0.2'
    implementation 'com.android.support:design:27.0.2'
}

Still it was giving me the error: "cannot resolve symbol widget...coordinatorLayout". Then I updated my build.gradle(app) with:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:27.0.2'
    implementation 'com.android.support:design:27.0.2'
}

One more thing:

compileSdkVersion 27
targetSdkVersion 27

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 13 '18 at 11:08

I also had this problem with implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0.0-alpha3'.

The solution for me was to go File -> Invalidate Caches / Restart -> Invalidate -> Close Project -> Remove project from project window -> Open Project (from project window).

Failed to load AppCompat ActionBar with unknown error in android studio

15 Answers15

Support library `26.0.0-beta2`

Library version 28 (beta)

Method 1:

Method 2:

Watch Solution On YouTube

Linked

Failed to load AppCompat ActionBar with unknown error in android studio

15 Answers15

Support library 26.0.0-beta2

Library version 28 (beta)

Method 1:

Method 2:

Watch Solution On YouTube

Linked

Support library `26.0.0-beta2`