The APK file does not exist on disk

Question

When I am trying debug application on Android Studio gives this log output :

The APK file /Users/MyApplicationName/app/build/outputs/apk/app-debug.apk does not exist on disk.

I restarted Android Studio, but I can't solve this problem . How can I solve it ? Thank you

@TimCastelijns I actually wonder if Android Studio is not intelligent enough to include the create debug apk task into the deb application task. Gradle should be made for this. — NoDataDumpNoContribution, Dec 02 '15 at 10:23
@Trilarion By default AS executes gradle's assembleDebug task which compiles a debug apk. Something seems wrong here, which requires manual compilation — Tim, Dec 02 '15 at 10:25
Adding Gradle Make-Aware fixed this issue for me. http://stackoverflow.com/a/25871525/1712417 — Iammesol, Dec 10 '15 at 18:53
Try to add "Gradle Make-Aware" http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18256177/android-studio-local-path-doesnt-exist/25871525#25871525 — Andy Cheng, Apr 28 '16 at 05:19
For me this was fixed by clearing android studio cache w/ rm -rfv ~/Library/Caches/AndroidStudio* Another workaround was renaming the apk to the apk that android studio was looking for.. but that's a temporary solution — The Tokenizer, Jun 19 '17 at 03:45

score 465 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 15 '18 at 11:52

465

Click this option to solve the error:

Run: View > Tool Windows > Gradle > [project] > Tasks > build > build

edited Oct 15 '18 at 11:52

Askr

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answered Jan 08 '16 at 02:47

指尖上的Android

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Special characters in your project directory name will also throw this error. – N.P Oct 20 '16 at 06:25
50

This didn't work for me at all. I would advise answers that explain why they are supposed to work rather than just telling the reader what to do, so that they can understand / avoid / solve those errors later. – person27 Oct 27 '17 at 18:22
3

Would you explain what does this exactly do and why this problem happened? – Hamidreza Sahraei Nov 18 '17 at 10:30
btw "Special characters" also include numbers. It's ridiculous, wasted tons of time on this. *facepalm* :) – alexr101 Jul 06 '18 at 04:34
Funny, for me it did not work for some reason in Android Studio 3.1.4, at least not until I actually restarted the IDE. – tsaulic Aug 23 '18 at 00:43
5

That button doesn't exist on the latest version of Android Studio, but I believe it's the "Sync Project With Gradle Files" option, which did work for me. – nasch Feb 08 '19 at 02:48
I assume this is an old version, but clicking sync with gradle didn't work for me. Adding Gradle-aware Make to Debug Configuration as stated by @Seven did the trick. – Jay Smoke Apr 03 '19 at 23:50
for me changing the release apk location fixed the issue. – bravo Aug 05 '20 at 08:40
@nasch The "Reimport Gradle "- Button moved to drop-doqn menu. Do a right click on the highest tree node in the picture (Right click on "alamap") – longi Oct 21 '20 at 11:53
@longi Well thank you, but I'm not still trying to figure it out after almost two years. :-) – nasch Oct 22 '20 at 14:13

score 211 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 05 '18 at 06:36

211

If you are facing this issue after the update to Android Studio V 3.1 then try the below.

I was facing this same problem when I updated to Android Studio 3.1. All other solutions I found here were quite manual because you have to clean and rebuild every time, that is not good at all. But thanks to Iman Marashi's answer here I was able to solve it.

Go to Run -> Edit Configurations...

Make sure you have a "Gradle-aware Make" on the Before launch section:

To add it click the + sign and select Gradle-aware Make and a popup will appear, just leave the text field empty and click OK and OK.

edited Apr 05 '18 at 06:36

Prateek

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answered Mar 28 '18 at 02:02

Seven

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This is the fix for the recent 3.1 update. For me, the first symptom of this issue was the APK not "responding" to changes in the code. It's now clear to me that the new APK wasn't building properly at all. – David Gay Mar 29 '18 at 14:54
This answer can solve for me. I updated 3.1 and get this error. – ZarNi Myo Sett Win Mar 30 '18 at 03:40
This helped resolve my issue where I have my build.gradle changing the name of the APK that is kicked out based on the `variant`, `versionCode`, & `versionName`. – Rockin4Life33 Mar 24 '19 at 20:50
I faced the problem after Android Studio froze and been killed while building a release APK and that answer solved the problem – lior_13 Mar 26 '19 at 11:36

score 69 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 16 '15 at 10:53

69

In my case, executing "Sync Project with Gradle Files" helped. Neither restarting Andoid Studio nor clearing the cache did anything.

answered Dec 16 '15 at 10:53

Bartek

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Thanks. Its help me, too. Neither restarting Andoid Studio nor clearing the cache didn't help. – ivan.panasiuk Jun 23 '16 at 07:51
Did the trick for me after changing the naming script which is in a separate file from my normal `build.gradle`, so Android Studio didn't automatically pick up on the change and prompt me to sync. – Magnus Apr 05 '17 at 08:59
This is the real answer. – azizbekian Dec 02 '17 at 22:14
3

`File -> Sync Project with Gradle Files` https://stackoverflow.com/a/19932896/2527204 – Marlon Sep 25 '18 at 11:15
Had this issue trying to run a Unit test. It was asking for a device to run a Unit test. – Sergio Mar 12 '19 at 18:01

Jing Li · Answer 4 · 2015-12-02T19:44:54.473

If you just want to know the conclusion, please go to the last section. Thanks.

Usually when building project fails, some common tricks you could try:

Build -> Clean Project
Check Build Variants
Restart Android Studio (as you mentioned)

But to be more specific to your problem - when Android Studio could not find the APK file on disk. It means that Android Studio has actually successfully built the project, and also generated the APK, however, for some reason, Android Studio is not able to find the file.

In this case, please check the printed directory according to the log. It's helpful.

For example:

With Android Studio 2.0 Preview (build 143.2443734).

Checkout to a specific commit (so that it's detached from head): git checkout [commit_hash]
Run project
Android Studio tells: The APK file /Users/MyApplicationName/app/build/outputs/apk/app-debug-HEAD.apk does not exist on disk
Go to the directory, there is a file actually named: app-debug-(HEAD.apk (with an extra parenthesis)
Run git branch

*(HEAD detached at 1a2bfff)

So here you could see, due to my gradle build script's mistake, file naming is somehow wrong.

Above example is just one scenario which could lead to the same issue, but not necessary to be the same root cause as yours.

As a result, I strongly recommend you to check the directory (to find the difference), and check your build.gradle script (you may change the apk name there, something like below):

applicationVariants.all { variant ->
        variant.outputs.each { output ->
            def newFileName = "whatever you want to name it";
            def apk = output.outputFile;
            output.outputFile = new File(apk.parentFile, newFileName);
        }
    }

My issue was that I was adding the app version in the APK name but the app version has x.y.z format and the "." (dot) in the naming was causing the errors. So remember no other dots but the one before apk :) — DraganescuValentin, Sep 02 '16 at 09:15

score 20 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 16 '16 at 14:39

20

Make sure that you don't have apostrophe or & in your path

answered Nov 16 '16 at 14:39

Rim Gazzah

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The '&' was what was keeping me from compiling. Thanks @Rim Gazzeh – Marka A Oct 14 '17 at 11:16

score 19 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 27 '17 at 18:09

19

Make sure that there is Grading-aware Make in Run/Debugging configurations >> before launch section :

answered Nov 27 '17 at 18:09

Iman Marashi

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score 17 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 03 '15 at 18:10

17

I witnessed a similar issue usually when I'm switching git branches. For me shutting down Android Studio rm -rfv ~/Library/Caches/AndroidStudio* and restart Android Studio is the ticket.

answered Dec 03 '15 at 18:10

user213493

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My similar issue was solved by this method. I rename apk files in the gradle build to append the version number to the file, trying to debug my main activity was trying to run the wrong apk file name (previous version number). Not sure when this started but it was working fine until it didn't. – David Dec 14 '15 at 00:18
Android studio cache it is very big problem! – GeekHades Dec 22 '15 at 09:20
It is. I have just (again) incremented my build number, this changes the apk file name, again I have this problem. – David Dec 23 '15 at 04:49

live-love · Answer 8 · 2018-04-17T15:36:33.107

13

In Android Studio 3.1.1 select File | Sync Project with Gradle Files.

In Android Studio 3, select File | Synchronize.

Then run your project again.

edited Apr 17 '18 at 15:36

answered Mar 19 '18 at 19:46

live-love

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In Studio v3.1.1 , File -> Sync Project with Gradle Files. and you are good to go – Napolean Apr 17 '18 at 11:12
Then in a field on top toolbar(with icones), in next from hammer icon you have to return 'app ' back, in configuration dropdown – CodeToLife Feb 15 '19 at 20:35

Androiderson · Answer 9 · 2018-04-01T01:16:30.583

11

The year is 2018. Android Studio version is 3.2.0 alpha3 and we still get this problem. As none of the above worked for me, here is my 2 cents:

Every time this happens I just generate the apk from command line:

gradlew assembleDebug

UPDATE

Deleting the folder .AndroidStudio[version] and losing all your preferences and caches... seems to solve the problem

edited Apr 01 '18 at 01:16

answered Feb 19 '18 at 19:02

Androiderson

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but this only works for one build? if you make further changes and press the 'play' button, it just pushes the old apk and doesn't rebuild for the changes. So annoying, wtf were they thinking – behelit Mar 23 '18 at 02:55

score 7 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 10 '16 at 23:57

7

In my case, I was using a special character in my app file path. I closed the Android Studio and removed the ' character from my app file path. Everything worked fine when I reopned the project.

answered Oct 10 '16 at 23:57

Immortal Code

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Yeah ideally Android Studio should be smart enough to prevent users from using special character in their file path. Or better I should have followed the good programming practices myself :) – Immortal Code Nov 02 '16 at 16:12

score 6 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 23 '15 at 12:17

6

I've solved building an apk using the Build option from the top window and Build APK. No need to do something weird.

answered Dec 23 '15 at 12:17

Mun0n

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score 6 · Answer 12 · answered Mar 30 '16 at 09:43

6

For Unix like users (Linux/MacOs X), instead of removing ~/.gradle/caches/, in command line do :

$ cd path_to_you_project
$ touch build.gradle

Then ask Android Studio to build APK, it will reset gradle cache itself.

answered Mar 30 '16 at 09:43

Jean-Marc Delafont

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score 5 · Answer 13 · answered May 17 '16 at 22:56

My problem is that I was appending the version number to the APK. Changing the version number and re-syncing Gradle fixed the problem for me.

def appendVersionNameVersionCode(variant, defaultConfig) {
    variant.outputs.each { output ->
        if (output.zipAlign) {
            def file = output.outputFile
            def removeApp = file.name.replace("app-", "")
            def removeType = removeApp.replace("-release", "")
            def fileName = removeType.replace(".apk", "." + defaultConfig.versionName + ".apk")
            output.outputFile = new File(file.parent, fileName)
        }

        def file = output.packageApplication.outputFile
        def removeApp = file.name.replace("app-", "")
        def removeType = removeApp.replace("-release", "")
        def fileName = removeType.replace(".apk", "." + defaultConfig.versionName + ".apk")
        output.packageApplication.outputFile = new File(file.parent, fileName)
    }
}

Have you called appendVersionNameVersionCode in gradle itself? — Dhrupal, Jul 01 '16 at 12:43

score 3 · Answer 14 · answered Mar 28 '18 at 09:42

3

Build ---> Build APK(s) and be sure it works

answered Mar 28 '18 at 09:42

Kadir altınok

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score 2 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 28 '16 at 10:53

2

File -> Invalidate Caches / Restart

answered Jul 28 '16 at 10:53

dvrm

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score 2 · Answer 16 · answered Nov 14 '16 at 13:17

2

If you tried all the above answers and it didn't work try to disable "Instant Run" feature. This one helped me after all attempts.

File -> Settings -> Build, Execution, Deployment -> Instant Run -> Uncheck checkbox there

answered Nov 14 '16 at 13:17

AnZ

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score 2 · Answer 17 · answered Dec 07 '16 at 05:55

2

I also got that issue, after cleaning the build. For me solution was I just sync the gradle and it worked for me.

answered Dec 07 '16 at 05:55

u_pendra

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score 2 · Answer 18 · answered Feb 03 '19 at 18:02

2

In my case the problem was that debugging configuration become invalid somehow, even that the test method name, class or package has not changed.

I deleted the configurations from Run->Edit Configurations, at here:

Android studio will create a new one automatically.

answered Feb 03 '19 at 18:02

MiguelSlv

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Then you need to click on File / Re-Import Gradle project. This will recreate the deleted run configuration. – Juan Ignacio Barisich Jul 19 '19 at 15:18

GiridharaSPK · Answer 19 · 2020-09-24T07:00:47.107

2

Sync, Clean, Rebuild and Invalidate Cache and Restart

None of them worked for me.

I have deleted the APK and output.json files in the release folder and debug folder and then tried sync, clean, and build, then it worked fine.

OR simply Delete folder which has the apk and output.json file (in case of debug/ release)

edited Sep 24 '20 at 07:00

answered Apr 24 '20 at 13:21

GiridharaSPK

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score 1 · Answer 20 · answered Feb 08 '16 at 18:01

1

Faced the same issue with gradle 1.5

I had to clean the build files:

Build -> Clean project

And build an APK to force the full compilation and sync of the gradle files:

Build -> Build APK

I still don't know why or how it happened tho.

answered Feb 08 '16 at 18:01

Simon PA

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score 1 · Answer 21 · answered Feb 25 '16 at 14:42

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if you are using Linux, try setting write permission to the app/build folder.

answered Feb 25 '16 at 14:42

Catalin Clabescu

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score 1 · Answer 22 · answered Oct 04 '16 at 11:58

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i had the same problem. it was due to false name in the path. there was a special Character in the path like this: C:\User\My App\Projekte-Tablet&Handy i deleted the "&" character and it worked well.

answered Oct 04 '16 at 11:58

Orientos

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score 1 · Answer 23 · answered Feb 14 '17 at 22:44

My problem was including minutes in the file name - it looked for appname_debug_0.9.0.1_170214_2216.apk when the generated file was appname_debug_0.9.0.1_170214_2217.apk so the output filename code (nabbed from elsewhere) was clearly being called from two different points in the build.

applicationVariants.all { variant ->
        variant.outputs.each { output ->
            def project = "appname"
            def SEP = "_"
    //        def flavor = variant.productFlavors[0].name
            def buildType = variant.variantData.variantConfiguration.buildType.name
            def version = variant.versionName
            def date = new Date();
            def formattedDate = date.format('yyMMdd_HHmm')

            def newApkName = project + SEP + /*flavor + */ SEP + buildType + SEP + version + SEP + formattedDate + ".apk"

            output.outputFile = new File(output.outputFile.parent, newApkName)
        }
    }

It was from some other stack exchange thread from when I was first setting up the project (and had very little idea what I was doing - nothing changed there). As this part of Gradle has been changed a few times it is likely obsolete code now. — Ian Spencer, May 07 '18 at 15:08

score 1 · Answer 24 · answered Mar 29 '18 at 08:18

The problem for me was that somehow it could really not find the apk, while the apk exists.

The APK file /Users/Paul/AndroidStudioProjects/android-tv-launcher/ui/build/outputs/apk/nameofapk.apk does not exist on disk.
Error while Installing APK

All I had to do, was right click on the apk-copy relative path, and just

adb install -r <paste of relative path>

And the apk was installed and good to go. This issue happened on OSX for me.

score 1 · Answer 25 · answered Apr 02 '18 at 17:28

1

Solved in may of 2018 with the new Android Studio 3.1. Delete the .gradle, .idea and build directories inside your app folder. Then try to run it again and you won't see the error.

answered Apr 02 '18 at 17:28

Gerardo Suarez

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score 0 · Answer 26 · answered Feb 26 '16 at 05:50

0

I change build.gradle file a litle info,and click "Sync Now",just ok.

answered Feb 26 '16 at 05:50

凤清云

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score 0 · Answer 27 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

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Remove the directory ~/.gradle/caches/. It's OK to do this while Android Studio is opened. (Refer pm installing wrong package name) Press "Sync project with Gradle files" icon on Android Studio Run the project and the remote path will be correct.

Refer answer @ Android Studio gets package name wrong when running .apk

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

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answered Mar 15 '16 at 21:39

mask

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score 0 · Answer 28 · answered Aug 30 '16 at 09:00

Make sure that in the path generated in your logs -in your case:

/Users/MyApplicationName/app/build/outputs/apk/app-debug.apk

folder "outputs" indeed has an "apk" folder.

That was my problem, if it's not there, you will need to run the "assembleRelease" task in gradle by following the below screenshot;

Then the folder will be generated.

score 0 · Answer 29 · answered Jan 16 '17 at 09:41

0

Nothing above helped me, but I figured this out by switching to another flavor in the Build Tools panel and then switching back to the needed one.

answered Jan 16 '17 at 09:41

Dmytro Karataiev

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score 0 · Answer 30 · answered Feb 22 '17 at 07:32

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modify the file:build.gradle(app directory). in fact:you should not change this file , only by this to get sync tips,then sync project.

answered Feb 22 '17 at 07:32

兰坡阳

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Martin Zeitler · Answer 31 · 2017-07-14T14:12:25.887

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The button is called "Sync Project with Gradle Files" and it looks alike: ... always need to click it, when updating the version number, which is resulting in another APK filename (unless the filename has not changed, installing the package always works, which hints for, that the filename is being cached). The equivalent Gradle CLI option appears to be --recompile-scripts.

@see Appendix D. Gradle Command Line.

edited Jul 14 '17 at 14:12

answered Jul 14 '17 at 10:26

Martin Zeitler

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score 0 · Answer 32 · answered Oct 20 '17 at 06:35

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First remove cleaner by going to edit configuration, It may be cleaning the build after building the apk.

Click on edit from set run/debug then click on gradle list select the clean project item and then click on -(top 2nd from left).

answered Oct 20 '17 at 06:35

Sonu Kumar

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Lee Brindley · Answer 33 · 2018-01-15T18:22:38.023

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Using Android Studio 2.2.1, I clicked the Sync Project with Gradle Files option, from the dropdown at the top, Tools>Android

Similar, to an answer posted above, see below for a screenshot of how to get to this option.

edited Jan 15 '18 at 18:22

answered Jan 10 '18 at 16:23

Lee Brindley

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priti · Answer 34 · 2018-01-31T13:03:37.087

0

    1) This problem occure due to apk file .if your apk file
        (output/apk/debug.apk) not generated in this format . 

    2) you should use always in gradle file .

    buildTypes {
            release {
                minifyEnabled false
                proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
            }
        }

edited Jan 31 '18 at 13:03

answered Jan 31 '18 at 12:52

priti

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score 0 · Answer 35 · edited Mar 28 '18 at 02:26

0

I got it to work by:

Closing the project
From the Android Studio Welcome Window (or File > New), click on Import Project.

I guess that forced it to reinstall the APK, and now everything is running fine.

edited Mar 28 '18 at 02:26

Stephen Rauch

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answered Mar 28 '18 at 02:07

Viren Mody

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score 0 · Answer 36 · answered Mar 28 '18 at 11:13

0

i solved this app by doing

First Build - > Build Apk(s)
Run the app now

if it not worked do Clean and build the project and then do again 1 & 2.

answered Mar 28 '18 at 11:13

saigopi.me

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That works but is very inconvenient as you have to do that process every time you want to run your app. If you are having that problem after a Android Studio update take a look at my answer on this thread... – Seven Mar 28 '18 at 15:47

score 0 · Answer 37 · answered Apr 05 '18 at 11:39

I tried all of these things and none of them worked. I ended up having to do a couple of these things are the same time. Very frustrating that it took this much time.

The problem I had was related to running my unit tests following the upgrade to AS 3.1.

Here is what I did... 1.) Run / Edit Configurations / Select Tests.... 2.) Add options to "Gradle-aware Make" 3.) Select check box "Skip installation if ADK has not changed" on Misc tab

Good luck.

score 0 · Answer 38 · answered Aug 03 '18 at 07:34

0

Go to Build option on the top bar of android studio>create 'Build APK(s)', once build has created, open the folder where it has available(app\build\outputs\apk) then close the folder, that's all....then try to install the app.

answered Aug 03 '18 at 07:34

BISHWAJEET

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score 0 · Answer 39 · answered Oct 15 '18 at 13:24

0

Solved this issue by updating the Android SDK-Build Tools.

answered Oct 15 '18 at 13:24

Christian Schulzendorff

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score 0 · Answer 40 · answered Jul 15 '19 at 03:14

0

in my case, just

View > Tool Windows > Gradle > right click [project] > Refresh Gradle Project

answered Jul 15 '19 at 03:14

Jenkyn

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Braian Coronel · Answer 41 · 2020-07-14T17:23:15.673

0

assemble[Variant] would generate the APK for you on disk although it should not be necessary to use it to debug the app.

Run the following command in the root directory of the project:

$ ./gradlew clean build assemble[Variant]

GL

edited Jul 14 '20 at 17:23

answered Jul 14 '20 at 16:10

Braian Coronel

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The APK file does not exist on disk

41 Answers41

If you are facing this issue after the update to Android Studio V 3.1 then try the below.

Linked

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