Common Android Studio Installation Errors & How I Fixed Them

Many beginners get stuck during Android Studio installation because of confusing errors around the JDK, SDK, emulator, and missing components. Understanding what these messages actually mean makes it much easier to fix them and complete your setup on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

This guide covers the most common Android Studio installation errors and shows simple, practical steps that helped resolve them in real-world setups. You can use it as a checklist whenever you reinstall, move to a new machine, or help someone else configure Android Studio correctly.

Before You Start: Basic Requirements

Android Studio installers are updated regularly, but the core requirements stay the same: a supported operating system, enough RAM and disk space, and a working Java Development Kit (JDK), which is often bundled with recent Android Studio versions. Official documentation recommends checking system requirements first to avoid half-completed installations or missing SDK components.

On modern versions, Android Studio usually comes with its own JDK and can be configured to “Use embedded JDK” from the IDE settings, which solves many older JDK path issues automatically. Still, if your system has an outdated or conflicting Java installation, you may see classic errors like “No JDK found” or “Cannot find a valid JVM”.

1. “No JDK Found” or JDK Not Detected

One of the most common installation errors is when the setup wizard cannot detect a JDK and shows messages like “No JDK found” or asks you to specify a JDK location. This usually happens if Java is not installed at all, or if environment variables such as JAVA_HOME and PATH point to the wrong directory.

A reliable way to fix this is to install a supported JDK version (for example JDK 8 or later, depending on the Android Studio release) and then configure the correct path. Some developers even recommend uninstalling Android Studio and the JDK, cleaning old configuration folders, reinstalling the JDK first, setting JAVA_HOME, and then reinstalling Android Studio so the installer picks up the correct Java location cleanly.

How to Fix JDK Not Found

• Download and install a supported JDK version from the official Java website or your OS package manager.
• Set JAVA_HOME to the JDK installation directory and add bin to your PATH environment variable.
• On recent Android Studio versions, open File > Project Structure > SDK Location and enable Use embedded JDK to let the IDE use its bundled JDK instead of a broken system one.
• If the installer still cannot detect Java, reinstall Android Studio after fixing the JDK path so it starts with a clean configuration.

2. Android SDK Not Found or Wrong Location

Another frequent issue is Android Studio complaining that the “Android SDK is missing or not found” or that the SDK path is invalid. This can happen when the SDK directory was moved manually, when an older SDK from an Eclipse setup is still referenced, or when a previous installation was removed incorrectly.

The fix is usually to point Android Studio to the correct SDK folder or to reinstall the SDK using the SDK Manager. On Windows, SDKs are often stored inside your user profile under AppData\Local\Android\Sdk, while on macOS and Linux they live under ~/Library/Android/sdk or ~/Android/Sdk by default.

How to Fix SDK Path Errors

• Open Settings / Preferences > Appearance & Behavior > System Settings > Android SDK and verify the SDK Location path.
• If the folder is empty or corrupted, use the SDK Manager to download the required platforms, build-tools, and tools again.
• Remove outdated SDK paths from system environment variables if they still point to old Eclipse-based SDK directories.
• When nothing else works, deleting the SDK folder and letting Android Studio reinstall it is often easier than debugging partial installs.

3. “Failed to Install HAXM” or Emulator Acceleration Problems

Many developers see “Intel HAXM installation failed” or similar errors when the installer tries to set up hardware acceleration for the Android Emulator. HAXM depends on Intel CPUs with virtualization enabled in BIOS and cannot work alongside other hypervisors such as Hyper‑V on Windows.

On newer setups, Google provides an alternative emulator hypervisor driver, and the official documentation explains how to configure hardware acceleration for both Intel and AMD processors. The key steps usually involve enabling virtualization in firmware, disabling conflicting virtualization platforms, and installing the correct driver manually if the Android Studio wizard fails.

Steps That Fix Most HAXM Errors

• Restart the PC and enable virtualization (Intel VT‑x or AMD‑V) in the BIOS/UEFI settings, then save and reboot.
• Disable Hyper‑V and other virtualization platforms on Windows if they conflict with HAXM or the emulator hypervisor driver.
• Open the SDK Manager, go to the SDK Tools tab, and install Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM installer) or the Android Emulator Hypervisor Driver as recommended for your CPU.
• If the wizard fails, go to the SDK folder (for example sdk\extras\intel\Hardware_Accelerated_Execution_Manager) and run the installer manually.
• If acceleration still does not work, you can temporarily use the emulator without acceleration or test on a physical device until the driver issues are resolved.

4. Android Studio Stuck at “Installing Components”

Sometimes Android Studio appears to hang forever on the “Downloading components” or “Installing components” screen right after the initial installation. This is usually caused by slow or unstable internet, a large system-image download, or a partial SDK download that needs to be completed manually.

A common workaround is to cancel the wizard, start Android Studio again, and then download the remaining components through the SDK Manager or by manually downloading system images from the URLs shown in the log. On macOS, some users fix this by opening the download link directly in the browser, placing the unzipped system image into the correct SDK folder, and then restarting Android Studio.

How to Fix “Installing Components” Freeze

• Check your internet connection and temporarily disable VPNs or firewalls that might block downloads.
• Cancel the wizard, reopen Android Studio, and use Tools > SDK Manager to install SDK platforms and tools one by one.
• If a system image download fails, open the URL in a browser, download manually, and place the extracted folder into the matching system-images directory inside the SDK.
• Ensure there is enough free disk space, especially for large system images on virtualized disks or small SSDs.

5. “Failed to Install SDK Packages as Some Licenses Have Not Been Accepted”

When installing Android Studio or creating a new project, you may see an error saying that certain SDK packages cannot be installed because licenses have not been accepted. This often happens after a manual SDK move, a command-line installation, or when using tools like Flutter that expect licenses to be accepted in advance.

The solution is to accept all SDK licenses using either the SDK Manager or the sdkmanager --licenses command-line tool. On Windows, macOS, and Linux, the documentation provides slightly different commands and paths, but the idea is always to review and accept the listed agreements once.

Steps to Accept SDK Licenses

• Open Tools > SDK Manager, go to the SDK Tools tab, and install the latest Android SDK Command-line Tools if they are not already installed.
• Open a terminal or command prompt at the tools/bin (or command-line tools) folder inside your SDK and run sdkmanager --licenses, accepting each license.
• On platforms like Flutter, running flutter doctor --android-licenses can automatically walk you through the Android SDK license acceptance process.
• After accepting all licenses, restart Android Studio and try syncing or creating the project again.

6. Gradle Sync Errors After Installation

Even when Android Studio and the SDK install correctly, the first project sync can fail with Gradle-related errors, such as missing Gradle distributions, incompatible plugins, or outdated build tools. These errors often appear when using example projects built for older Gradle plugin versions or when the network blocks Gradle from downloading required dependencies.

Official guidance suggests updating to the latest stable Android Gradle Plugin version, ensuring the Gradle wrapper can access the internet, and letting Android Studio download any missing components through the Gradle sync process. In some cases, invalidating caches and restarting the IDE helps clear corrupted metadata that prevents a successful Gradle sync.

Basic Gradle Fix Checklist

• Use the latest stable Android Studio and Android Gradle Plugin versions recommended by the official release notes.
• Check that your network or proxy allows Gradle to download dependencies from the internet.
• Open File > Invalidate Caches / Restart if Gradle sync errors mention corrupted caches or unexpected states.
• When importing old projects, follow migration notes in the official “known issues” and upgrade guides to align with the current plugin version.

7. Practical Tips for a Smooth Android Studio Setup

To avoid most installation headaches, it helps to follow the official installation guide step by step and avoid mixing very old SDKs or JDKs with a brand‑new Android Studio release. Keeping the SDK, tools, and emulator images inside their default locations also makes it easier for the IDE to manage updates and reduces path-related issues.

When something goes wrong, checking the official troubleshooting and known-issues pages often reveals whether you are hitting a known bug, a Gradle limitation, or a platform‑specific issue. Using these resources alongside the fixes described in this article gives you a robust toolkit for solving Android Studio installation errors quickly and confidently.