Error type 3 Error: Activity class {} does not exist

Question

I have an IntelliJ Android project, that I successfully imported to Android Studio 0.4.0. It works perfectly if I don't change anything in manifest. However, when I want to change the launcher activity and run, it fails with this error:

Launching application: com.trackingeng/LandingActivity.
DEVICE SHELL COMMAND: am start -D -n "com.trackingeng/LandingActivity"  
    -a android.intent.action.MAIN -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER
Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN  
    cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] cmp=com.trackingeng/LandingActivity }
Error type 3
Error: Activity class {com.trackingeng/LandingActivity} does not exist.

When I click Sync Project with Gradle files, it outputs:

Project Sync
The project 'TrackingEng' is not a Gradle-based project

Run settings:

Solution 1

I faced a similar problem after refactoring.
This is what i did to resolve this issue:

1. Cleaned the Project
2. Deleted the Build directory
3. Restarted Android Studio
4. Rebuild the Project
5. Run
6. Optionally (Go to the files menu on android, click on "Invalidate Caches / Restart..." uninstall the app on your phone and try again)

And everything worked fine!
I think the key is to restart your IDE.

Edit 1:
If the above steps don't work for you, then deleting Gradle cache seems to be a solution, as pointed out by @Yasitha.

Edit 2
As suggested by a couple of users in the comments below, sometimes the issue can be resolved by completely removing and reinstalling the app from your device.
Simply type adb uninstall <package> in terminal to completely remove app from the device.

Edit 3
As mentioned in Abhishek's Answer, one should also try deleting the app from your device in case multiple users are set up on your device.
Simply go to Mobile Settings > Apps > [Your App] > More > Uninstall App for All Users

Edit 4
As mentioned by Yassin Ajdi, executing the uninstallAll Gradle task can also fix the issue.
You can go to Gradle > Tasks > Install > uninstallAll to get the job done.

UPDATE for Android Studio 2.1 and up

When running Android Studio 2.1 and up you can also encounter this issue when you have the instant run option enabled in your preferences (is enabled by default).

To disable this option go to the Preferences option in the Android Studio top menu and look for Instant Run so you can uncheck the first checkbox on that screen.

Anyway that fixed it for me. Originally pointed out by user @yusufonder. I discovered this was the issue since gradle install still worked.

Solution 2

Sometimes when testing on a device, the app doesn't uninstall properly. To verify and fix this:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Apps.
3. Select your app. (here, you can verify that your app is not uninstalled properly).
4. Open the overflow menu on the top right and select Uninstall for all users.
5. Done. Try to install then launch your app again.

Solution 3

I would face this problem when uninstalling the app via the device (i.e. dragging the app to the "Uninstall" option). But here is the proper way to uninstall:

Use the ./gradlew uninstallAll command. This will prevent the Error: Activity class {HomeActivity} does not exist. error.

Update:

If you’re lazy you can use the abbreviation for this task: ./gradlew uA.

Or define aliases for common gradle tasks in your .bash_profile, doing so will save time, typing, and you won’t have to remember every command nor worry about typos. I suggest doing this.

Solution 4

I had the same issue and this is how I fixed it:

Go to Gradle > Tasks > Install > uninstallAll

Solution 5

This happens when you do the following

• connect your device/emulator
• run the app from Android Studio (AS)
• use/test the app and uninstall it from the device while it is still connected to your computer
• try to run the app again from AS

AS thinks you still have the app in your device.

tl;dr - To resolve this, you can simply disconnect your device after uninstalling the app and reconnect it.

View more solutions

Comments

[Daniel Gilbert]

Though don't let yourself get confused if the app doesn't show up in the Launcher, just check settings/Apps -> "All" if the app is listed. That was the case with my application, and after removing it, everything worked fine again.

[Shivam Bhalla]

It works fine even without deleting the build directory.

[jayeffkay]

I had do delete gradle cache as described here stackoverflow.com/a/25602161/630833

[Juan Aguilar Guisado]

The perfect (and unique) solution for me. I have a dynamic application id in my build.gradle (applicationId "com.example."+ CLIENT_ID)) in order to manage several clients' customization and everytime I changed the value of the variable I wasn't able to launch the app. Beer for you man!

[zulkarnain shah]

Though this is a late entry, but i am facing this problem only after updating Android Studio to 1.5 and the above solution doesn't work in my case.

[blueether]

@shah, Android 1.5.1 -> facing the same issue. Above solution does not work

[Heisenberg]

I had to delete the build directory coz a generated jar had my previous package name.

[Yasitha Waduge]

deleting gradle cache seems to be the work around after trying steps given above.

[dcow]

@Siavash except it's not Correct™

[mpaskov]

This does not seem lie an answer to me.

[Siavash]

How so @dcow? The accepted answer here didnt work for me, but this one did.

[steven smith]

Did all the above -- remove build directories, .gradle cache, invalidate/restart, turn off auto run, clean build. What finally worked was to re-sync gradle as in stackoverflow.com/questions/22155938/…

[alexbchr]

Using Android O developer preview 3, I could not perform the Uninstall for all users action, as it told me that the app did not exist in apps list. Running adb uninstall {packageName} solved the problem.

[smg]

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ I had to clear the 'App Trash' on my device.

[netcyrax]

If it does not appear in the Launcher as @DanielGilbert said, you can easily uninstall with "adb uninstall package.name". This worked for me too.

[Damn Vegetables]

This worked for me too. I was running a sample project, which has two versions. I installed the first version, and then uninstalled it to install the second version. I have wasted a lot of time to fix the error. This is not the first time that Android development had this kind of weird, unsolvable issues...

[JJF]

Bad as that was I still think it was better. Gradle is an abomination IMO.

[StarWind0]

I can't believe this worked. I had 2 accounts on my device and it was installed for the other user.

[Long Dao]

yeah it is a bit annoying but it normally happen when the app is under development cause you might want to change loading icons and stuff etc.

[Damn Vegetables]

For emulator, Ankit's answer did not work. I had deleted my app from the launcher, but it remained on the system, which caused the problem. I had to use this method to uninstall it completely.

[realtebo]

Which one? adding a dot or a 3-level name?

[realtebo]

Please, explain how to add applicationId to buidl.gradle !

[c.dunlap]

I had this same issue after upgrading my device to Oreo. I'm still not sure what ultimately caused the issue but completely removing the app from the device and rebooting the device after performing all of the steps listed above (clean build and restart Android Studio) resolved the issue for me.

[最白目]

@smg you should add this as an answer, also was the only thing that fixed it for me.

[NOTiFY]

This is the only thing that worked for me with Android Studio 3.1 Canary 7.

[Nick]

I've also run into this many times. I follow the instructions above and often switch devices too. Sometimes when I have a physical device connected it still fails after doing the prescribed steps. So i'll run it on an emulator it which works fine then reconnect the other device. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[Opiatefuchs]

great answer. Some devices seems to have a problem with uninstall. For me, it is Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 with EU Build. I guess it is a error in Build version of device.

[Salman500]

thnx man i was facing this problem on android oreo where application is not uninstalled success fully

[Bugs Happen]

This was exactly my problem, app was not installed for this user. Just uninstalled it by the procedure mentioned above and it started to work

[Mikhail Sharin]

Try to execute 'adb uninstall <package>' in terminal to completely remove app from device

[N J]

I have same problem. Nothing worked for me. Clean, restart, delete cache. The main issue was multi-user in handset. Removed app from other user and worked

[luckylukein]

This happened to e too and I had to go to Settings> Apps and Notifications> App info. Had to "Uninstall for all users" and install again.

[Panduka DeSilva]

I came across the same issue and probably the answer should be updated with this solution as well

[iamsujan]

my app was disabled

[live-love]

File - Sync Project with Gradle file was the only thing that worked for me

[Roman T.]

Hit "Refresh all gradle projects" button from the "Gradle" tab from the right (I am running Android Studio 3.1.2)

[Rahul Rastogi]

This error occurred to me when I configured multiple build types in my project.

[Mike Keskinov]

On Android 7.0 when you uninstall the app on device (by dragging it to "Uninstall" label on the device main screen), the app in fact just "disabled". You need to go to Settings/Apps and manually remove the app from there (alternatively use ADB command). I bounce into it couple of times, but after a few mouths I get forgetting about this Android 7.0 so called feature.

[Paixols]

Xiaomi Mix 2 phone. When trying to uninstall an app I noticed it would uninstall properly, but it would also remain installed on the "Second Space" (Switch app) native to the phone. When removing the app from the second space -> Clean project in Android Studio & install again. It works!

[Shainu Thomas]

cleaning and then building my project helped.

[Ashutosh]

Yes, cleaning project and restarting Android Studio does the trick for me too

[Victoria Klimova]

My case. Disconnect and connect device - this worked for me! The app was not on the device, but AS didn't install it thinking that the app is still in my device

[Cililing]

Worked for me. LG G6 has the same "feature" - I didn't find the way to disable it.

[Silwester]

That works, but some more points. If you delete it via adb it doesn't guarantee that problem is solved, event if you don't see this package via adb pm. You have to do it with hands, find it in Settings->App and choose Delete for all users. After that you can install it again

[Pritesh Vishwakarma]

i have this [error type 3 Error: Activity class{} does not exist ] problem only in OnePlus A3003 device , rest in another device my app run and work perfectly. now how can i solve this issue ?

[Jacqlyn]

@AjayCodes this can happen if the device has multiple user accounts on it. Going to the app menu in the settings, one can uninstall the app for all users.

[PrasadW]

Sometimes it was caused due to errors while building with enabled Instant Run. After disabling that, it was able to run but sometimes still caused same issue. In that case I followed the approach of deleting the gradle cache.

[Sreekanth Karumanaghat]

How to do this?

[Raj kannan Iyyappan]

If you have multiple users, it can be found in notification drawer in the home screen (It'll be there along with the settings icon). Otherwise, go to the settings page and go to System->Multiple Users and click that user. After logging into the other user, the app can be uninstalled.

[Shanison]

This works for me. After running ./gradlew uninstallAll

[Muhammed Yalçın Kuru]

For Android Studio 3.2 . Go to File => Project Structure => App under Module section => select falvors from tab bar. Change or re-write even your package is correctly indicated.

[Sakiboy]

@Shanison , don’t forget that you can add aliases for all these different useful commands that we all forget. Just open you’re .bash_profile and add aliases for the commands you use all the time. This way you won’t have to type as much nor worry about memorizing all the different commands and spelling (me no gud at spellin).

[Kirill Karmazin]

This one did the trick after I uninstalled the app on the device. Also, you can make a small shortcut to uninstall your app. Just create an empty .txt file and paste the following line: C:\Users\K\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe uninstall com.myapp.packagename. Then rename this .txt file to .bat and you can run it every time you want to uninstall your app (on Windows)

[Jason Butler]

I had this issue and none of the above worked for me - however what did fix it was totally installing from the device. Not just by hitting uninstall - but going into phone settings, going to apps, and then 'Uninstall for ALL users'

[Muhammad Ovi]

This works! in my case adb uninstall com.demo where my app name was demo

[Dipendra Sharma]

com.demo will be your package name

[Reeshabh Ranjan]

adb uninstall <package_name> worked for me! Btw, here package name is the one that goes like com.android.example.appname.

[Reeshabh Ranjan]

@PriteshVishwakarma did you try to uninstall the package using adb?

[Pritesh Vishwakarma]

@ReeshabhRanjan there was two user in one device. i solved this problem by uninstalling app manually.now i able to launch my app successfully.

[Christian]

I created an issue on the official tracker for this problem. Please star it to draw attention to the need of Google to fix this issue.

[Chad Schultz]

This was exactly my problem! I was frustrated for a while, but once I put the app package name before the slash, and the fully qualified package/class name after the slash it worked.

[praveenb]

Thanks to @NJ, on my Redmi device.. I created a Second space,. And then moved First Space. And then onwards, when i run apps from Android studio it shows App installed but it never appeared on screen. After a lot of struggle I find (NJ) comment. And then checked Second space, I see Android studio ran apps installed on Second space. I just deleted Second space. And restarted device. Solved the issue.

[ykonda]

The only answer that worked! Android Studio 3.4.2, API Level 28

[agmezr]

I had the same issue, I had a work profile on that device and for some reason the app was installed on both. After uninstall for both profiles I was able to install from Android Studio

[iTurki]

I had the same issue. However, I couldn't uninstall the app following step #4. I had to do it using ADB adb uninstall [package_name]. Thanks @Nicks !

[Peter]

OMG thank man, you saved my day. Same problem with fckn samsung

[Bette Devine]

deleting the build folder worked for me. Invalidates caches and restart didn't work.

[Juan Monsalve]

I have faced a few times this isssue and to me used to be enough the steps 6, 1 and 5: 1. Files -> invalidate caches/ restart 2. Clean Project 3. Run / debug

[Michael Kern]

You could also add application ID to module settings of application as an alternative

[Tom Taylor]

I faced the same issue uninstall is just uninstalling for the current user. After uninstalling for all users it started working. Thanks a ton !

[Shawn]

This issue can also be caused by the Emulator being locked. Enter the pin to unlock the emulator and try running the app again.

[dekaru]

This worked for me since I had previously installed the apk via adb, but somehow uninstalling it via the phone's app manager left some app traces.

[LiuWenbin_NO.]

This works for me too. But why the issue happens and how uninstallAll would resolve? Thanks.

[Big_Chair]

What helped me was just go into the Play Store on the device and even though I deleted the app, it still showed the option "Delete" there. After pressing that button it all worked.

[Hugo]

This is the only thing that worked for me thank you!

[anothercoder]

In my situation I had manually deleted my app from my physical android device and when I tried to rerun it from command line, I got the error. The error was a result of the app still being installed on the device globally, so I went to settings > apps > selected the app and deleted it. Once I did that, it was all good.

[Thadeus Ajayi]

This happened to be my problem, the package name was renamed, but the folder structure didn't follow the pattern. PackageName com.{biz_name}.{app.name} Folder structure was just com.{app.name}

[planetClaire]

This became an issue for me after upgrading react native from 0.61.5 to 0.62.2, my app id has never matched my package name, but after the upgrade I need to add --appId YOUR_APP_ID (note it's --appId not app-id).

[Pooja]

This worked for me. Please explain how this would resolve the issue?

[Saurabh Singh]

i had copy off app installed in "work profile" in samsung s9+, uninstalling all copies of the app worked out.

[Manikandan Selvanathan]

If you could not find the uninstallAll option in gradle side bar. Click run anything(gradle icon) then search for uninstallAll.

[y.selimdogan]

I uninstalled my app from the device homescrenn. After your answer, I checked the applications list and the app is still there and marked as like "not uninstalled from other users"... So deleted the app completely from my device solved the problem. Thanks.

[Jenison Gracious]

Mobile Settings > Apps > [Your App] > More > Uninstall App for All Users worked for me

[zhqyvvn]

"Build -> Clean Project" and then "Build -> Rebuild Project" works for me.

[MarkWalczak]

This worked for me. For multiple devices: adb -s <device ID> uninstall <package name>

[Gev]

Thanks man, it worked for Android Studio 4.0.1

[Achintha Isuru]

For those who do not know where to access this panel is, it is in top right side of your screen.

[Reece]

This was also the case for me running Android 11 simulator on Apple Silicon (M1 chip) using arctic fox beta. Tried EVERYTHING on this forum. In the end noticed apk was being created in the app/build/output folder; so I used adb install -t path/to/apk.apk. After that subsequent attempts to run & debug from within android studio worked! Seems to happen every-time I upgrade AS / change machines.. *facepalm

[rgisi]

and the same with an LG G6 after a day of developing... surely saved me a lot of time with this one!

[Retebitall]

Worked for me after converting groovy to kts on 2020.1.1 canary 10

[Rakesh]

Check whether the following values are same, package (usually line 2) in /android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml applicationId (usually line 90) in defaultConfig section of /android/app/build.gradle Line 1 of /android/app/src/main/java/com/paysack/MainApplication.java Line 1 of /android/app/src/main/java/com/paysack/MainActivity.java

[Constantine Kurbatov]

To get the list of devices use the following command: $/Users/<user>/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb devices to get list of devices (something like 'VQM0218126001101' or 'emulator-5555' ) and then: $/Users/<user>/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb -s <device_ID> uninstall "com.<xxxxx>.<xxxx>" And wait for Success result string.

[Dante Cervantes]

thank you so much, i disabled the work profile, then enabled it again, and the app was under apps from work profile, uninstall it then ran flutter run and it works!

[GUGAN RAJ]

100% Working i tried first 2 method thanks

[Hoa Nguyen]

This one works for me :D