Develop Reference

Android SDK is not installed with Android Studio IDE

so I've downloaded the Android Studio IDE from the official website, installed, and run it. When I try to create a new project this is what I get:
Obviously I click on (open SDK manager):
I then click on (Edit):
At first, the directory /Android/SDK was totally missing, so I added it manually by creating the two folders Android and SDK in the directory C:\Users\Sam\AppData\Local\ . Which led to the line "target folder is neither empty nor does it point to an existing SDK installation". The SDK manager was never Installed, I couldn't find it in the directory mentioned. Therefore, I downloaded the SDK tools and put it in the directory specified, but that didn't work. An SO thread has suggested that I don't have enough storage space for the SDK, but I have almost 31GB of empty space on my C:\ drive, another one has suggested that I have a proxy/ http problem but I don't think that this is the problem here since I've downloaded the IDE with no problems.
After I hit next this is what I get:
Now how could the SDK could be is up to date while there isn't any SDK to be seen?
I'd appreciate some help, have a nice day

this error may arise when your sdk folder not a 'platforms' folder and you must make an empty folder and rename it to 'platforms'. platforms folder must be in the sdk folder.

I downloaded SDK installers alone and solved the problem. One site to get the installers is: SDK Installer

"Android SDK folder inside the application folder" When upgrading android studio

When upgrading android studio from 0.8.9 to 0.8.14 I get the error
Android SDK folder inside the application folder
even though my Android SDK folder is not inside Android Studio Folder.

As you can see in the release notes:
To proceed, you should open up a file explorer or finder window, go to the Android Studio installation (e.g. /Applications/Android Studio.app) and move the sdk/ folder over to a different location, such as your home directory. Once done, press Retry to finish installing the patch. The reason this is necessary is two-fold: First, we have made a lot of improvements to make the patch updater more accurate, and in order for installation signatures to match, you cannot have non-application folders inside the application directory. Second, placing the SDK folder inside the application directory was probably not a good idea to begin with: this folder should typically be writable and in a directory with a lot of extra diskspace, such that users can easily download and install additional libraries, system images and so on. We are doing some work on the installer side to make this easier to set up.
In the meantime, please find a different place to put the SDK (for example ~/android-sdk), and then point your SDK to this directory location instead. You can do this either by opening up the Project Structure Dialog and selecting the SDK Location tab, or if you try to load a project which is using the old location, you'll be prompted for the new location:

I'll assume you are using Mac OS not Windows, if true, you will need to do the following:
Go to Android Studio in Applications directory
Right click over its icon and select Show Package Content
Cut (Move) sdk directory to another place (ex. /home/sdk)
Restart Android Studio and select the sdk path where you moved it (ex. /home/sdk/)
Update

(Windows 8)
Steps I did to fix this:
Open Android Studio->Help->Check for update...
Update and restart
While downloading find folder "sdk" inside android studio installation folder, rigth click and "cut", paste the folder somewhere outside the android installation folder. Wait till download finish, a java window will appear sayng there was some corrup files, in my case was the file "uninstall.exe" select this file from list and hit "proceed"
After step "3" Android Studio will launch and will ask to set the sdk path.
Get the sdk folder that was pasted outside from android installation folder and bring him back. (read step 3), in the selection window from step 4, select the sdk path (re-copied sdk folder that was bringed back).
Done. This solved my "Android SDK folder inside the application folder" while try to update from 0.8.6 to 0.8.14

This is described in Known Issues. The best solution I found for this problem was to download android studio again from the downloads page and reinstalling it, instead of trying to run an upgrade. This solved the problem for me.
Edit based on #stknet's comment
Upgrading from 0.8.9 to 0.8.12+ requires a reinstall see here

You need to go to the Android installation folder from your file explorer, get the sdk folder and move it somewhere else (I put in a folder called SDKs) and then go and open Android Studio again. It will ask to point it to the sdk folder so just give it the path to your sdk folder and let Gradle synchronize it. After that go to Android Studio update and check for updates. Now you can update without errors.
This problem is detailed here.
For example I use it on Xubunutu and I just went to /usr/share/android-studio/data/ and cut the sdk folder and then moved it into /home/user_name/sdks. After that I fired Android Studio, pointed to the new sdk folder and updated.
No re-install required.

Hey even i faced this issue.
Just remove sdk folder present in android-studio folder and place it outside folder(or somewhere) and update. Once you update it will ask you for SDK location if no then manually update the SDK location in local.properties.
Hope this will help you.

Just had this issue while updated Android Studio from 2.2.2 to 2.2.3 in Windows 10. My SDK directory has not been in Android Studio's application directory since 2014. However, somehow an empty 'sdk' directory had appeared in
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Android\android-studio
Renaming the directory fixed the issue. The installation then deleted deleted my new 'sdk-blah' directory.

AFTER installing the SDK elsewhere and referencing your environment variable to that new location, simply delete the
D:\Android Studio\sdk folder
and Android Studio won't rely on it.

Failed to execute tools\android.bat: solution

When I try to open up the SDK Manager in eclipse it says opening shortly, but never opens. I've tried to open the exe file but it displays an error message saying:
Failed to execute tools\android:bat the system cannot find the file specified
My path environment variable leads it to the tools folder.
This is the path:
C:\Users\Shan\Documents\Computer Science - YEAR 2\Android App Development\adt-bundle-windows-x86-20130917\sdk\tools

In my case the Tools directory just disappear.
..\sdk\tools
To solve it:
1) Just go to SDK zip -> adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20131030.zip
2) Unzip the Tools Directory only.
3) copy it under ../sdk/

I had a similar problem today. Press the Windows button and Search for android.bat(in the search programs and files text field)
Then copy the file to your android SDK folder (C:\Users\Shan\Documents\Computer Science - YEAR 2\Android App Development\adt-bundle-windows-x86-20130917\sdk\tools\).
After that don't run SDK manager but run the android.bat file.
Hope this helps
-Zaniar

I had to move the AVD manager from /sdk/tools/lib to the root folder /sdk

Copy the AVD Manager.exe and SDK Manager.exe from
SDK_ROOT_FOLDER/tools/lib/
into
SDK_ROOT_FOLDER

I've been working with this problem for three days and finally was able to run SDK Manager by
==> Running the android.bat file as administrator
Note: I did not have to make any changes to the .bat file (such as setting the java_exe path) in order for the manager to run.
I saw this as a comment on the top answer but can't upvote yet, so confirming it here!

I cancelled an update to Android Tools and it seems there's a bug with unzipping the old (or new?) version back into {android_sdk}/tools. The zip is located in {android_sdk}/temp. Just unzip it into the right location and it should work again.

If the accepted answer doesn't help anyone, it also might be a permission issue (if the SDK is installed in Program Files (x86), for example, so try running android.bat as Administrator,

I had the same issue when updating the Android SDK Tools and SDK Platform-tools from the SDK Manager. I had to replace the tools folder with one located in a zip folder inside the temp folder.

In My case, While I installed visual studio 2015, The SDK files were missed and I am getting an error window shown below.
So I manually downloaded the tools from the following URL.
tools_r24.0.2-windows
Then extract the zip file and copy the tools folder in the following location.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk
It worked for me.

I think current Android SDK only works with JDK x86 version. I search so much but when installed JDK x86 version Android SDK manager worked without problem.

Copy your android.bat file to C:\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702\sdk\tools folder or copy all files to C:\.

If you are seeing this error, it may be an issue with your COMSPEC environment variable.
Please see https://stackoverflow.com/a/27284746/3866013 for more details.

I had the same problem. Caused it myself because while runing Android SDK Manager i hit UNINSTALL SDK Tools.
I fixed the issue by running the installation of the Android SDK again. The installation folder had to be the same as previously. After the installation, everything was back again as it was.

This is how I solved the problem on Windows 7:
I was going to update the SDK using Android SDK Manager but android.bat was not found because previously it uninstall the older one and then installs new. In my case my SDK Update was interrupted i.e. in other words, could not install after the SDK Manager uninstalled the tools, so my machine was not able to find android.bat. What I did was just downloaded the standalone SDK tools to the same folder where my SDK were from :
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#Other

https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#Other
Here are two options for downloading the Android SDK for Windows users. One in recommended option and the other is .zip file. Zip file worked well.
Another option may also work. Try searching android.bat with windows search engine. If you find the one, copy it and paste in SDK tools folder.

open Sdk Manager.exe, then i deleted first Android Sdk tools, so, I also appeared such a mistake, then I downloaded installer_r24.3.2-windows.exe, installing, copy C:\Users\Super Man\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\tools folder to my Sdk path,run My Sdk Path\android.bat ,ok!!

I did the following :
I created a folder SDK right below my C-drive
I unzipped tools_r25.2.3-windows.zip to C:\SDK
I moved SDK Manager.exe from C:\SDK\tools\lib to C:\SDK
I first ran SDK Manager.exe in 'normal mode',but this gave me the error, but when I ran SDK Manager.exe as ADMINISTRATOR it didn't return the error.

The reg command exists but for unknown reason my path variable was corrupted during some installation.
So some basic element were missing:
C:\WINDOWS\system32;
C:\WINDOWS;
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem

The following processes: -cmd.exe -java.exe are locking the following directory:

I am installing 2.3.3 android API and i got this error:
Warning:
The following processes:
-cmd.exe
-java.exe
are locking the following directory:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\tools
Any help??

just go this dir:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\Android SDK\temp
and cut every thing was there then paste it in a new folder..
Run the Update again..

I got the same problem. Then I downoaded latest SDK (only the SDK. no need to download android platforms).
There's a folder call "tools" in "android-sdk" folder. I replaced the previous "tools" folder with newly downoaded "tools" folder. So far it's working in Eclipse.

I did better went to sdk/temp and found out
tools_r22.6.3-windows.zip which was downloaded but not installed
i just extracted the zip and replaced tools in \sdk\tools
note : exit eclipse and sdk manager , delete the old TOOLS folder rater than replacing it.

What worked for me is changing the name of the folder specified (C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\tools). After changing the name of the folder i opened android studio. next i went into the tools folder that i renamed and ran the android.bat file. this opened up the manager and allowed me to install no problem. A new tools folder will be created and used im assuming its safe to delete the old one that was renamed.

I received this error while the ddms was running (i was taking print screens from you phone). Exit and click Yes.

I have encountered this same problem and it has been solved.I configure the tools directory to the environment variable, This result can not rename the "tools" directory . solution: temporarily remove the environment variables inside, and then turn off the eclipse, and re-update.Hope it can help!

Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk and delete the temp folder. Rerun the SDK Manager to download the latest SDK's, it should work fine

You can go to:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk
Delete the folder "tools."
Extract the zip that has been downloaded in C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp\tools_r21.1-windows.zip to C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk. The folder inside this zip file is named "tools" and replaces the deleted folder.
It is the same as install the SDK Tools in the sdk manager.
I had this problem and it worked.

I "solved" it in this way: as said before, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp and copy the content to a new folder. Extract the content of the zip file, which contains the new tools just downloaded, and copy the entire folder back to C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk. This worked for me.

Download sdk from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html .Copy tools folder from the downloaded sdk folder and replace existing tools dir in already existing sdk folder. This worked for me. I face this issue while updating sdk. Upon copying and pasting the tools will not give any issue as you will be replacing updated version of tools to your existing sdk. This is not the right way as you need to do it all the time when you need to update sdk. Better way is to copy tools dir in ur sdk and paste it with diff name like toolsDiplicate in this folder run android.bat file as administrator. Hope this helps. Any other way to resolve this issue or any reasons for which we face this issue please let me know

I resolved this by copying my \tools folder, naming the copy \toolsCopy. Then I ran android.bat from the \toolsCopy folder with Administrator privileges.
Running the SDK manager from \tools locked the renaming of the \tools directory, for obvious reasons. SMH

Go to your android-sdk folder.
Rename 'tools' folder like 'tools1' or 'toolss' or anything else
Open cmd with Administration and go to that new renamed tools1/toolss folder from cmd
Ex-C:\Users\Eshad\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\toolss>android
Type 'android' for running the android.bat file
Now update

If you are on Windows instead of doing all those tricky things I solved it by downloading the 'sdk only' installer.exe which you can get here -> http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
1)Scroll down and click on DOWNLOAD FOR OTHER PLATFORMS
2)You will see two tables ADT bundle and SDK tools only .In that 'Sdk Tools only' one you can get the installer.exe(dont click on the .zip download) ... Just download it and run it but remember if you have saved your android in some other drive which is not the default then you will have to specify the path to the android sdk folder when the installer asks you to specify the path.
This solved my problem quit well without any problem.Cheers !!!

First go to folder where you have installed android SDK
( default location : *C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk )
and rename the folder. ex : android-sdk-previousVersion
Then download the latest android SDK from https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html?hl=i
Install the downloaded SDK in the same location of the previous android sdk.
Your downloaded sdk will not contain any platforms or system images..
Open the previous android sdk's folder and copy these folders : add-ons, build-tools, docs, extras, platforms, platform-tools ,samples ,sources and system-images then paste these folders in you new sdk's directory. Overwrite the folders if same folders exist.
Now you can delete the old android SDK folder.
Open the new android SDK and you will find all the platforms you had in the previous SDK.

go to Temp folder and untick the Read-Only tick button and press

I deleted the "temp" folder from the sdk folder and also the "temp" folder from the adt folder. It worked.

Deleting the the data from the temp folder which is inside the sdk folder is the best solution. Other solutions may work. You may have to try a lot of stuff....but ultimately, doing this will help you.

Go to your android-sdk folder.
Rename 'tools' folder like 'tools1' or 'toolss' or anything else
Open cmd with Administration and go to that new renamed tools1/toolss folder from cmd Ex-C:\Users\Eshad\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\toolss>android
Type 'android' for running the android.bat file
Now update

platform-tools\aapt.exe directory missing in android SDK

I'm trying to get 'hello world' working on the Android SDK with Eclipse. I'm following this tutorial step by step:
http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/hello-world.html
but i'm returned the error "Error executing aapt. Please check aapt is present at C:\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools\aapt.exe"
For some reason, the "platform-tools" folder does not exist under my installation. In its place I find "platforms" and "tools". Presumably, my SDK version is different to that used in the tutorial.
I can't work out what i need to change or update. Can someone please point me in the correct direction?
Thank you

Totally agree with izzy, but other times (usually on 64 bit OS machines or with multiple android platforms) when you install the latest SDK version the folder platform-tools had missing the "appt.exe".
To solve this you need to search on *android-sdk\build-tools* folder and subfolders like \build-tools\17.0.0 in my case, and you will find aapt.exe, other necesary files and lib folder, just copy it everything to android-sdk\platform-tools and it will be done.

sometimes you may get the error that it can not install because it can not create the temp folder to install the tools. You simply just need to run the SDK manager as administrator and this will allow it to all work out.

if we will face appt.exe issue (could not found) just Follow the below steps:
1. Just Read It(https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/aapt2)
Navigate to (ctrl+find and search) com.android.tools.build > then go to aapt2 from this url (https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/index.html)
Insert the version name you copied into the following URL and specify your
target operating system: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/android/tools/build/aapt2/aapt2-version/aapt2-aapt2-version-[windows | linux | osx].jar
For example, to download version 3.2.0-alpha18-4804415 for Windows,
you would use: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/android/tools/build/aapt2/3.2.0-alpha18-4804415/aapt2-3.2.0-alpha18-4804415-windows.jar
Extract the jar file, Change the name aapt2.exe to apt.exe
Copy and paste into your android-sdk -> platform-tools
Run the program, Issue will be get resolved
Note: Means you have to download and set the aapt.exe path in System Environment Variable

*What version of the SDK are you running? (1.5_r2 or something?)*
I would suggest updating your SDK and be done with it ;)
You can do so trough the "Android SDK and AVD Manager".
Eclipse:
menu->window->"Android SDK and AVD Manager"
You might also want to change this setting:
menu->window->preferences->install/update->(expand)->automatic updates

Run the Android SDK Manager and be sure that you have checked and installed Tools>Android SDK Platform-tools.
I believe this package is responsible for the folder in question here.

I just found aapt.exe file in my latest Android-SDK folder (Android_SDK\build-tools\28.0.3)
You can check your latest sdk build-tools folder
or
You can search on total Android SDK folder by file name

I was able to delete my version (28.0.3) and Android Studio reinstalled it. The directory location was
C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\build-tools