[android] Where is android_sdk_root? and how do I set it.?

I set the android_sdk_home variable so that my application could find .android when trying to run. Now I get an error stating that "android_sdk_root is undefined". I am running win 7 with a new installation of Android Studio, inside parallels on a macbook pro.

Thank you for your response. I checked the location and it is identified as the same location as the ANDROID_SDK_HOME environment path. It still says root is undefined. I created an ANDROID_SDK_ROOT enviroment path to the same location and it is still undefined.

This question is related to android

The answer is


You need to make a system env variable with the name: ANDROID_SDK_ROOT and it's value should be C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Sdk\tools\bin worked for me


ANDROID_HOME

Deprecated (in Android Studio), use ANDROID_SDK_ROOT instead.

ANDROID_SDK_ROOT

Installation directory of Android SDK package.

Example: C:\AndroidSDK or /usr/local/android-sdk/

ANDROID_NDK_ROOT

Installation directory of Android NDK package. (WITHOUT ANY SPACE)

Example: C:\AndroidNDK or /usr/local/android-ndk/

ANDROID_SDK_HOME

Location of SDK related data/user files.

Example: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.android\ or ~/.android/

ANDROID_EMULATOR_HOME

Location of emulator-specific data files.

Example: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.android\ or ~/.android/

ANDROID_AVD_HOME

Location of AVD-specific data files.

Example: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.android\avd\ or ~/.android/avd/

JDK_HOME and JAVA_HOME

Installation directory of JDK (aka Java SDK) package.

Note: This is used to run Android Studio(and other Java-based applications). Actually when you run Android Studio, it checks for JDK_HOME then JAVA_HOME environment variables to use.


ANDROID_HOME, which also points to the SDK installation directory, is deprecated. If you continue to use it, the following rules apply: If ANDROID_HOME is defined and contains a valid SDK installation, its value is used instead of the value in ANDROID_SDK_ROOT. If ANDROID_HOME is not defined, the value in ANDROID_SDK_ROOT is used. If ANDROID_HOME is defined but does not exist or does not contain a valid SDK installation, the value in ANDROID_SDK_ROOT is used instead.


MAC - one liner

echo "export ANDROID_HOME=~/Library/Android/sdk \
      export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=~/Library/Android/sdk \
      export ANDROID_AVD_HOME=~/.android/avd" \
>> ~/.bash_profile && source ~/.bash_profile

android_sdk_root is a system variable which points to root folder of android sdk tools. You probably get the error because the variable is not set. To set it in Android Studio go to:

  1. File -> project Structure into Project Structure
  2. Left -> SDK Location
  3. SDK location select Android SDK location

If you have installed android SDK please refer to this answer to find the path to it: https://stackoverflow.com/a/15702396/3625900


Open the terminal and run the command: nano $HOME/.bashrc aggregate the follow line:

export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Android/Sdk
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=$HOME/Android/Sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

Ctrl+o save and ctrl+x close.

And run the command:

source $HOME/.bashrc

echo $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT

This is how to change it :

Step 1 :

Open a Terminal / CMD As Administrator (Right-click on cmd and click "Run as Administrator")

Step 2:

type in " set ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=E:\Android\sdk\ " (type it without the quotes and replace "E:\Android\sdk" with your actual sdk file path location - Mine was : C:\Users\YOUR_ACCOUNT\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk

step 3:

Press "Enter" and i noticed nothing happened

Step 4:

Build your app again and it should reflect your file path. For me it doisplayed as :

Preparing Firebase on Android Checking Java JDK and Android SDK versions ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=C:\Users\Kurt\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk (recommended setting) ANDROID_HOME=C:\Users\Kurt\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk (DEPRECATED) Subproject Path: CordovaLib Subproject Path: app

I got that info from this site :

https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/variables#android_sdk_root

Check it out for more information Have Fun!!


in mac os you can try brew install gradle


on Mac edit .bash_profile use code or vim

code ~/.bash_profile

export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=~/Library/Android/sdk

export ANDROID_HOME=~/Library/Android/sdk

In Android Studio 3.2.1 I got this error because I installed a new API(28) level emulator without installing that API SDK components. After I installed SDK platform and SDK platform tools for the API level 28 and updated Android Emulator the emulator started running.

Hope it may help someone.


I followed this tutorial to set up my android environment variables I was on mac and I had all the required environmental variable setup and working already. but i was still getting this error that requires environment ANDROID_SDK_ROOT.

I already had an android SDK exported environment variable.

So, what I simply did is adding ANDROID_HOME to the path with the following commands: export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME

and it worked for me on macOS


This is how I did it on macOS:

vim ~/.bash_profile  # macOS 10.14 Mojave and older
vim ~/.zshrc         # macOS 10.15 Catalina and newer (using zsh by default)

And added the following environment variables:

export ANDROID_HOME=/Users/{{your user}}/Library/Android/sdk
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/Users/{{your user}}/Library/Android/sdk
export ANDROID_AVD_HOME=/Users/{{your user}}/.android/avd

Android path might be different, if so change it accordingly. At last, to refresh the terminal to apply changes:

source ~/.bash_profile  # macOS 10.14 Mojave and older
source ~/.zshrc         # macOS 10.15 Catalina and newer (using zsh by default)

I received the same error after installing android studio and trying to run hello world. I think you need to use the SDK Manager inside Android Studio to install some things first.

android_sdk_root error

Open up Android Studio, and click on the SDK Manager in the toolbar.

SDK Manager

Now install the SDK tools you need.

  • Tools -> Android SDK Tools
  • Tools -> Android SDK Platform-tools
  • Tools -> Android SDK Build-tools (highest version)

For each Android release you are targeting, hit the appropriate Android X.X folder and select (at a minimum):

  • SDK Platform
  • A system image for the emulator, such as ARM EABI v7a System Image

The SDK Manager will run (this can take a while) and download and install the various SDKs.

Inside Android Studio, File->Project Structure will show you where your Android sdks are installed. As you can see mine is c:\users\Joe\AppData\Local\Android\sdk1.

enter image description here

If I navigate to C:\Users\Joe\AppData\Local\Android\sdk1\sources you can see the various Android SDKs installed there...

SDK Directories


For macOS with zshrc:

ANDROID_HOME is depreciated, use ANDROID_SDK_ROOT instead

  1. Ensure that Android Build Tools is installed. Check if it exists in your File Directory
  2. Get the path to your SDK. Usually it is /Users/<USER>/Library/Android/sdk
  3. Add ANDROID_SDK_ROOT as a path to your Environment variables: echo 'export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/Users/<USER>/Library/Android/sdk' >> ~/.zshenv
  4. Apply the changes with source ~/.zshrc
  5. Check if it was saved by ...
    • ... checking the specific environment variable echo $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT
    • ... checking the complete list of environment variables on your system env

You can apply this process to every environment variable beeing installed on your macOS system. It took me a while to comprehend it for myself