Run button not working in android studio

Got a great skill in programming or wondering how to create your own android application. You started your Android Studio. Wrote pages filled with programs and hopefully all correct and working just fine. And now the time comes to check your ‘Run Button‘ won’t work only! Doesn’t get clicked only. It’s all grey and dull and you are sitting there all annoyed at how to fix this!

Don’t be stressed anymore we got this for you. Know how to fix the “Run button not working in android studio error,” here, and watch your program running and get your hard work’s fruit.

Run button not working in android studio

To fix this problem you need to handle:

1. Add Configuration
2. Missing Android SDK
3. ADB Missing
4. System Requirement
5. Update the latest
6. Complete Uninstall
7. Contact Developer

As being a programmer myself, I understand the annoyance we face when we get errors in our software instead of the program. Writing a problem isn’t a great deal but facing the software issues while writing the program is the biggest struggle. And this complication advances more as your programming level advances towards being a professional. As being a developer we mainly get to work on different types of IDE, i.e., Integrated Development Environment. And Android Studio is one of the most used IDE among developers all around the world. In this article, we will go through an issue you might face while working on this Integrated Development Environment, ‘Run’ Button not working. But first, let’s go through a few important things you must know before fixing ‘Run’ Button. 

What is IDE

We know that Android Studio is an IDE or Integrated Development Environment, but what is this IDE actually! An IDE or Integrated Development Environment is a software application that creates a developer-friendly environment, consisting of all the needed functions for development. IDE is a very popular environment any and almost every application developer would prefer for developing his project. IDE provides you a vast variety of facilities and in-demand functions for easy and for great User Interface development of the application. Every IDE at least consists of build automation tools, a source code editor, and a debugger.

Moreover, some really great IDEs such as Android Studio, Visual Studio, NetBeans, or Ellipse also consist of compilers and interpreters and various other tools which makes it easy for the construction of GUI (Graphical User Interface). These IDEs’ main task is to maximize the productivity of the programmers. Also, ease the task of finding packages easily on the software itself instead of searching it online and wasting hours stuck in such issues.

In simple words, we can say that IDE brings together multiple development utilities altogether in one place. 

What is Android Studio

Android is an IDE. As we got to know about IDEs, so now maybe you would have understood what Android Studio is and how it is used. Android Studio is an official IDE created and designed by Google’s Android. This IDE is specially used for developing Android Operating System supporting base. Easily available and free source downloading software is in high demand nowadays in the market. Also because of the increasing use of Android OS in the market, there is an unbreakable demand for Android applications and hence making Android Studio a great demand among the developers also.

Android Studio in original is a replacement of another Android IDE that is Eclipse Android Development Tools or E-ADT. Android mainly prefers their apps to be developed in Kotlin and Java languages and so making these two the preferred language for Android Studio. Also, C++ is even supported by this IDE. Android Studio supports all the languages that are of IntelliJ and CLion.

Some of the main advantageous features of Android Studio are:

• Gradle Based Building Support.
• Refactoring and quick fixes.
• Easy drag and drop option for development.
• Template-based wizards for common creation of the application.
• The rich layout of the editor for the users.
• Supporting Android wearable applications.
• Google-Cloud support along with Firebase Cloud Messaging
• ProGuard Integration
• Lint tools for better version compatibility, performance, and usability
• For debugging apps we have Android Virtual Device Emulator.

Android Studio Version’s Release date History:

Being update can resolve the problem of Run button not working

System Requirements For Android Studio

Most of the time we don’t check for System Requirements and suffer from the problem Run button not working in android studio. So must check this in advance.

There are very normal requirements Android Studio asks for running, that you may easily find in any laptop or PC these days.

	Microsoft Windows	Mac	Linux
Operating System Version	Microsoft windows7/8/10 (32-or 64-bit) The Android Emulator only supports 64-bit Windows.	Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) or higher,up to 10.14 (macOS Mojave)	GNOME or KDE desktop Tested on gLinux based on Debian
Random Access Memory (RAM)	8 GB RAM recommended or minimum 4 GB RAM required
Free disk space	4 GB Recommended (500 MB for IDE + 1.5 GB for Android SDK and emulator system image), Minimum 2 GB of available disk space
Minimum required JDK version	Java Development Kit 8
Minimum screen resolution	1280 x 800

Run button not working in android studio

Now let’s jump on the main part of this article, that is, how to fix the ‘Run’ Button when it is disabled or not working. So generally such problems do not occur but still, if it does then it will have an easy solution. Such problems mainly occur when we have recently or freshly installed the Android Studio in our working place. Also possible to occur when there is an upgrade of a new version required.

1st Case: Add Configuration

In this case, you will be shown only one active option and that is ‘Add Configuration’ in your dropdown option. And when you click this option of ‘Add Configuration’ you will see no option as ‘Android App’ tag on the newly opened window’s left side.

Solution for you this problem

• To fix this error on your IDE, click on the ‘Files’ menu.
• There find an option of ‘Sync project with Gradle Files’. Click on it.
• After that get back to the development site (where you write all the codes) of your project.
• There you will see that ‘Add Configuration’ option has vanished from near to the ‘Run’ Button. Now the option of ‘App’ has been replaced instead of ‘Add Configuration’ automatically selected. 
• Your ‘Run’ Button will work as normal and will start running your project.

Note that you will not need to restart your IDE for fixing this issue.  

2nd Case: Android studio is missing Android SDK

In this case, it may be possible that your android studio is missing Android SDK and/or JAVA SDK.

• You need both Android SDK and JAVA SDK installed on your IDE for running your project.
• So, go to the right of the AVD button, there you will find a button which displays like an Android logo and a downwards pointing arrow.
• Click this button to get to the Android SDK Manager window.
• When this window displays, check all the Tools to make sure you have all that is required to develop your application.
• Also, make sure you have the latest version of SDK on the Android Studio for proper functioning.
• You can find SDK on the ‘Extras’ at the bottom of the window.

3rd Case: ‘Run button‘ is active

In this case, it is possible that your ‘Run’ button is active, i.e., is not grey and dull and unclickable. You are able to click the ‘Run’ button but this click doesn’t seem to do any task at all. No response. No action happening. Then you may follow below-given steps to fix your ‘Run’ Button:

1. You will find a ‘Run’ option on the menu dropdown. Click on that.
2. Then find an option saying ‘Edit Configuration’.
3. Go on the left side of the window, there you will find an option of ‘Android Application’. Then find the ‘+’ button and click it.
4. From the pop-up menu that occurred, again choose ‘Android Application’.
5. Then choose the module of the application type you are creating.
6. Click ‘Apply’ and then press the option of ‘OK’.

By following these steps you will be able to run your program successfully.

But unluckily the problem still continues to persist. Then you may try to re-import the entire current project, which would be able to fix the issue.

4th Case: ADB might be missing

You can solve the above persisting problem with one other way too. It may be possible that ADB might be missing from your IDE. It might say ‘ADB Not Found’. So for this, you would have to reinstall the IDE. After reinstalling the software, it would solve the problem. Make sure that you delete each and every file related to your Android Studio before reinstalling. As the previous files may auto-set the settings of the currently installed software. See ADB is not recognized.

5th Case: System Requirement

It is may obvious that your system does not fit for android studio. So please check the system requirement we mentioned above.

6th Case: Update the latest Android Studio

Check for the latest Android Studio version available on site. Some time android studio become so buggy due to this.

7th Case: Final Fix!

Completely uninstall! Yes, right Completely uninstall Android Studio, java, and all the supported things related to this. But don’t forget to make a backup of your projects. If still, you are facing, Run button not working, comment below and create an issue: here

Learning Required:

• Android studio keeps stopping
• Logcat and Recycler View
• Android system webView

Summary

So, at the end, that’s all the solution we could come up with for helping you fix the Run button not working in an android studio. And hoping this problem of yours’ would have been able to be fixed by now. It’s just never losing hope and motivation over these tiny annoying software errors. We will come up in the future with more such solutions to help you get out of such problems. Just stay motivated and keep on creating your amazing application and we got you covered in such problems. Happy Coding!