Flutter cannot delete build folder when flutter clean is executed

Question

Whenever I try to clean my flutter project by using the command flutter clean I get an error saying

Failed to remove build. A program may still be using a file in the directory or the directory itself. To find and stop such a program, see:
https://superuser.com/questions/1333118/cant-delete-empty-folder-because-it-is-used

I can understand that there is some directory opened and it has to closes in order to clean. But I cannot understand which one is it. I tried restarting my computer to resolve this issue. But still when I run the command flutter clean I get the error.

in your flutter project, try rm -rf build otherwise flutter build clean? — EvOlaNdLuPiZ
– EvOlaNdLuPiZ, Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 12:12
both these commands doesnt work, im using windows. Also, when i press flutter build clean i get Could not find a subcommand named "clean" for "flutter build". — Jithin Palepu
– Jithin Palepu, Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 14:02

imssurya · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-05 16:24:29Z

35

If you moved your project folder to another place then just **delete** your "build" folder and

flutter clean

and

flutter pub get

you will be fine:) Cheers.

answered Sep 5, 2020 at 16:24

imssurya

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1 Comment

mister_cool_beans Over a year ago

is there an explanation as to why flutter can not delete the build folder in this scenario ?

Abdul Rauf · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-09 09:04:42Z

9

If you are using Android Studio then just go to

File->Invalidate Caches / Restart

answered Jun 9, 2020 at 9:04

Abdul Rauf

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1 Comment

Muhammad Tayyab Oct 17 at 16:14

What about windows ? Can you guide me?

Talha Shahab · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-05 17:16:01Z

7

Simply run your cmd as administrator then run the command. As simple as that.

Thank me later.. :)

answered May 5, 2020 at 17:16

Talha Shahab

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2 Comments

JohnnyQ Over a year ago

It's not as simple as that, that will not solve this.

Saayeed M Daawoud Over a year ago

Failed to remove build. A program may still be using a file in the directory or the directory itself.

EngineerDanny · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-02 02:11:46Z

5

The answer is found in the link u were sent to go to which was https://superuser.com/questions/1333118/cant-delete-empty-folder-because-it-is-used

Apparently, you need to download Microsoft's Process Explorer to help you figure out which program is that.

It will let you know which app is handling that folder and you will also be able to kill that handle.

Find -> Find handle -> search for folder's name (will take a while..)

answered Jan 2, 2020 at 2:11

EngineerDanny

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2 Comments

sangmin park Over a year ago

What folder name do you need to search?

Stefan Thomas Isaia Over a year ago

You navigate to the folder you are try to delete. When you have it open you search for the exact name of the folder, eg. FolderName2 or ThisIsMyProjectFolder.

McWally · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-26 09:13:18Z

3

If it all fails, just restart the computer and you can start from where you left.

answered Mar 26, 2021 at 9:13

McWally

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Comments

Chamod Dissanayake · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-04 18:31:39Z

3

Try to delete build folder manually. If it shows using a file in the directory error then identify the process and kill or simply restart machine.

Then run flutter clean and flutter pub get

Additionally try invalidate cache in IDE.

edited Jun 4, 2021 at 18:31

answered Jun 4, 2021 at 17:52

Chamod Dissanayake

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Comments

evan · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-27 23:10:03Z

2

Shut down any instances of openJDK or java in task manager, than run it within a cmd window with admin privileges.

answered Dec 27, 2020 at 23:10

evan

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Comments

aihamhasan · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-05 06:04:56Z

1

Go to Task Manager
search for any Flutter Application running in the Background process, click and End Task
Run flutter clean in IDE

The Reason was Flutter Clean cant delete the build while the Application is still running in the Background process, u have to close it and run.

answered Apr 5, 2021 at 6:04

aihamhasan

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Comments

Maruf Hassan · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-12 14:09:23Z

0

Close your IDE.
Open cmd as administrator by right clicking on Start icon.
Change the directory from C:\Windows\system32> to your flutter directory.
Then run flutter clean

edited Nov 12, 2020 at 14:09

answered Nov 10, 2020 at 13:41

Maruf Hassan

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King Alawaka · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-25 02:00:42Z

0

I tried all of the above solutions and the following order worked for me.

Open Task Manager and end any java(JDK) related processes.
Android studio File -> Invalidate Caches / Restart
Once restart the IDE pub get

answered Feb 25, 2021 at 2:00

King Alawaka

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Hamza Abdullah · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-07 03:28:48Z

0

kill OpenJDK instance from task manager

answered Sep 7, 2021 at 3:28

Hamza Abdullah

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Sanket Shah · Accepted Answer · 2022-05-09 20:42:14Z

0

I had that issue before;

Quit vscode or android studio (whichever you're using) and follow the below steps

Open the command line (CMD) as administrator
Go to the root directory of the project.
run flutter clean command

edited May 9, 2022 at 20:42

Sanket Shah

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answered May 9, 2022 at 9:59

George Shomali

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Tony Malik · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-20 04:33:49Z

0

flutter lib folder and all dart file major red lines in vscode so use this two commands flutter clean and flutter pub get it's work but if your error android folder then you use other way to solve the problem

answered Aug 20, 2022 at 4:33

Tony Malik

1

Comments

Raj dave · Accepted Answer · 2022-10-04 12:06:27Z

0

end all the dart processes
delete build folder if not working then also delete .dart-tools, if still not then delete macos\Flutter\ephemera folder

I had to delete all three folder to get out of this

answered Oct 4, 2022 at 12:06

Raj dave

1

Comments

Invictus Warrior · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-20 10:28:22Z

0

What worked for me:

Restart your PC (some current services block flutter clean)
After restart delete your build folder manually (remove write protection before)
Terminal in VSCode execute this command: flutter clean
Execute this command: flutter pub get
Start your App like always :)

answered Dec 20, 2022 at 10:28

Invictus Warrior

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Comments

Saminas · Accepted Answer · 2023-03-29 09:30:14Z

0

I had the same problem. before cleaning, just stop the running project, then clean

answered Mar 29, 2023 at 9:30

Saminas

1

1 Comment

Community Over a year ago

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Siva Krishna Matta · Accepted Answer · 2023-08-17 08:19:15Z

0

After following the above steps, like closing instances and clean steps, if you still can not delete, May be check is there android studio or emulator or flutter app running...?

answered Aug 17, 2023 at 8:19

Siva Krishna Matta

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Comments

Gordon13 · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-25 21:39:20Z

0

I've had this issue for months and couldn't figure it out until now. It was nothing to do with Google Drive or any other process using the folders.

The issue was the naming of the root directory. My project path was like so:

some_other_folder/actual-main-folder

It seems that it doesn't like the character "-" and it doesn't say anything about it when running flutter doctor or any other command.

I changed it to:

actual_main_folder

Where the "-" was replaced by "_" and that fixed everything. No more permissions issues or folders that can't be deleted because they're in use etc.

Hope this helps someone.

answered Nov 25, 2024 at 21:39

Gordon13

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BlackPearl · Accepted Answer · 2025-09-26 22:56:48Z

0

As I did not want to restart my computer, what I did that worked for me was to delete the build folder, and run flutter clean before running flutter pub get.

answered Sep 26 at 22:56

BlackPearl

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Lalit Fauzdar · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-14 14:05:40Z

-1

I tried every answer from here and then I found out it was my Avast antivirus.

Avast Antivirus (others too maybe) is notorious to block such development activity. You've to add all the SDK and project containing folders in exceptions then it works.

edited Apr 14, 2022 at 14:05

answered Nov 18, 2021 at 17:19

Lalit Fauzdar

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Janaka · Accepted Answer · 2022-10-06 02:29:01Z

-1

I had the same problem.

What worked for me was stop anti virus program running on my PC

Then flutter clean worked fine.

After that I restated anti virus program.

answered Oct 6, 2022 at 2:29

Janaka

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