Flutter failed to delete a directory at “build”. the flutter tool cannot access the file or directory. please ensure that the sdk and/or project is installed in a location that has read/write permissions for the current user.

Flutter Error: Failed to Delete Directory at “build”

The error message “Flutter failed to delete a directory at ‘build’. The Flutter tool cannot access the file or directory. Please ensure that the SDK and/or project is installed in a location that has read/write permissions for the current user.” indicates that the Flutter tool is unable to delete the ‘build’ directory in your Flutter project due to permission issues.

The ‘build’ directory is automatically created by Flutter to store the compiled application files and other build artifacts. Occasionally, this directory can become locked or inaccessible, leading to such errors during the build process.

Possible Solutions:

1. Check File System Permissions:
   Ensure that the location where your Flutter SDK and your project are stored has the necessary read/write permissions for the current user. By default, these locations are usually under the user’s home directory. If you are using a different location, make sure it has the necessary permissions.
2. Exit Running Processes:
   Sometimes, other processes or applications might be holding onto files within the ‘build’ directory, making it inaccessible for deletion. Close any running processes or applications that may have opened files in the ‘build’ directory, and then try deleting it again.
3. Delete ‘build’ Directory Manually:
   If the above steps do not resolve the issue, you can try manually deleting the ‘build’ directory from your Flutter project. Open the folder containing your Flutter project in a file explorer and delete the ‘build’ directory. After deleting it, try running the Flutter build command again.

Example:

Let’s consider an example where your Flutter project is stored under the path:
/Users/username/Documents/FlutterProjects/my_flutter_app/
and you encounter the “Flutter failed to delete a directory at ‘build'” error.

First, check the file system permissions for the project path:
ls -l /Users/username/Documents/FlutterProjects/my_flutter_app/
Ensure that the current user has read/write permissions for this path.

If permissions are correct, exit any running processes that might be holding onto files in the ‘build’ directory. Then, manually delete the ‘build’ directory by running:
rm -r /Users/username/Documents/FlutterProjects/my_flutter_app/build
After successful deletion, you can try running the Flutter build command again.