Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project [SOLVED]

You may open an android studio project and encounter an error that prevents your project from building successfully. There are different errors that occur when your project does not meet various requirements that are required by android studio.

Working with android studio requires certain guidelines that are set by android since the build tools are built to support certain requirements

Most errors occur when you are mostly importing a project to the android studio which it was not developed on

In this article, we shall show you how you can solve the error shown below

This version of the Android Support plugin for IntelliJ IDEA (or Android Studio) cannot open this project, please retry with version 4.2 or newer.

OR

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

To solve this error,

You will need to check the android studio version that you are using

  • In the android studio navigation bar, click help
  • Scroll down to about and click to open

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

  • A modal will pop up which will show the android studio version, like for this article, the android studio version is 4.1.3

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

Next, you will need to identify the version in which the project is built on

To do this;

  • In your project, scroll down on the left sidebar to build.gradle for the project and click to open

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

  • In the dependencies section, view the android tools as below

classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.2.2'

The full build.gradle for project is as below

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

buildscript {

    repositories {

        jcenter()

        google()

    }

    dependencies {

       classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.2.2'

        classpath 'com.novoda:bintray-release:0.8.0'

        classpath 'com.github.dcendents:android-maven-gradle-plugin:1.4.1'

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong

        // in the individual module build.gradle files

    }

}

 

allprojects {

    repositories {

        google()

        jcenter()

        maven {

            url "https://jitpack.io"

        }

    }

}

You will note that the android studio version 4.1.3 is lower than the android tools 4.2.2 that is used by this project

How to fix Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

To solve this, you can use two methods as we shall explain below

  • Method 1

Updating android studio to the latest version

When you see a project using higher android tools, it means that the android studio you are using is behind in terms of version

You can download and install the latest version of the android studio so that when your project is building it can use the latest tools provided by the latest android studio

To download and install the latest android studio, you can follow this article that will explain how to download and install android studio or get android studio from https://developer.android.com/studio

  • Method 2

Using android tools that are available in your android studio version

For example, if your android studio is version 4.1.3, you will need to lower the android tools for your project from 4.2.2 to 4.1.3 by using the steps below

  • In the android studio, click File and then scroll down to project structure

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

  • In the android Gradle plugin version, select the version that matches your android studio version, in this case, we are selecting 4.1.3

Android Support plugin for Android Studio cannot open this project

  • Click apply then okay and let the changes apply
  • When it is done, your project will have switched from using android tools 4.2.2 to 4.1.3 and the build.gradle for the project will be as follows

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

 

buildscript {

    repositories {

        jcenter()

        google()

    }

    dependencies {

        classpath 'com.novoda:bintray-release:0.8.0'

        classpath 'com.github.dcendents:android-maven-gradle-plugin:1.4.1'

        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.1.3'

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong

        // in the individual module build.gradle files

    }

}

 

allprojects {

    repositories {

        google()

        jcenter()

        maven {

            url "https://jitpack.io"

        }

 

 

    }

}

That’s how you solve the error this version of the Android Support plugin for IntelliJ IDEA (or Android Studio) cannot open this project, please retry with version 4.2 or newer