If this scenario is applicable, Windows Defender or any third-party software likely quarantines it, and as a result, you no longer have the adb.exe file in the platform-tools folder.

Corrupted Platform Tools - In addition to the aforementioned reasons, if your platform tools are damaged or corrupted, that might result in the error message as well.

In such a scenario, you will have to go to the project settings and give the project an SDK which by default is set to No SDK. The Android SDK by default does not give projects a default SDK.

Project Settings - As it turns out, in some cases, the error message may arise due to your project settings.

However, keep in mind that it may not only be limited to Avast if you are using a different third-party antivirus, but it could also likely be causing the issue and thus you should look at the files that have been quarantined by the application. If this is applicable, you will have to restore the file from there and everything should be good.

Avast antivirus has been known to cause this a lot with ADB where it locks the file in the virus chest.

Third-Party Antivirus - Antivirus softwares are known to cause several issues where they remove a file from your system due to a false positive.However, do remember that the causes include but are not limited to the ones mentioned down below. To understand and establish a better understanding of the error message in question, let us discuss the different reasons the issue may arise in more detail. In addition to that, your project settings can also cause this error message to pop up. Issues like these are pretty common with antivirus software and thus, while using one, you need to make sure that it isn’t triggering a false positive on the files that you are working with. This can happen due to several reasons including when your antivirus software removes the adb.exe file due to a false alarm.

As it turns out, the error message appears when Android Studio is not able to locate the ADB.exe file that is located in the platform-tools folder. While trying to run your app via the Android Studio, you might face the “ Unable to Locate ADB” error message that stops the simulation. It can be used for various purposes as it facilitates a bunch of actions including installing and debugging apps on your device. Android Debug Bridge or ADB allows you to communicate with your devices via a command-line interface.

Android studio sdk adb