Error running android: Gradle project sync failed. Please fix your project and try again

Question

1. Goto File -> Invalidate caches / Restart
2. Shutdown Android Studio
3. Rename/remove .gradle folder in the user home directory
4. Restart Android Studio (It will download gradle metadata and data)
5. Gradle build succeed
6. Rebuild project. Done.

Solution is

1. Connect your computer to the internet

2. Click

Sync project with Gradle files

On toolbar

It will automatically sync the gradle.

Just ignore the error and try running the project anyway. It will fail, but this time you will get a link in the error description. Clicking the link will trigger the automatic update/download of the outdated/missing component.

In my scenario, the project failed to launch two times, each time another API/SDK component being the culprit.

In my case I was just trying to launch a sample project I downloaded, having no clue what API level was being targeted or where to look for this information.

1. Download the latest Gradle package distribution for example (gradle-2.11-all.zip).
2. Extract this zip file in a folder as for example (D://Gradle)
3. Load your project in Android Studio and go to File->Settings->Gradle. Click on Use local Gradle distribution and point it to the folder where you unzipped the latest Gradle project.
4. Restart your project