Installation & Setup

Before you can build anything with Flutter, you need the Flutter SDK on your machine along with a working toolchain for at least one target platform (Android and/or iOS), plus an editor with Flutter/Dart support. This page walks through the whole setup from a clean machine to a running "Hello World" app, and explains what each tool actually does so the process doesn't feel like a black box.

1. Downloading and Installing the Flutter SDK

The Flutter SDK is a folder containing the flutter command-line tool, the Dart SDK (Dart ships bundled inside Flutter, so you don't install it separately), and the core framework source. Download the SDK archive for your operating system from the official Flutter site, then extract it somewhere permanent — avoid paths that require elevated privileges to write to, such as C:\Program Files on Windows.

// Example extraction location on each OS
// Windows:  C:\src\flutter
// macOS:    ~/development/flutter
// Linux:    ~/development/flutter

Once extracted, the flutter executable lives inside the SDK's bin folder. You must add that bin folder to your system's PATH so the flutter command works from any terminal, in any directory.

// macOS/Linux: add this line to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or similar
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/development/flutter/bin"

// Windows: add the folder to the PATH environment variable via
// System Properties -> Environment Variables -> Path -> New
// e.g. C:\src\flutter\bin

Close and reopen your terminal after editing PATH, then confirm it worked:

flutter --version

2. Running flutter doctor

flutter doctor is the single most useful command when setting up your environment. It inspects your machine and reports exactly what's missing, so you don't have to guess.

flutter doctor

Here's what it actually checks:

3. Setting Up Android Studio (Android SDK & Emulator)

Even if you plan to write your Flutter code in VS Code, you almost always still need Android Studio installed — not necessarily to write code in it, but because it bundles the Android SDK, platform tools, and the Android Virtual Device (AVD) manager used to create Android emulators.

1. Download and install Android Studio from the official site.
2. On first launch, go through the "Setup Wizard" so it downloads the Android SDK and SDK platform-tools.
3. Open Tools > Device Manager (or AVD Manager) and create a virtual device — pick a recent Pixel profile and a system image.
4. Run flutter doctor --android-licenses and accept the licenses if flutter doctor flags them as unsigned.

4. Setting Up Xcode for iOS (macOS only)

Building and running iOS apps — even in the Simulator — requires a Mac with Xcode installed from the App Store. After installing Xcode:

sudo xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
sudo xcodebuild -runFirstLaunch
// Install CocoaPods, used to manage iOS native dependencies
sudo gem install cocoapods

Open the iOS Simulator via Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Simulator, or simply run open -a Simulator from the terminal, to have a target device ready for flutter run.

5. Choosing an Editor: VS Code vs Android Studio

Either editor works well for Flutter development — pick whichever you're already comfortable with.

Both give you run/debug buttons, a device selector dropdown, and integrated hot reload — the experience is very similar day-to-day.

6. Connecting a Device or Emulator

You need at least one target to run your app against: an Android emulator, an iOS simulator, a physical Android phone with USB debugging enabled, or a physical iPhone. Check what Flutter can currently see with:

flutter devices

For a physical Android device, enable "Developer options" (tap the Build Number 7 times in Settings > About Phone) and turn on "USB debugging," then connect via USB and accept the debugging prompt on the device.

7. Creating and Running a Starter Project

With the SDK, an editor, and at least one device or emulator ready, verify everything end-to-end by generating and running Flutter's default starter project:

flutter create my_app
cd my_app
flutter run

flutter create scaffolds a complete runnable project (we'll look inside it in detail in the "Your First App" lesson). flutter run builds the app and installs it on whichever device/emulator is currently selected, then keeps a session open in your terminal that listens for hot reload key presses while it runs.

8. Release Channels: flutter channel

The Flutter SDK is distributed on several release channels, and you can switch between them with flutter channel:

flutter channel
// Switch channel, then apply it
flutter channel stable
flutter upgrade