Unsupported Class File Major Version 61 Error

I am trying to run a flutter app, and this error appeared while trying to, what I did was that I wanted to run flutter apps without android studio, so I download android SDK and JDK 17, after I ran flutter doctor and it gave me that everything is good, I tried to run and it gave me this error:

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* Where:
Build file 'E:\Flutter Apps\first_app\android\build.gradle'

* What went wrong:
Could not compile build file 'E:\Flutter Apps\first_app\android\build.gradle'.
> startup failed:
  General error during semantic analysis: Unsupported class file major version 61
.............

So I tried an older version of JDK, it gave me another error, so I saw a third solution to run with JDK 17, which is to downgrade the gradle in gradle.properties, but it just gave me a fourth error, so does anyone know a final solution for this error ??

8

3 Answers

Based on the answer of DeveloperOmar 100 I found the following solution:

  1. switch your Java version to a compatible version, in my case to Java version 16.0.2

    To switch it you have to set your PATH. (e.g for Mac, you can use the java_home command).

  2. check your Gradle version and update that one too, so it is compatible (see the Gradle wrapper docs) so in my case I had to change the distributionUrl property in android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties:

    distributionUrl=https\://
    
3

I ran into the same problem when I tried out Kotlin/Compose on my windows computer. I followed the instructions at

I struggled with this for a few hours before I finally was able to solve all the problems I encountered.

Solution

  • In gradle settings changed Gradle JVM: 11 (version 11.0.12)

  • In build.gradle.kts I deleted

    tasks.withType { kotlinOptions.jvmTarget = "16" }

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Consumer Tech & Gadget Reviewer

Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.