Android: how to fix "Cannot resolve symbol 'R'" with androidx and search_close_btn?

Question

In my Android project, I have an onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) to show a SearchView. The below line sets up an "X" graphic as a close button for the SearchView, which is shown when the SearchView is open:

ImageView clearButton = mSearchView.findViewById(androidx.appcompat.R.id.search_close_btn);

Android Studio throws an error message on this line, "Cannot resolve symbol 'R'".

What am I missing here?

I have read other answers on StackOverflow to "Build / Clean Project" or "File / Invalidate Caches / Invalidate and Restart" which works sometimes to clear the error but I am looking for a solution to avoid the error in the first place.

MainActivity's SearchView code:

getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.mainactiv_menu, menu);
MenuItem searchItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search);
menu.findItem(R.id.action_search).setVisible(false);
SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) MainActivity.this.getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
mSearchView = (SearchView) searchItem.getActionView();
mSearchView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
mSearchView.setIconifiedByDefault(true);

mainactiv_menu.xml

 <item android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:title="@string/search_title"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
        app:actionViewClass="androidx.appcompat.widget.SearchView"
        android:orderInCategory="1"
        app:showAsAction="always|collapseActionView"  />

AndroidManifest.xml

<activity
    android:name=".MainActivity" >
    <intent-filter tools:ignore="ExtraText">
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
    </intent-filter>
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.app.searchable"
        android:resource="@xml/searchable"  />
</activity>

searchable.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:label="@string/app_name"  >
</searchable>

IDE is Android Studio Narwhal | 2025.1.1

build.gradle(:app) has "implementation libs.appcompat"

libs.version.toml has 'appcompat = "1.7.1"'

gradle.properties has "android.useAndroidX=true"

Take a look at your import statement at the top of the class, make sure it is importing the correct R — Lawrence Gimenez
– Lawrence Gimenez, Commented Jul 2 at 9:50
@Lawrence Gimenez Will do...but I how do I determine if it is the correct R? — AJW
– AJW, Commented Jul 2 at 16:47
It has to be your application plus R, so like import com.coolapp.R — Lawrence Gimenez
– Lawrence Gimenez, Commented Jul 2 at 20:47
@Lawrence Gimenez There was no import R at the top of the class. So I added "import.packagename.R;" and Android Studio greyed out the line and message says "Unused import statement." I then did "Build / Clean Project" and "File / Invalidate Caches / Invalidate and Restart" and I get the same error message "Cannot resolve symbol 'R'" for the search_close_btn. — AJW
– AJW, Commented Jul 2 at 23:13

MunterMan · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-03 13:57:17Z

1

You do not import R, that is done by the system. This error is usually caused by a spelling mistake in the manifest file. As a start in the android name tag use the full package instead of just .MainActivity.

eg andriod:name = "com.app.AppName.MainActivity"

answered Jul 3 at 13:57

MunterMan

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