Flutter Showing Old UI or Missing Assets? Fix It with a One-Click Fresh Install in VS Code

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Automate flutter clean, pub get, and app uninstall so your latest code and assets always appear.

If you've ever developed a Flutter app, you know this pain:
If you run your app, make some changes, then stop and rerun — the last run UI still shows up instead of your new code.

Sometimes your assets don't even load, and you get errors like this:

[ERROR:flutter/runtime/dart_vm_initializer.cc(40)] 
Unhandled Exception: Unable to load asset: "assets/search/sort_icon.svg".
E/flutter (29768): The asset does not exist or has empty data.

Even though the file is clearly there, Flutter refuses to load it.

After some head-scratching, you try the usual trick:

• Run flutter clean
• Run flutter pub get
• Manually uninstall the app from your device

…and magically, everything works again. Your new UI and assets finally appear.

👉 The problem is, doing this cycle every time is slow and annoying.

Wouldn't it be better if VS Code could handle this for you automatically — so you can choose between a normal run and a fresh install run without typing commands or uninstalling apps manually?

That's exactly what we'll set up in this guide.

🛠 The Problem

• flutter run installs over the existing app without clearing old data.
• Old cache, databases, or assets can conflict with new builds.
• Errors like "Unable to load asset" or unchanged UI pop up frequently.
• Manually cleaning + uninstalling takes extra time.

🛠 The Solution — Automate in VS Code

We'll configure VS Code so that pressing F5 lets you pick between:

1. A Normal Run (fast, for everyday coding).
2. A Fresh Install Run (uninstall + clean + pub get + run).

This way, you only use the full clean when you really need it.

Step 1 — Create a VS Code Task

Inside your project, create (or edit) .vscode/tasks.json:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Uninstall & Clean",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "adb uninstall com.example.app || true && flutter clean && flutter pub get",
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

👉 Replace com.example.app with your actual app package name (check in AndroidManifest.xml).

Step 2 — Create Launch Configurations

Now create (or edit) .vscode/launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Flutter Debug (Normal Run)",
      "request": "launch",
      "type": "dart",
      "program": "lib/main.dart"
    },
    {
      "name": "Flutter Debug (Fresh Install)",
      "request": "launch",
      "type": "dart",
      "program": "lib/main.dart",
      "preLaunchTask": "Uninstall & Clean"
    }
  ]
}

This gives you two options in VS Code:

• Normal Run → Fast run with existing install.
• Fresh Install → Uninstalls old app, cleans, reinstalls, then runs.

Step 3 — Switching Between Runs

1. Open the Run and Debug panel in VS Code:

• Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + D (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Shift + D (Mac).

2. At the top dropdown, you'll see both options:

• Flutter Debug (Normal Run)
• Flutter Debug (Fresh Install)

3 . Select whichever you need.

4. Press F5 to start.

Now you can quickly switch between a normal debug session and a fresh, clean install.

🎯 When Should You Use Each?

1. Normal Run (default)
   . Everyday development.
   . Faster reloads.
   . Use when you're just testing features or small UI changes.
2. Fresh Install (Uninstall & Clean)
   . When you get "asset not found" errors.
   . When your UI changes don't appear.
   . When old cache, SharedPreferences, or database entries cause issues.
   . Before final testing, to ensure your app runs correctly on a clean device.

✅ Conclusion

With this setup, you no longer need to:

• Manually uninstall the app
• Run flutter clean
• Run flutter pub get

Instead, you have two easy options inside VS Code:

• Normal Run for speed.
• Fresh Install Run for debugging tricky issues and testing first-time installs.

Next time your UI doesn't update or assets mysteriously vanish, just switch to Fresh Install — and save yourself a lot of frustration. 🚀