Bad state: No element Flutter / Dart Origin: On your device OSI layer 7 · Application Last updated 4 Nov 2026

Dart: Bad state: No element — .first, .last or .single on an empty list

You called .first, .last, .single or .reduce on an empty collection.

Exact message you may see Bad state: No elementStateError: Bad state: No elementBad state: Too many elementsBad state: Too few elementsUnhandled Exception: Bad state: No element
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Seen on: Flutter

Meaning

These getters throw a StateError when the iterable is empty (or has more than one element for single). Use firstOrNull (Dart 3), isEmpty checks, or firstWhere(..., orElse: ...) to handle empty data, especially for lists filled from the network.

Common causes

  • list.first on an empty list
  • firstWhere without orElse and no match
  • Data not yet loaded when build runs
  • single on a list with several items
  • reduce on an empty iterable

⚡ Quick fix

  1. Check list.isNotEmpty before .first
  2. Use firstOrNull or firstWhere(test, orElse: () => default)
  3. Show a loading/empty state in the UI

Detailed fix by platform

Dart

  1. final first = items.firstOrNull; (Dart 3 package:collection extension in older SDKs)

How to diagnose

  1. Data — Empty at that moment?
  2. Getter — first/last/single/reduce?
  3. Fallback — orElse supplied?

🔧 Still not fixed?

Many errors look alike. If the steps above didn’t solve it, one of these is probably what you’re facing:

Where this error sits

Origin: On your device. Errors that are often confused with or caused by this one (click to open):

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