Target class does not exist in Laravel

1. About the error
2. Why do I see this error
3. Solution
4. Use the class-based route syntax
5. Check the namespace
6. Refresh the autoloader

#About the error

The message looks like:

Illuminate\Contracts\Container\BindingResolutionException:
Target class [App\Http\Controllers\UserController] does not exist.

Laravel's service container tried to instantiate a class by its name and couldn't find it.

#Why do I see this error

There are a few usual suspects:

• A typo in the controller name in your route definition.
• A missing or wrong namespace at the top of the controller file.
• You're using the string controller syntax on Laravel 8+, where the default namespace prefix was removed.
• The autoloader hasn't picked up a newly created class.

#Solution

#Use the class-based route syntax

Since Laravel 8 the recommended way to reference a controller is by importing it and using its ::class constant, not a string:

use App\Http\Controllers\UserController;

Route::get('/users', [UserController::class, 'index']);

This catches typos at compile time and resolves the namespace for you. The old string form relied on a namespace prefix that no longer exists by default:

// Fragile, the App\Http\Controllers prefix is no longer applied automatically
Route::get('/users', 'UserController@index');

#Check the namespace

Open the controller and confirm its namespace matches its folder:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    // ...
}

A file in app/Http/Controllers/Admin/ must declare namespace App\Http\Controllers\Admin;.

#Refresh the autoloader

If the class genuinely exists and the namespace is right, regenerate Composer's autoload map and clear caches:

composer dump-autoload
php artisan optimize:clear

See clearing the cache in Laravel for what gets cleared.