Enzyme expects an adapter to be configured, but found none

TL;DR

Enzyme cannot render anything until you tell it how, through an adapter that matches your React major version. Install the right adapter package, call Enzyme.configure with it in your test setup file, and rerun.

Error

Enzyme Internal Error: Enzyme expects an adapter to be configured, but found none. To
configure an adapter, you should call `Enzyme.configure({ adapter: new Adapter() })`
before using any of Enzyme's top level APIs, where `Adapter` is the adapter for your
React version.

Steps

1. Check your React major version in package.json (16, 17, or 18). Expected: you know the major version before picking an adapter.
2. Install the matching adapter: npm install -D enzyme-adapter-react-16 for React 16, @wojtekmaj/enzyme-adapter-react-17 for React 17, or the community @cfaester/enzyme-adapter-react-18 for React 18 (Enzyme ships no official React 18 adapter). Expected: the package appears in devDependencies.
3. In your test setup file (the one jest loads via setupFiles or setupFilesAfterEach), add the block below, importing the adapter you installed in step 2. Expected: the file is saved with the matching adapter import.

import Enzyme from 'enzyme'
import Adapter from 'enzyme-adapter-react-16'
Enzyme.configure({ adapter: new Adapter() })

4. Confirm your jest config actually loads that setup file, then run a single Enzyme test. Expected: the component renders instead of throwing the adapter error.

When to use

• The first Enzyme test in a project throws this error.
• You upgraded React without changing the adapter.
• The adapter is configured but the error persists (the setup file may not be loaded).

When not to use

• You are migrating off Enzyme to React Testing Library; configure the adapter only if you are keeping Enzyme.
• The error appears mid-suite after some tests rendered fine; that is a different failure.
• You need an officially supported React 18 path; Enzyme has none, so prefer React Testing Library.

Tool compatibility

• Enzyme 3.x with jest 24 through 29, or mocha with enzyme.
• enzyme-adapter-react-16 for React 16, @wojtekmaj/enzyme-adapter-react-17 for React 17, community adapter for React 18.

Variant phrasings

Enzyme Internal Error: Enzyme expects an adapter

The full internal-error wording. Same fix: install the adapter and configure it before any Enzyme API runs.

shallow() throws before rendering anything

The adapter check runs on the first top-level Enzyme call, so shallow, mount, and render all throw identically.

Why it happens

Enzyme delegates rendering to an adapter because React internals change between major versions. With no adapter configured, Enzyme has no way to create the React tree, so it fails fast on the first call.

Edge cases

• Two copies of React in node_modules: the adapter can bind to a different React than your app renders with; dedupe React.
• The setup file exists but jest config points elsewhere; the adapter never gets configured.
• Importing the wrong adapter for your React version compiles but renders incorrectly or throws obscure errors.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstCVRhMWRBToAdg4TdMCxnw

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstCVRhMWRBToAdg4TdMCxnw

Thread query: Enzyme expects an adapter to be configured, but found none

TL;DR: Enzyme cannot render anything until you tell it how, through an adapter that matches your React major version. Install the right adapter package, call Enzyme.configure with it in your test setup file, and rerun.