The present work is concerned with the development of a procedure for adaptive computations of shear localization problems. The maximum jump of equivalent strain rates across element boundaries is proposed as a simple error indicator based on interpolation errors, and successfully implemented in the adaptive mesh refinement scheme. The time step is controlled by using a parameter related to the Lipschitz constant, and state variables in target elements for refinements are transferred by L-2-projection. Consistent tangent moduli with a proper updating scheme for state variables are used to improve the numerical stability in the formation of shear bands. It is observed that the present adaptive mesh refinement procedure shows an excellent performance in the simulation of shear localization problems.