How To Install and Use Android Apps on Windows 11?

One of the biggest differences between Windows 11 and Windows 10 is that Windows 11 supports Android apps through the Amazon App Store. But it’s not as easy as just getting Android apps and using them. You must know how to get Android apps to run on Windows 11. Here, we’re focusing on how to install Android apps directly on Windows 11.

You can still use Android apps on Windows 10 with emulation, but if you want to run Android apps through Windows, we recommend installing Windows 11. This article tells you everything you can do to put Android apps on Windows 11. It has three ways to do things, and two of them work like the app store on an Android device.

How to Download Android Apps With Amazon Appstore

Android apps for Windows 11 are officially available in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Vatican City.

The other thing you need is a Windows 11 system that is compatible and has Build 22000.526 or higher. It sounds strange at first, but there is an app called Amazon Appstore in the Microsoft Store that lets you access Amazon’s app library in Windows 11.

1. Open the Amazon Appstore download page, and select Get in Store app.

2. Select Open Microsoft Store, if you see that prompt.

3. Choose Install on the download page.

4. Select Download on the prompt about Windows Subsystem for Android. It might take a few minutes to finish downloading.

5. Select Open Amazon Appstore to launch the store.

6. Choose one of these options and then follow the on-screen prompts to access the app store: Already an Amazon customer? Sign in or Create a new Amazon account.

7. Choose an Android app you want to install in Windows 11 and select Get on its download page.

8. The app will install on your computer. Select Open from its download page to launch the app, or search for it using the Windows search tool.

Use an Emulator to Get Android Apps in Windows 11

Using an emulator to download Android apps gives you more options than the above method. This is because emulators let you install apps directly from the Google Play Store or an APK file. This gives your computer access to the full range of apps that are usually only available on Android devices.

Some emulators act like a whole phone or tablet, so you’ll get a home screen with app icons, just like a real Android device. BlueStacks is a popular choice, but there are many other free Android emulators that work in a similar way.

How to Install APK Files in Windows 11

As you read in the last section, you can use an emulator to install apps by using their APK files. Another way is to use Windows Subsystem for Android and Android Debug Bridge. (See above for how to install it) (ADB).

If you want your Android apps to look and feel like other Microsoft Store apps, you might choose this method. They’ll be easy to get to from the Start menu, and you’ll be able to create shortcuts on the desktop and in the taskbar.

You can do this in two ways. The first and easiest way is to use a program from a third party called WSATools. It gives you an easy-to-use graphical interface for installing any APK file. Install it like you would any other Microsoft Store app, and then do these things:

1. Search Windows for Windows Subsystem for Android, Once it displays, select it.
2. Open the Developer tab, and select the toggle next to Developer mode to turn it on.
3. Open WSATools and select Install an APK.
4. Choose the Android app you want to install, and then select Load APK.
5. Choose Install.
6. Select Allow on the Allow ADB debugging. prompt.
7. You can now open the app from the Windows 11 Start menu, much like you’d launch any app. There’s also an Open App button in WSATools, but that’s only visible right after the installation.

Sideloading Android Apps on Windows

Sideloading Android apps is the other option. This only works after you install ADB, so follow those steps and then do the following when you’re done:

1. Repeat the first two steps in the above WSATools instructions: Open Windows Subsystem for Android (search Windows for it) and go to its Developer tab to turn on Developer mode.
2. You can get to Windows PowerShell through Terminal. Type the following command, changing the IP address and port number to what you see in the developer tab (see the image below for an example).
3. Enter this to make sure you’re actually connected.
4. The APK file’s location should be copied. Locate the application wherever it was installed, then select Copy as the path from the context menu.
5. In PowerShell once more, type Adb install space, and then Ctrl+V to paste the location. Enter is required to carry out the command.
6. The installation of the Android app will be signaled by PowerShell reading Doing Streamed Install, followed by Success. To discover it, use the Windows search feature.

How to Download Android Apps to Windows 11

There are three ways to install apps, and the one you choose might depend on things like how easy the method is and whether or not the app you want to install works with that method.

1. The easiest way is to use Amazon Appstore. You can look through the apps like you would on a phone, and it’s easy to find them and update them once you’ve downloaded them. But Amazon Appstore isn’t available everywhere (only in a few dozen countries), and it doesn’t have all apps.

2. Most Android emulators have helpful keyboard shortcuts and other phone-like features that make them good for gaming. An emulator best copies how a real device looks, so it feels like you’re running Android on Windows. This is how most apps can be downloaded.

3. Installing apps you’ve downloaded from the internet works great with a manual APK file installation. Maybe you want to use an old version of an app that is no longer available in a normal app store, or maybe it’s a rare app that is no longer available.

What Android Apps Can You Get on Windows 11?

In short, you can get almost any app you want. But this depends on how you choose to install it. Amazon Appstore has more than 50,000 Android apps, so all of those are available in Windows 11. But that catalog is not the same as the Google Play Store.

Because of this, you can’t use Amazon Appstore to download apps like Gmail, YouTube, etc. that need Google Mobile Services (GMS). If you want these apps to work with Windows 11, you should use the desktop versions instead. Most things have apps that are like desktop versions, like an email client to check your Gmail messages.

You can also use the web version at Gmail.com, YouTube.com, and other places. But the emulator method does work for apps that need GMS. BlueStacks, for example, comes with the Google Play Store, so you can install any of the millions of apps and games it has.

Deleting Android Apps in Windows 11

If the app was installed through Amazon Appstore or WSATools, look for it in the Start menu and right-click it to find the Uninstall option. Android apps that came from an emulator need to be uninstalled through the emulator software. You can usually do this by right-clicking on the app or by going to the software’s app library.