Ever wished you could run an Android App or game on your PC so you weren't relegated to a small phone screen? Maybe you need to test a feature on Android, but you don't have an Android device handy. Your options will depend on the mobile device you have or the version of Windows you're running, but here are some ways to run Android (and its apps) on your computer.

Mirror your phone with Windows

For apps installed on your phone, you don't need anything fancy to get Android on your PC. Microsoft's Your Phone app The Your Phone app lets you connect your Android mobile device to Windows to access apps, view notifications and photos, and send messages. You can even add Android apps to Favorites or pin them directly to the Windows taskbar.

If you want to mirror your phone screen directly, just click the phone screen image in the screen. The Your Phone desktop app. Authorize the app on your phone and your phone screen will show up in Windows. You can then navigate the phone screen by clicking the mouse.

This is not always the ideal solution. Although this feature works with many Android phone manufacturers, it works best with phones after Samsung phones. Some features require a Windows 10 PC running the May 2020 Update or later with at least 8GB of RAM and Android 11. If you're looking to play games, this may come with some lag and graphic blurring, and you won't be able to easily share files from your PC directly to an Android app. But for quick access to Android apps you already have installed, it definitely works in a pinch.

Run your favorite apps with BlueStacks

If you're just looking to run a few apps and don't need the emulator to…look like Android, you should give BlueStacks a try. Over the years, it has established itself as the best Android app emulator, and it comes with plenty of features that ensure your apps and games run smoothly. Since it uses virtualization to emulate Android, you will need to enter your computer's BIOS and enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V, if your computer supports it, for better performance.

Install BlueStacks like you would any other Windows or Mac application. BlueStacks 5, the latest software version, takes up 5GB of space on your computer (plus any apps you download). Open the app and you'll be greeted with a personalized home screen and access to the Play Store. Download the apps of your choice and they will appear on the BlueStacks home screen and on your Windows desktop as shortcuts. Just double-click on an icon to launch the application in question.

BlueStacks is great for apps that don't have corresponding desktop apps, but the emulator really shines when it comes to gaming. The emulator offers built-in mappings for your mouse and keyboard, which you can customize to the touch controls you find on different games. Android games.

You can also adjust the resolution, DPI, FPS, and amount of CPU or RAM allocated to the emulator, to get the best balance between speed and graphical fidelity. (This is useful since BlueStacks is quite resource-intensive, as are many virtual machines).

BlueStacks does, unfortunately, come with some ads and clutter, but it's not as intrusive as it used to be, and that's a small price to pay for the functionality you get – especially considering the Options of the Android version it offers.

Emulate the full Android experience with Genymotion

If you're looking to explore the Android operating system itself – rather than individual apps – Genymotion is a decent emulator. Its main product is designed for developers and it is paid to use. free version of the software that you can download for personal use; you just need to create an account on the site beforehand.

Genymotion uses VirtualBox to emulate Android, so you will either need to have VirtualBox installed on your PC or download the version with VirtualBox. Install it like any other program, making sure to select the personal-use version in the wizard. (And, like BlueStacks, you'll want to enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V from your computer's BIOS if you have one).

When you start Genymotion, it will present you with a list of device models you can install – this determines the screen resolution, Android version and resources allocated to the emulator. Install the model you want and double click it to enter Android. You will be able to navigate the home screen, launch apps and emulate certain events like GPS location.

Note that you'll start with a very basic version of Android that doesn't even come with most of Google's apps or modern features, although you can add the Play Store by clicking the Open Gapps icon in the bar side to install it.

Also, no matter which model you choose, you won't get a custom version of Android — choosing the Samsung Galaxy S10 model, for example, won't get you Samsung's One UI. It simply determines the resolution and specifications of the virtual machine. (Genymotion, however, supports Android versions ranging from 4.4 to 10.0).

Genymotion works well for exploring Android's settings and other built-in functions, but I wouldn't necessarily use it for running individual apps, as it doesn't integrate as well with your PC as something like BlueStacks. If Genymotion does not meet your needs, the official software from Google, the official Google Android SDK also comes with an Android emulator, although the configuration is more complex.

Run Android directly on your PC with Android-x86

If you're looking for something a little more complete, the Android-x86 Emulator The Android-x86 Project lets you get as close to real Android as possible on your PC. Android-x86 is an open-source project that ports Android to the x86 platform, allowing you to run it on your computer rather than an ARM-based phone or tablet.

To run Android-x86, you have several options. If you want to run Android on its own, as a desktop operating system for your PC, you can download it as an ISO disk image and burn it to a USB stick with a program like Rufus. Then, insert that USB drive into the PC in question, reboot, and enter the boot menu (usually by pressing a key like F12 during the boot process).

By booting from your Android-x86 USB stick, you can either run Android in a real environment - without having any effect on your PC - or install it on your PC's hard drive for permanent use (and better performance ).

Alternatively, if you want to run Android-x86 on top of your existing OS, you can download the disk image and run it inside your PC. VirtualBox. Again, it's a bit more advanced if you're unfamiliar with VirtualBox, but… our guide to running Windows on a Mac will get you up to speed with the process.

The official site has some tips for getting Android-x86 and running it in a virtual machine as well. It's more work than using something like BlueStacks, but it's also closer to pure Android, which is a nice bonus.

Install Android apps from the Amazon Appstore

With Windows 11 Microsoft is adding built-in support for Android apps, but for now it's limited to those enrolled in the Android subscription program. Windows Insider who can currently play with 50 apps from Amazon's Appstore. You will also need a PC that can run Windows 11.

Windows 11 leverages a feature called Windows Subsystem for Android, which makes Android apps compatible with Microsoft's own operating system. You will need to install the Amazon Appstore from the Microsoft Store, which will prompt you to install Windows Subsystem.