How to install Android on PC

The most seamless Android emulator: BlueStacks

If you’re looking to install a full Android experience on your Windows PC, complete with a home screen and launcher, you’ll need an emulator. BlueStacks is one of the longest-enduring methods to install Android on PC, founded in 2011 and still going strong.

BlueStacks has impressive performance, though it’s got more to it than just an Android Virtual Device. Additional features include a simplified UI, optimizations dedicated to gaming, key-mapping, multi-instance support to run multiple apps, and even support for multiple Google Accounts at once.

The user interface on Windows offers quick app switching in a tab format on the top of the window. However, those hoping to install their own launchers will be disappointed. The option was removed with the release of BlueStacks 4. On the plus side, BlueStacks also integrates with Windows to transfer files like APKs and there is even universal copy and paste.

BlueStacks remains a virtual machine at its core. So you don’t quite get native system performance, but this keeps the application simple to install and run. The latest version, Bluestacks 5 has many performance enhancements to run on both high-end and low-end PCs. The only downside is that you’ll have to tolerate sponsored app suggestions. Even so, we believe that BlueStacks remains one of the best methods of running Android on PC and macOS computers out there.