How to Install Android Studio on Windows and Ubuntu in 5 Easy Steps

Last updated: 23 October 2026. Updated for Android Studio Rabbit (2026.2.1), the current stable release.

Android Studio is Google's official IDE for Android apps, and the first thing you install on the Android developer roadmap. This guide installs it on Windows or Ubuntu, sets up the emulator, and checks that everything works by running a starter app.

One thing older guides get wrong: you do not need to install Java or a JDK first. Android Studio includes its own Java runtime (the JetBrains Runtime) and uses it to build your apps.

Contents

1. Will my computer run it?
2. Install on Windows
3. Install on Ubuntu
4. First-run setup wizard
5. Set up the emulator, or use your phone
6. Check it works
7. Troubleshooting

1. Will my computer run it?

	Works	Comfortable
RAM	8 GB	16 GB or more. The IDE, Gradle and the emulator together use a lot
Disk	About 16 GB free for the IDE, SDK and one emulator	An SSD. On a hard disk, builds are painfully slow
OS	64-bit Windows 10 or 11; 64-bit Ubuntu (current LTS)
CPU	64-bit with virtualization support (Intel VT-x or AMD-V/SVM) for the emulator

Exact minimums change with each release; see the official requirements. On an 8 GB laptop, it works, but test on a real phone over USB instead of the emulator (section 5).

2. Install on Windows

1. Download Android Studio from developer.android.com/studio and accept the licence.
2. Run the downloaded .exe. Keep both components ticked: Android Studio and Android Virtual Device.
3. Keep the default install location (C:\Program Files\Android\Android Studio) unless that drive is short of space.
4. Click Finish with "Start Android Studio" ticked, then follow the setup wizard.

Avoid installing the SDK into a folder whose path contains spaces or non-English characters (for example, a user name with spaces); some tools fail on such paths. The default SDK location in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Android\Sdk is usually fine.

3. Install on Ubuntu

The Linux download is a .tar.gz archive, not a .zip, so unzip won't work. Download it from developer.android.com/studio, then:

cd ~/Downloads
sudo tar -xzf android-studio-*-linux.tar.gz -C /opt/
/opt/android-studio/bin/studio.sh

This extracts it to /opt/android-studio and starts it. On first launch, follow the setup wizard. Then add a launcher icon so you don't need the terminal again: in Android Studio, open Tools → Create Desktop Entry (if your version shows it), or search Activities for "Android Studio" after the wizard creates one.

Easier alternative: install JetBrains Toolbox and install Android Studio from it. Toolbox handles updates and the launcher icon for you.

Updating later: Android Studio notifies you when an update is available and can install it itself, as long as your user can write to its folder. If updates fail because /opt is owned by root, either run sudo chown -R $USER /opt/android-studio or extract it into your home folder instead.

4. First-run setup wizard

1. If asked to import settings, choose Do not import settings.
2. Choose Standard setup. It installs the Android SDK, the latest platform, build tools and an emulator image.
3. Pick a theme (you can change it later).
4. Accept each licence in the list (click each item on the left and choose Accept), then click Finish. The download is a few gigabytes, so use a good connection.

When it's done, you'll see the Welcome to Android Studio screen.

5. Set up the emulator, or use your phone

Option A: Android emulator

Open Device Manager (right sidebar, or Tools → Device Manager), click + → Create Virtual Device, choose a phone such as a Pixel, and pick the recommended system image.

The emulator needs hardware virtualization:

• Windows: turn on Intel VT-x or AMD-V/SVM in your BIOS/UEFI settings if it's off. Android Studio uses the Windows Hypervisor Platform; if the emulator complains, enable "Windows Hypervisor Platform" in Turn Windows features on or off.
• Ubuntu: the emulator uses KVM. Install it and give your user access, then log out and in:

  sudo apt install qemu-kvm
  sudo adduser $USER kvm

Option B: your own Android phone (faster on low-RAM laptops)

1. On the phone, open Settings → About phone and tap Build number seven times to unlock Developer options.
2. In Developer options, turn on USB debugging.
3. Connect the phone by USB and accept the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt on the phone.

Newer phones also support wireless debugging over Wi-Fi; in Device Manager, use Pair devices using Wi-Fi.

6. Check it works

1. On the welcome screen, click New Project, choose Empty Activity, and click Next, then Finish.
2. Wait for the Gradle sync to finish (watch the progress bar at the bottom; the first sync downloads dependencies and can take several minutes).
3. Choose your emulator or phone in the device menu at the top and click the green Run button.

If "Hello Android!" appears on the device, your setup is complete. Next, turn that starter project into a real app: Create Your First Android App.

7. Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
"HAXM is not installed" or "x86 emulation currently requires hardware acceleration"	Virtualization is off. Enable VT-x/AMD-V in BIOS (Windows) or install KVM and join the kvm group (Ubuntu). HAXM itself is discontinued and no longer needed.
/dev/kvm device: permission denied (Ubuntu)	Run sudo adduser $USER kvm, then log out and back in.
First Gradle sync fails or takes forever	Check your internet connection or proxy, then File → Sync Project with Gradle Files. Corporate or college networks sometimes block downloads.
Phone doesn't appear in the device list	Use a data USB cable (some are charge-only), accept the prompt on the phone, and try another USB port. On Windows, install your phone maker's USB driver.
Everything is slow	Close the emulator and test on your phone; in Help → Change Memory Settings, give the IDE more memory if you have 16 GB or more.
unzip fails on Linux	The file is a .tar.gz; use the tar command in section 3.

If you're practising Android layouts, my free Android UI Kit app (my own) has ready-made UI examples.