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FIX: Android Emulator error installing APK on Windows

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Android Emulator found in the Android Studio SDK is a vastly used tool by all developers for the Android platform.

Testing projects by installing APKs is an important step, but it seemingly won’t work for users who run the SDK on Windows. The installation error appears and they can’t finalize the installation.

We provided you with some troubleshooting steps below, by virtue of the Stack Overflow community. The most prominent insights we found are enlisted below so do give them a try.

How can I fix APK installation error for Android Emulator?

1. Use a better alternative: LDPlayer

Getting an Android Emulator error while installing APK on Windows is unpleasant. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and wasting valuable time, you should better think of an alternative from the start.

We are talking about LDPlayer. There are quite a few Android emulators that are too heavy or require extra tweaking.

That’s not the case with LDPlayer – installing it is an error-free process and it works great out of the box. Some of the included gamer-oriented features are multi-instance sync and high FPS/graphics.

You can even download the app or game you have min by using individual APK files. Even if an app isn’t available on LD Store, you can easily download and install its APK file into the emulator.

Just drag-drop the APK files on the LDPlayer window and it will start installing the app automatically. That’s how easy it really is.

LDPlayer

2. Disable Instant Run

One of the most-suggested and, apparently, the most appraised troubleshooting tip is this one. We suggest disabling the Instant Run option.

After that, an APK installation was working as intended. Follow the above steps to disable the Instant run feature in Android Emulator.

3. Enable USB debugging

Enabling this option is done on your handset and found in the Developer Options section. If it’s off, you won’t be able to install any APK project on your device.

Afterward, once you connect your handset with the PC, you should see the prompt. Make sure to allow USB debugging for that individual PC.

All you need to do is to follow the above steps to enable USB debugging on an Android device.

4. Update drivers

Verifying that yourdriversare properly installed and up to date is an important step when trying to complete the APK installation procedure.

Therefore, make sure to install ADB and handset drivers. They’re, like all other drivers, found in Device Manager. After that, the problem should be gone.

Doing this manually, however, can become quite time-consuming. Let’s automate this job and use a specialized driver updater tool.

You simply need to download this tool, install it, and perform a scan, then update all the drivers in just one click.

⇒Get Outbyte Driver Updater

5. Rebuild the project

Rebuilding the project might help, as well. Some users suggested that theCleanand thenRebuildcommands provided them with the resolution.

When the project was successfully rebuilt, users were able to install the APK to their handsets without any issues.

Use the above procedure in order to clean and rebuild a project in Android Emulator.

6. Sync with Gradle

If you use the Gradle automation system when developing (and chances are you do), the problem might lie in a sync failure.

In order to address this possible culprit, we suggest syncing it with the project. That should allow you to install APK without the error. Therefore, don’t hesitate to refer to the above procedure.

7. Run Invalidate caches/restart

As with any other application, Android Studio stores all kinds of cached data. This speeds up the in-app processes but tends to create issues when creating new inputs and projects.

Therefore, there’s the command which resets cache completely and it’s found under the File option in the Main bar.

8. Reinstall Android Studio

Finally, if none of the previous solutions worked this out, we suggest reinstalling the Android Studio client. This is the last resort, judging on the reports of affected developers.

We hope it’ll help you too. You candownload the Android Studio suiteright away.

With that said, we can conclude this article. In case you have any alternative questions or suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

FIX: Android Emulator error installing APK on Windows#

How can I fix APK installation error for Android Emulator?#

1. Use a better alternative: LDPlayer#

LDPlayer#

2. Disable Instant Run#

3. Enable USB debugging#

4. Update drivers#

5. Rebuild the project#

6. Sync with Gradle#

7. Run Invalidate caches/restart#

8. Reinstall Android Studio#