How do you install an APK file in the Android emulator?

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I finally managed to obfuscate my Android application, now I want to test it by installing the APK file and running it on the emulator.

How can I install an APK file on the Android Emulator?

Irvin answered 13/8, 2010 at 19:43 Comment(0)

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1175

You can simply drag and drop the .apk file of your application to the emulator and it will automatically start installing.

Another option:

Windows:

Execute the emulator (SDK Manager.exe → Tools → Manage AVDs... → New then Start).
Start the console (Windows XP), Run → type cmd, and move to the platform-tools folder of SDK directory.
Paste the APK file in the android-sdk\tools or platform-tools folder.

Then type the following command.

adb install [.apk path]

Example:

adb install C:\Users\Name\MyProject\build\Jorgesys.apk

Linux:

Copy the apk file to platform-tools in the android-sdk linux folder.
Open Terminal and navigate to platform-tools folder in android-sdk.
Then execute this command:
```
./adb install FileName.apk
```
If the operation is successful (the result is displayed on the screen), then you will find your file in the launcher of your emulator.

Mac:

PATH=$PATH:~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools

Example:

PATH=$PATH:/users/jorgesys/eclipse/android-sdk-mac_64/tools

Then run adb.

Sylvia answered 13/8, 2010 at 19:50 Comment(20)

The adb has moved to 'platform-tools' in Windows too – Tridentine 10/3, 2012 at 15:26

Just wanted to add a little something that is missing from the above answer. You must put the apk file in the "android-sdk\tools" directory. With this information, the answer works perfectly. – Janijania 10/4, 2012 at 15:17

The answer works perfectly with @CamilleSévigny comment. You should first put the apk file in the tools directory, then set the path in cmd with the same as that of tools direcory and at last execute the apk. – Kingfish 8/10, 2012 at 11:55

Seems that the location of the APK can be freely chosen, as long as it is referenced correctly in the adb install command (verified on a Mac). As for the location of adb: on a Mac, as of at least ADT bundle version 20130522, the platform tools can be found in $HOME/Development/adt-bundle-mac-x86_64-<date>/sdk/platform-tools. – Nurmi 4/9, 2013 at 15:38

@Mr_and_Mrs_D, install the drivers for your device. dominantwire.com/2012/11/… – Sylvia 21/10, 2013 at 15:20

Wasn't that - adb kill-server then adb start-server - I had started the emulator from eclipse – Pantie 21/10, 2013 at 17:40

The Linux link is broken. – Phenoxide 4/1, 2014 at 13:28

You should not put the .apk in the platform-tools directory. Your project doesn't belong there. Use the full path on 'adb install' instead, e.g. 'adb install "C:\Users\Name\MyProject\build\myapp.apk". – Emetine 11/3, 2014 at 19:59

this is just an example but you´re right, will be more correct specifing the path to the .apk file. thank you! – Sylvia 11/3, 2014 at 21:14

Step to install APK in Emulator – Spiritoso 12/11, 2014 at 11:57

Step to install APK in Emulator : Step 1 -> Run the emulator step 2-> Paste the apk in SDK manager tools and platform-tools folders. Step 3->Run this command adb install AppNaem.APK .Wait for 2 min it's show Success Message. Sometimes App icon closed unfortunatl. But App will run continuous Try / click. – Spiritoso 12/11, 2014 at 12:2

Works only if AVD or emulator is running. Start AVD or emulator before executing ./adb install FileName.apk – Millman 30/12, 2015 at 12:21

This needs to be corrected so people understand the irrelevance of the apk location. They are probably accidentally getting adb in the path by going to the tools or platform-tools directory. – Mesozoic 1/5, 2016 at 14:28

getting this error: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS] – Unloose 25/8, 2016 at 21:59

@IAmAndroid because you are using an APK file for a different architecture. Search google for more. (That was an old comment but replying because it might help others) – Leigh 26/12, 2017 at 8:29

i learnt new thing today, install app on emulator while draging apk to emulator , wow great :) – Nematode 7/7, 2018 at 11:57

I had a problem with Drag & Drop installation but I have discovered something. If I rename apk installation file to shorted form and then use Drag & Drop everything works fine. – Intra 17/7, 2019 at 12:31

On MAC OS works perfect for me: adb install theapkfilename.apk Thank you! Great Feedback! – Norward 30/7, 2020 at 19:25

On Windows: Use %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb install \path\to\build.apk – Saundra 31/7, 2020 at 5:26

i was testing this on huawei cloud debugging. adb install was showing no progress. Took a lot of time but finally installed for drag and drop option. – Vichyssoise 14/12, 2021 at 7:19

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If you've created more than one emulators or if you have an Android device plugged in, adb will complain with

error: more than one device and emulator

adb help is not extremely clear on what to do:

-d                        - directs command to the only connected USB device...
-e                        - directs command to the only running emulator...
-s <serial number>        ...
-p <product name or path> ...

The flag you decide to use has to come before the actual adb command:

adb -e install path/to/app.apk

Assignment answered 23/12, 2011 at 14:30 Comment(1)

Good stuff. Just to be clear: it's about how many emulators are running (not created) while executing adb install. Using -s <serial number> to unequivocally target a specific emulator bypasses this issue; the serial number can be gleaned from the output of adb devices -l. – Nurmi 4/9, 2013 at 15:17

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95

Nowadays, you can simply drag and drop the Android apk to the emulator and it will automatically starts installing.

Consul answered 21/6, 2016 at 11:27 Comment(5)

Is there something you need to do to enable this? Maybe it's different for the Visual Studio emulator, but drag and drop does not appear to work. – Medulla 26/2, 2017 at 18:48

I have never used that one. – Consul 27/2, 2017 at 7:55

For others: drag and drop APK installs in Visual Studio Android Emulator do not work if the emulator was launched as Administrator. Who knows why. – Medulla 28/2, 2017 at 21:28

@Medulla Drag and drop from a lower privilege process to a higher privilege process is forbidden since Windows Vista. See learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/patricka/… – Spotty 7/4, 2020 at 19:21

my emulator just hangs on installing apk; any idea why? – Microphyte 7/9, 2020 at 13:6

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Go to sdk folder, then go to tools.

Copy your apk file inside the tool directory

Run

./emulator -avd myEmulator

to run the emulator on mac. Then

./adb install myApp.apk

to install app on the emulator

Irvin answered 13/8, 2010 at 21:2 Comment(4)

it says ./adb No such file or directory in Mac, how should I run that ? – Tippett 6/6, 2012 at 19:50

You need to type down your emulator name as it appears on ur eclipse. For instance ./emulator -avd youremulatorname – Grau 10/6, 2012 at 20:39

just thought I would share that in the latest android sdk-tools adb has moved from the tools folder to the platform-tools folder – Markettamarkey 10/8, 2012 at 18:6

there is no relevance of the tools or platform-tools directory except people are by luck getting adb in their paths. – Mesozoic 1/5, 2016 at 14:30

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28

go to the android-sdk/tools directory in command prompt and then type

 adb install fileName.apk (Windows)

 ./adb install fileName.apk (Linux or Mac)

Vallecula answered 17/10, 2013 at 8:1 Comment(0)

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26

Copy .apk file in your SDK's platform-tools/ directory,then install the .apk on the emulator by using cmd(on windows):

adb install <path_to_your_bin>.apk

or

./adb install <path_to_your_bin>.apk

If there is more than one emulator running, you can find all running emulators by this command:

adb devices

or

./adb devices

then you must specify the emulator upon which to install the application, by its serial number, with the -s option. For example:

adb -s emulator-5554 install path/to/your/app.apk

or

./adb -s emulator-5554 install path/to/your/app.apk

Four answered 24/11, 2014 at 15:5 Comment(1)

It's also important that the -s <emulator_name> (for example, -s emulator-5554) comes before install. In other words, ./adb install -s emulator-5554 would NOT work. – Fourthly 17/11, 2022 at 20:18

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First you need to install Android Studio on your machine. Then simply follow these steps.

Go to you navigation bar and open Android Studio.
From the toolbar open AVD Manager. (If you cannot see it create a new android project)
Create a Virtual Device.
Select a hardware device that you want to install your app.
Select an android image that you want to install on your device. (If you cannot see any images you can download the require image from Recommended, x86 Images or Other images)
Add a name to your AVD.
Now the virtual device has been created and you can simply run it by clicking the play button.
Now you have setup the virtual device and now you need to install the APK file.
Download the APK file that you want to install and Drag and Drop it to the emulator.
The APK file has been successfully installed and you can see it in your applications.
Now you can simply run the installed app.

Manoeuvre answered 23/4, 2018 at 6:42 Comment(1)

At step 9, users who have not done this before might run into the problem solved at: stackoverflow.com/questions/39617997 – Daveen 30/3 at 20:37

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Drag and drop

Simply drag-and-drop the apk file into your emulator.

You can also run your android emulator without Android Studio.

Collodion answered 8/5, 2016 at 10:53 Comment(0)

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Download the Apk file from net and copy it to platform-tools of your SDK folder, then in command prompt go to that directory an type:

adb install filename.apk

press enter it will install in few seconds

Cadent answered 22/2, 2013 at 12:44 Comment(0)

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In Genymotion just drag and drop the *.apk file in to the emulator and it will automatically installs and runs.

http://www.genymotion.com/

Snowfield answered 11/1, 2014 at 13:58 Comment(0)

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Download apk file from browser and then just click on it (notification area). Installation will start automatically.

Swivet answered 20/8, 2012 at 11:57 Comment(0)

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Goto Shell/Terminal/, reach at android-sdk/tools directory then

adb install fileName.apk // (u can run this command on windows)
or 
./adb install fileName.apk  //( u can run this command on linux)

Jasper answered 30/5, 2013 at 4:27 Comment(0)

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Let's suppose you have to install Facebook APK on your emulator.

You can use adb to install the APK to the running emulator in OS X like this:

./adb install ~/FBAndroid-2.1.apk

And on Windows, like this:

adb install %HOMEPATH%\FBAndroid-2.1.apk

Once complete, check the apps screen of the emulator to check that the app has been installed correctly. If you need to force the upgrade of this app from a previous version, add the -r flag, like this on OS X:

./adb install -r ~/FBAndroid-2.1.apk

Kalinda answered 11/4, 2013 at 13:34 Comment(0)

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keep your emulator up and running. In the command line, go inside the platform-tools folder, in your sdk folder which come with adt bundle and execute following command :

>adb install <yourFilename.apk>

This command detect your running emulator/emulators and show you the list of devices where you can install this app(show if any physical device/devices connected to your computer.). Then you can select any one, if only one emulator is running then app will directly installed on it by default.

Note: For above command your .apk file needs to be in same directory.

for more detailed tutorial follo : This link

Jeromyjerreed answered 14/3, 2014 at 9:47 Comment(0)

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Just drag and drop your apk to emulator

Arrowood answered 6/10, 2019 at 8:23 Comment(1)

This does not work anymore for me – Levesque 30/11, 2022 at 14:52

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From Windows 7 Onwards ,

Shift + Right click in your apk file folder.

Select Open Command Window Here

Type & Hit "adb install AppName.apk"

Indestructible answered 14/12, 2014 at 10:27 Comment(0)

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Drag and drop ".apk" file into the emulator window.

Boyes answered 11/2, 2018 at 6:0 Comment(1)

This appears to be just a repeat of this existing answer. – Skyros 13/11, 2018 at 5:1

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(TESTED ON MACOS)

The first step is to run the emulator

emulator -avd < avd_name>

then use adb to install the .apk

adb install < path to .apk file>

If adb throws error like APK already exists or something alike. Run the adb shell while emulator is running

adb shell

cd data/app

adb uninstall < apk file without using .apk>

If adb and emulator are commands not found do following

export PATH=$PATH://android-sdk-macosx/platform-tools://android-sdk-macosx/android-sdk-macosx/tools:

For future use put the above line at the end of .bash_profile

vi ~/.bash_profile

Anhydride answered 19/9, 2014 at 12:15 Comment(0)

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if use more than one emulator at firs use this command

adb devices

and then chose amulatur and install application

adb -s "EMULATOR NAME" install "FILE PATH"
adb -s emulator-5556 install C:\Users\criss\youwave\WhatsApp.apk

Abrasive answered 30/3, 2015 at 8:54 Comment(0)

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I might be wrong, but on Windows I simply drag and drop the .apk into Android Emulator. I mean, doing all mentioned above seems to be a lot of work.

Ushijima answered 31/1, 2017 at 2:0 Comment(4)

Why post this answer if you are so unsure? Looks like you basically copied Amt87's answer. – Lead 31/1, 2017 at 2:24

I'm so unsure because i don't know if will work on his case. I can't see Amt87's answer. – Gamba 31/1, 2017 at 4:3

Super easy. Way easier than other answers, and it works great on OS X. – Mannikin 8/2, 2017 at 21:49

This appears to be just a repeat of this existing answer. – Skyros 13/11, 2018 at 5:0

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go to ADT/Android-sdk/tools directory in command prompt 1. adb install fileName.apk (Windows)

./adb install fileName.apk (Ubuntu/Linux or Mac)

Unbuild answered 13/6, 2014 at 3:40 Comment(0)

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06-11-2020

Drag and Drop didn't work for me on Windows 10 Pro.

Put the APK on Google Drive
Access that Google drive using Chrome browser on the Android Emulator
Then install it from there.

Note: You need to enable unknown sources within the Emulator.

Bezanson answered 6/11, 2020 at 17:34 Comment(0)

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Best way is to create a app, which opens the apk file on the emulator. You have to copy the .apk file to the download folder of your emulator. Then replace yourAppName.apk with your .apk name.

here is the code

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);



        Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/download/" + "yourAppName.apk")), "application/vnd.android.package-archive");
        intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
        startActivity(intent);


    }
}

Caloric answered 11/2, 2016 at 12:29 Comment(1)

How is this best way? – Highflier 22/11, 2023 at 23:1

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(1) You can also use gradle commands to install your APK while choosing the product and flavor (Debug or Release). See this Guide.

./gradlew assembleDebug (Incase you don't have the APK generated)


./gradlew installDebug

Incase you want a fresh install, you can remove any earlier installed builds on the device with below commands

./gradlew uninstallDebug
./gradlew installDebug

(2) You can also use the adb commands directly:

Setup adb for command line

export PATH=/Users/mayurik/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb:/Users/mayurik/Library/Android/sdk/tool

Command line ADB install

adb -d install pathto/sample.apk (on device)
adb -e install pathto/sample.apk (on emulator)

Also check the documentation here

$ adb devices
List of devices attached
emulator-5554 device
emulator-5555 device

$ adb -s emulator-5555 install helloWorld.apk

Collyrium answered 9/9, 2019 at 8:24 Comment(0)

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you write the command on terminal/cmd adb install FileName.apk.

Kastroprauxel answered 15/6, 2015 at 12:15 Comment(0)

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Follow the steps :

make sure you have allowed installation from unknown sources in settings.
Use the Android Device Monitor to copy the APK to the sdcard.
Use the builtin browser in Android to navigate to file:///sdcard/apk-name.apk
When the notification "Download complete" appears, click it.

Bold answered 8/9, 2016 at 20:12 Comment(0)

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Now you can just drag and drop the apk in emulator and it will install!

Anchoveta answered 29/8, 2017 at 12:36 Comment(1)

This appears to be just a repeat of this existing answer. – Skyros 13/11, 2018 at 5:0

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On Linux I do this:

first see which devices I currently have: emulator -list-avds
build the release cd android && ./gradlew assembleRelease
install it at the emulated device "Nexus5" (you are inside the android directory, else use the full path to apk): adb -s '8e138a9c' install app/build/outputs/apk/app-release.apk

Thats it. You can also use ./gradlew installRelease

Brownson answered 14/9, 2017 at 10:21 Comment(0)

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Simple You can upload APK to file hosting or download APK and use browser to install from unknown source .

Algorism answered 4/3, 2016 at 9:39 Comment(0)

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1) paste the myapp.apk in platform-tools folder , in my case C:\Users\mazbizxam\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools, this is the link in my case it may change to you people

2)open the directory in CMD CD C:\Users\mazbizxam\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

3)Now you are in platform-tools folder , just type adb install myapp.apk

please ensure that your emulator is turn on , if every thing is ok apk will install

Discernment answered 20/4, 2016 at 5:23 Comment(0)

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Start the console (Windows XP), Run -> type cmd, and move to the platform-tools folder of SDK directory.

In case anyone wondering how to run cmd in platform-tools folder of SDK directory, if you are running a new enough version of Windows, follow the steps:

Go to platform-tools through Windows Explorer.
While holding shift right click and you will find the option "Open Command window here".
Click on it and cmd will start in that folder.

Hope it helps

Bauman answered 30/5, 2016 at 13:16 Comment(0)

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Late, but to be completed with options here: A handy tool to install any apk via gui to a running emulator is: http://apkinstaller.com

This can directly connect to a running instance via adb and can successfully install any kind of apk packages.

Maybe this is also helpful for other people. ;)

Memoirs answered 29/9, 2019 at 11:30 Comment(0)

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you can try build and run application manually

build View -> Tool Windows -> Build Variants
run Tasks -> install -> install<build_varaiant>
open adb shell am start -n <package_name>/.<activity_name>

[more]

Scapular answered 9/10, 2022 at 14:44 Comment(0)

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In mac or windows . Just run the emulator and Drag and drop the apk on the home screen . It will install

Uraninite answered 9/8, 2017 at 14:44 Comment(2)

This appears to be just a repeat of this existing answer. – Skyros 13/11, 2018 at 5:0

This doesn't always work. – Supersonic 18/5, 2022 at 13:21

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Just drag and drop apk file in the emulator and done....

Skiplane answered 16/12, 2017 at 5:10 Comment(4)

Add some more details to your answer. Else it is just like a comment and is considered low quality. – Crown 16/12, 2017 at 5:28

Run your emulator and drag and paste your apk file in it ,it will automatically install apk and onclicking the icon it will run the application – Skiplane 20/12, 2017 at 5:47

This appears to be just a repeat of this existing answer. – Skyros 13/11, 2018 at 5:0

And it doesn't always work. So... [not] done. – Supersonic 18/5, 2022 at 13:21

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You can click a button in the menu of the emulator window that says "Install External APK." It will then prompt you to enter the location of the APK or choose it in a file browser. Select the file then click install and it will install it to the emulator's device.

Semilunar answered 15/6, 2023 at 4:8 Comment(0)

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