Hi all, today in this article we will show you how to install Play Store on Windows 11 PC. One of the most important new features of Windows 11 is the ability to run Android apps natively. Previously, this was only possible with third-party software, and it has never been possible to fully integrate phone apps into the Windows desktop. So let’s get started without further delay.
Support for native Android apps is one of the coolest features of Windows 11, but there are some notable limitations. More importantly, you can only officially download apps from the Amazon Appstore, which contains only a tiny fraction of the apps you’ll find in the Google Play Store. It’s also still in testing at the time of this writing, limited to the Windows Insider Program beta channel if you have a US account. But what if there was now a way to access the entire Play Store library anywhere? Windows 11 device? It sounds too good to be true, but we have tested it and can confirm that the method detailed in this article works.
Today everyone mainly relies on smartphones as these pocket-sized devices help us in various tasks and also entertain us. As far as the operating system is concerned, you can only find Android or iOS on smartphones these days. Google’s Android operating system is very popular among users and works with most devices, whether they are affordable or premium. While the Google Play Store comes pre-installed on smartphones, you have the option of accessing it through web browsers on your laptop or desktop. Before proceeding, we recommend you to update windows 11
How to download Play Store in Windows 11
Requirements to install Google Play Store on Windows 11
Before looking at the steps to get Google Play Store working on Windows 11, you need to download the following files and software on your Windows 11 machine:
- First of all, go ahead and download the GApps package from here. Choose “x86_64”, “Android 11”, “pico” and click the download button.
- Next, set up WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) on your Windows 11 PC.
- Download 7-Zip (free) or any WinZip alternative to help you extract the Windows Subsystem for Android MSIX package.
- Finally, download the WSAGA script developed by ADeltaX. Click this link to visit the GitHub page and open Code -> Download ZIP.
Download the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) package
If you already have the Windows Subsystem MSIX package for Android, you’re ready to go. Otherwise, open this website and follow the steps below to get the package officially from Microsoft servers.
- After opening the RG-Adguard website, choose “ProductID” from the dropdown menu to the left of the text box. Next, you need to paste the WSA Microsoft Store Product ID, 9P3395VX91NR, into the text field. After that, choose the “Slow” ring from the dropdown menu to the right of the text box and click the OK button.
- You will get a long list of results. Scroll to the bottom to find an msixbundle file around 1.21 GB in size. Right click and choose “Save Link As” to download the file. Please note that clicking the link will not download the file in some popular Windows browsers.
Manage Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) files
Now that we have all the files we need to install the Google Play Store on Windows 11, we’ll need to rearrange them before we continue. Just follow the steps closely to get started.
- Now that you have downloaded the WSA package, open the 7-Zip software and find the MSIX package in the Downloads folder. Note that trying to open the MSIX package with 7-Zip from the context menu does not work in this case and may result in an error. You will need to rely on 7-Zip software to locate the file.
- Once you open the MSIX package, look for a file that ends with “Release-nightly.msix”. There will be two files, one with ARM64 and one with x64 in the file name. Choose the x64 and open it.
- Next, open drive C: and create a folder called WindowsSubsystemAndroid (no spaces).
- Then go back to the 7-Zip window and copy everything except AppxMetadata, AppxBlockMap.xml, AppxSignature.p7x and [Content_Types.xml]. You can Ctrl-click these filenames to deselect them after selecting them all via the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A.
- Now paste these files into the “WindowsSubsystemAndroid” folder.
- Similarly, create a GAppsWSA folder inside the C: drive.
- Now extract the WSAGA script we downloaded above and paste the contents into the GAppsWSA folder.
- Next, find the GApps (pico) ZIP file we downloaded above and copy it. After that navigate to the GAppsWSA folder and move to the #GAPPS folder. Paste the GApps ZIP file here. It is not necessary to remove it.
- Go back to the WindowsSubsystemAndroid folder and copy vendor.img, system.img, system_ext1.img, and product.img.
- Now navigate to the GAppsWSA folder and paste these four .img files into the #IMAGES folder.
Install the Google Play Store on the Windows Subsystem for Android
Now comes the part you have been eagerly waiting for, install Play Store to easily install Android apps on your Windows 11 PC and sign in to them with your Google account. Just follow the steps below to continue.
- Open Windows 11 PowerShell as Admin
- After that, run the following command. It will start to install the modified WSA on your Windows 11 PC.
- Add AppxPackage -Register C:WindowsSubsystemAndroidAppxManifest.xml
- If you get any errors, you will need to enable developer mode in Windows 11 to fix the problem. Open Windows Settings -> Privacy and security -> For developers. Here, turn on the “Install apps from any source, including loose files” option under Developer Mode. Now, run the above command, and it should work fine.
- Now, open the Start menu and you will find that Windows Subsystem for Android is successfully installed on your Windows 11 computer. Open it to continue.
- In the WSA window, enable “Developer Mode” to assign an IP address to the Android container. Write down the IP address, as we will need it later. After that, click “Files” at the top so that the Windows Subsystem for Android will actually start running on your Windows 11 PC. Now, you can close the Files window.
- If the IP address does not appear in the WSA settings, click “Manage Developer Settings” in Developer mode. After that, scroll down the developer options menu and click on “Wireless Debugging”. Here, write down the IP address that is displayed in the wireless debugging settings.
- Next, you need to configure ADB on your Windows 11 PC to connect to WSA. We are very close to access Google Play Store to install Android apps with ease.
- Once you
’ve set up ADB, open Command Prompt in the platform-tools folder (by typing CMD in the File Explorer address bar) and run the following command. Be sure to replace “ipaddress” with the one you noted earlier. If you get a failed error, run the command again and you will be connected this time. - Then run the following commands one by one. This will allow you to enter WSA shell mode and grant superuser rights.
- Finally, run the following command to change the SELinux mode to permissive.
- Now, go ahead and search for Play Store in the Start menu and open it.
- You will now be able to sign in with your Google account and install Android apps directly from the Google Play Store on your Windows 11 PC. And this is how you can install the Google Play Store on Windows Subsystem for Android.
Final Words
We hope you enjoyed our article about installing the Google Play Store on Windows 11. The ability to run Android apps natively on Windows 11 eliminates the hassle of Android emulators. With Play Store support, you can now install most, if not all, Android apps without sideloading. For the apps that aren’t available on the Play Store, you can sideload them on your Windows 11 PC using the Command Prompt or WSA tools. So if you like our article, please share it with others.
