How to install Google Play Store on Windows 11

If you’ve upgraded to Windows 11, you might have heard of native Android emulation, which will allow you to run Android apps on Windows 11 without having to install a third-party app. The feature officially uses Amazon’s App Store for Android apps, built into the Microsoft Store. While Amazon’s App Store is fine, it has a much more limited selection of apps. You can sideload APK files, but many apps rely on Google Play services, which means they simply won’t work. To avoid all these problems, here is a quick guide on how to install Google Play Store on Windows 11.

Before we begin: Microsoft’s future support for WSA

Before we start, you should know that Windows 11 won’t natively support Android apps for a long time. Microsoft has announced that it is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android on March 5, 2025. That means you have less than a year to officially enjoy Android apps on Windows via the Amazon Appstore.

Namely, as confirmed by the MagiskOnWSALocal project on Github, the method we detail for installing the Google Play Store on Windows 11 will also stop working on this date. Fortunately, there are workarounds and alternative methods to emulate Android apps on your PC.

There are many steps to install the Google Play Store on Windows 11. Many of these steps involve preparing your system and subsystem files. It will take some time to download all the necessary files, prepare the system and complete the final installation process. If you want to install some simple apps that don’t require Google Play Services, you may want to sideload APKs into the unmodified Windows Android subsystem, as detailed in our guide.

Notes and credits

The next method for installing the Google Play Store on Windows 11 comes courtesy of the aforementioned MagiskOnWSALocal Github project. Note that you will need to meet the minimum system requirements and be on the latest version of Windows 11 for this to work.

This method works by modifying the Windows subsystem for Android and replacing the kernel with a modified one. Therefore, this method is risky and may lead to data loss. Consider yourself warned.

Step 1: Uninstall Windows Subsystem for Android

For this method to work, you will need to uninstall the current version of Windows Subsystem for Android on your Windows 11 system. Here’s how:

1. Go to settings application in Windows 11.
2. Click on applications tab from the left pane and select Applications and features in the right menu.
3. It should be the first tab in the Applications section.

Scroll down to Windows Subsystem for Android in the application list. Press the three-dot menu and click Uninstall.

Step 2: Obtain and package the modified Windows subsystem for Android

The Windows Subsystem for Android doesn’t include the Play Store by default, so we’ll have to build and install a modified version ourselves. Fortunately, the open source community has created a script that automates the entire modification process for us. Unfortunately, however, the script will only run on a Linux distribution, so we can’t run it directly on Windows. But don’t worry — using the Windows Subsystem for Linux, we can get an Ubuntu command line on Windows 11.

To get started, go to the Microsoft Store page for Ubuntu and click Install. This should open the Microsoft Store window, where you can actually start the installation.

After the installation is complete, click on Open button. A command prompt window (pictured below) will appear. If you get an error that says “Windows Subsystem for Linux is not enabled”, press the Windows key on your keyboard, search for and open the Terminal app, type wsl --install and press the Enter key. Follow the instructions until you have successfully enabled Windows Subsystem for Linux. You may need to restart the system for the change to take effect.

In the Ubuntu window, enter the username and press enter. After that, you will be asked to enter the password for that account. This doesn’t have to match your Windows account password, but don’t forget it! We’ll need it soon.

Eventually you will see Installation succeeded message, followed by an empty command line waiting for your input.

Type git clone https://github.com/LSPosed/MagiskOnWSALocal.git and press the Enter key. Wait for the download to finish.

Then we need to go to the folder we just downloaded. The script we need to run is in the scripts directory. Enter the folder using the command: cd MagiskOnWSALocal/scripts.

Type ./run.sh and press the Enter key to execute the script. You will be prompted to enter your Ubuntu account password from a few steps ago. The next phase will involve downloading and installing several packages.

After the packages are installed, you will be presented with several options. Here you can continue with the default settings – simply press Enter until you get to the step that asks if you want to enable root access. choose Not here. Finally, when asked if you want to install GApps, select it That option. You can choose whether or not to keep the Amazon app store. At the step where it asks if you want to compress the output, select it Not.

After the last prompt, you’ll have to wait for the script to download the necessary files and compile the modified Windows subsystem for Android.

Once it’s successful, you’ll see an empty command line again. Now we are ready to copy and install this modified version.

Step 3: Install the modified Windows Subsystem for Android with Play Store

Now we need to navigate to the output folder in the main MagiskOnWSALocal folder. Type cd ../output and press Enter.

Now that we’re in the output folder, we need to open it in File Explorer. To do this, simply enter explorer.exe . and press the Enter key. Don’t miss the space and period after explorer.exe!

In the output folder, double-click the WSA_… folder and browse Run.bat file (pictured below). Double-click this file and grant it administrative permissions when prompted.

A minute or two later, the installation should be complete. The Play Store home screen will now appear on your screen. That’s it — we’ve reached the end!

Final Step: Using the Google Play Store in Windows 11

The rest of the usage will be similar to using the Play Store on your phone or Android emulator. Just search for the app and download it. Keep in mind that this is still a modded version, so you’re likely to run into some issues. However, we had no problem downloading chat apps like Telegram and WhatsApp on our computer.