How to install Google Play Store on Windows 11

On Windows 11, it’s now possible to install the Google Play Store in the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) to download and install Android apps on your computer through a workaround that includes many steps.

It was just a matter of time until someone figured it out. You can now install Android apps from the Play Store on Windows 11, but not officially. Instead, a person using the ADeltaX handle on Twitter crafted a procedure to get around the original Windows Subsystem for Android to install the Google Play Store app, giving you access to the entire catalog of Android apps.

Although this is a welcome discovery, since the process isn’t supported, it’s unclear how it will affect future updates. In other words, this workaround may only be a temporary fix because it is still not clear what will happen after WSA receives an update through the Microsoft Store. Probably, anyone using this approach will have to redo the entire process. Of course, that’s unless you disable automatic app updates through the Microsoft Store.

Disclaimer: These steps are meant for demo only. It’s not meant to be a tutorial to run the apps on Windows. This process is unsupported, and it may go against the Google Play Services agreement. If you use these instructions, use them at your own risk.

In this video tutorial, we will demonstrate the process of installing the Google Play Store app on WSA to install Android apps on a Windows 11 machine.

Install Google Play Store on Windows 11

The Google Play Store installation process on the Windows Subsystem for Android to run Android apps on Windows 11 requires several steps, including downloading third-party tools, installing WSL, and running various commands using different tools.

Before processing, it’s important to uninstall any previous installation of the Windows Subsystem for Android. Otherwise, the instructions below won’t work.

Step one: Create setup folders

The process will require four working folders in the root of the drive where Windows 11 is installed.

To create the WSA working folders, use these steps:

Open File Explorer.
Click on This PC from the left pane.
Under the “Devices and drivers” section, double-click the main drive (C).
Click the New menu and select the Folder option.
Name the folder WindowsSubsystemAndroid and press Enter.
Click the New menu and select the Folder option.
Name the folder GAppsWSA and press Enter.
Click the New menu and select the Folder option.
Name the folder ADB and press Enter.
Click the New menu and select the Folder option.
Name the folder WSADownloads and press Enter.

Once you complete the steps, the necessary folders will be created, and you can continue downloading and setting up the working environment.

Step two: Download and install required tools

To modify the original Windows Subsystem for Android to run the Google Play Store will require a few tools, including the original WSA package, the Open GApps tools, WSAGAScript scripts, ADB tools, and 7-zip. You will also need to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and enable Developer mode on Windows 11.

To download the required tools, use these steps:

Open the Open GApps website.
Select the x86_64 platform option.
Select the Android 11 option.
Select the pico option variant.
Click the Download button to save the file on the WSADownloads folder.
Open the WSAGAScript website.
Click the Code menu.
Click the Download zip to save the file on the WSADownloads folder.
Open Android developer website.
Under the “Downloads” section, click the Download SDK Platform-Tools for Windows link.
Check the option to accept the terms.
Under the “Downloads” section, click the “Download Android SDK Platform-Tools for Windows” button to save the file on the WSADownloads folder.
Open the adguard website.
Select the Productid option, paste this ID: 9p3395vx91nr, select the Slow option, and click the Check button.
Click the MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForAndroid_1.7.32815.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle link to save the on the WSADownloads folder.

Install 7Zip on Windows 11

To install the 7-zip file manager app, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to install 7-zip and press Enter:
```
winget install --id 7zip.7zip
```

Install Windows Subsystem for Linux

To install WSL on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to install WSL with the Ubuntu distro and press Enter:
```
wsl --install
```
Restart the computer to apply the settings.
Continue with the on-screen directions to complete the Ubuntu setup.

Enable Windows 11 Developer mode

To enable Developer mode on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Privacy & security.
Click the For developers page on the right-side.
Turn on the Developer mode toggle switch.

After you complete all the above steps, you will have all the components to install the Play Store on the Android subsystem for Windows 11.

Step three: Configure working environment

To configure the working environment to create a custom version of WSA, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for 7-zip File Manager and click the top result to open the app.
Copy and paste the C:\WSADownloads path in the address bar and press Enter.
Double-click the MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForAndroid_1.7.32815.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle file.
Double-click the WsaPackage_1.7.32815.0_x64_Release-Nightly.msix file.
Select all the files in the location.
Click the Extract button.
Copy and paste the C:\WindowsSubsystemAndroid\ path and click the OK button.
Copy and paste the C:\WindowsSubsystemAndroid\ path in the address bar and press Enter.
Select and click the Delete button for these files: AppxMetadata, AppxBlockMap.xml, AppxSignature.p7x, and [Content_Type].xml.
Copy and paste the C:\WSADownloads path in the address bar and press Enter.
Double-click the WSAGAScript-main.zip file.
Double-click the WSAGAScript-main folder.
Select all the files in the location.
Click the Extract button.
Copy and paste the C:\GAppsWSA\ path and click the OK button.
Select the open_gapps-x86_64-11.0-pico.zip file.
Click the Copy button.
Copy and paste the C:\GAppsWSA\#GAPPS\ path and click the OK button.
Double-click the platform-tools_r31.0.3-windows zip file.
Select all the files in the location.
Click the Extract button.
Copy and paste the C:\ADB\ path and click the OK button.
Copy and paste the C:\WindowsSubsystemAndroid\ path in the address bar and press Enter.
Select and click the Copy button for these files: vendor.img, system_ext.img, system.img, and product.img.
Copy and paste the C:\GAppsWSA\#IMAGES\ path and click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, you will have all the components in place to install the Google Play Store app.

Step four: Install WSA with the Google Play Store app

To install the Android subsystem with the Google Play Store app on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Ubuntu, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to gain root access and press Enter:
```
sudo su
```
Type the following command to open the GAppsWSA folder and press Enter:
```
cd /mnt/c/GAppsWSA
```
Type the following command to download package information from all configured sources in the system and press Enter:
```
sudo apt-get update
```
Type the following command to install the dos2unix tool on Ubuntu and press Enter:
```
apt-get install dos2unix
```
Type the following command to install the lzip unzip tool and press Enter:
```
apt-get install unzip lzip
```

Type the following commands to convert the scripts to Unix format and press Enter (on each line):

dos2unix ./apply.sh 
dos2unix ./extend_and_mount_images.sh 
dos2unix ./extract_gapps_pico.sh 
dos2unix ./unmount_images.sh 
dos2unix ./VARIABLES.sh

Type the following command to execute the scripts and press Enter (on each line):

./extract_gapps_pico.sh 
./extend_and_mount_images.sh 
./apply.sh 
./unmount_images.sh

Open File Explorer.
Copy and paste the C:\GAppsWSA\#IMAGES path in the address bar and press Enter.
Select and click the Copy button for these files: vendor.img, system_ext.img, system.img, and product.img.
Copy and paste the C:\WindowsSubsystemAndroid path in the address bar and press Enter.
Click the Paste button and replace the files in the destination.
Copy and paste the C:\GAppsWSA\misc path in the address bar and press Enter.
Select and click the Copy button for the Kernel file.
Copy and paste the C:\WindowsSubsystemAndroid\Tools path in the address bar and press Enter.
Select and click the Rename button for the kernel file.
Rename the file kernel.bak and press Enter.
Click the Paste button to paste the new kernel file.
Open Start.
Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to install the Windows Subsystem for Android with the Google Play Store package and press Enter:
```
Add-AppxPackage -Register C:\WindowsSubsystemAndroid\AppxManifest.xml
```
Open Start.
Search for Windows Subsystem for Android and click the top result to open the app.
Turn on the Developer mode toggle switch.
Click the Manage developer settings option to start the platform.
Clear the Share my diagnostic data option.
Click the Continue button.
Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to open the ADB folder and press Enter:
```
cd C:\ADB
```
Type the following command to connect to the WSA and press Enter:
```
adb connect 127.0.0.1:58526
```
Type the following command to start the shell and press Enter:
```
adb shell
```
Type the following command to get root access to the Android subsystem and press Enter:
```
su
```
Type the following command to unlock the Google Play Store app on Windows 11 and press Enter:
```
setenforce 0
```

Once you complete the steps, you can start and sign in to the Google Play Store to download and install Android apps on Windows 11.

If you want to prevent future updates for the Windows Subsystem for Android resetting this process, you may want to disable automatic updates for apps in the Microsoft Store > Profile menu > App settings and turn off the App updates toggle switch. If you want to update other apps, you need to update them manually through Microsoft Store > Library.