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Android Emulator Setup

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This guide explains how to prepare the Android Emulator for testing your app.

Overview

The Android Emulator can be run in a variety of configurations to simulate different devices. Each configuration is called a virtual device. When you deploy and test your app on the emulator, you select a pre-configured or custom virtual device that simulates a physical Android device such as a Nexus or Pixel phone.

The sections listed below describe how to accelerate the Android emulator for maximum performance, how to use the Android Device Manager to create and customize virtual devices, and how to customize the profile properties of a virtual device. In addition, a troubleshooting section explains common emulator problems and workarounds.

Sections

Hardware Acceleration for Emulator Performance

How to prepare your computer for maximum Android Emulator performance by using either Hyper-V or HAXM virtualization technology. Because the Android Emulator can be prohibitively slow without hardware acceleration, we recommend that you enable hardware acceleration on your computer before you use the emulator.

Managing Virtual Devices with the Android Device Manager

How to use the Android Device Manager to create and customize virtual devices.

Editing Android Virtual Device Properties

How to use the Android Device Manager to edit the profile properties of a virtual device.

Android Emulator Troubleshooting

In this article, the most common warning messages and issues that occur while running the Android Emulator are described, along with workarounds and tips.

Note

If you are using a Mac with an Apple chip, such as the M1, you will need to install the Android Emulator for M1 preview from GitHub.

After you have configured the Android Emulator, see Debugging on the Android Emulator for information about how to launch the emulator and use it for testing and debugging your app.

Note

As of Android SDK Tools version 26.0.1 and later, Google has removed support for existing AVD/SDK managers in favor of their new CLI (Command Line Interface) tools. Because of this deprecation change, Xamarin SDK/Device Managers are now used instead of Google SDK/Device Managers for Android Tools 26.0.1 and later. For more information about the Xamarin SDK Manager, see Setting up the Android SDK for Xamarin.Android.