You can’t install the full Google Play Store on Windows 11 the way you would on a phone, and the old workaround for doing it no longer works. Microsoft removed Windows Subsystem for Android from the Microsoft Store on March 5, 2025, and that subsystem was the piece every Play Store tutorial relied on. What you can do today is install Google’s official Google Play Games app for PC, which runs Android games from the Play Store on Windows 11. For non-game Android apps, your options are mirroring them from your phone or using a third-party emulator.
Quick answer
- Check that your PC meets the requirements below and that hardware virtualization is turned on.
- Download Google Play Games from Google’s Play Games for PC page and run the installer.
- Sign in with your Google account.
- Browse or search for a game, click Install, and play it in a window on your desktop.
What happened to the Play Store on Windows 11?
When Windows 11 launched, Microsoft added Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), which let the PC run Android apps from the Amazon Appstore. It never shipped with Google Play. Guides that promised “the Play Store on Windows 11” had you install WSA, switch on Developer Mode, and sideload modified Google Play packages downloaded from third-party sites.
That route is gone. Microsoft’s own WSA documentation says that starting March 5, 2025, Windows Subsystem for Android and the Amazon Appstore are no longer available in the Microsoft Store. It also wasn’t a safe route to begin with: the modified Play Store packages came from unofficial sources, which is a common way malware reaches a PC. If you followed one of those guides in the past, it’s worth uninstalling WSA and anything you sideloaded with it from Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
Option 1: Google Play Games for PC (the official way)
Google Play Games is a free Windows app from Google. It gives you a Play Store-style catalog of Android games that have been approved to run on PC, and your progress syncs with the same games on your phone when you sign in with the same Google account.
Check the requirements first
Google lists these minimum requirements:
- Windows 10 (version 2004) or later. Every Windows 11 PC qualifies.
- A solid-state drive (SSD) with 10 GB of free space
- 8 GB of RAM
- Intel UHD Graphics 630 or a comparable GPU
- A processor with 4 physical CPU cores
- A Windows administrator account
- Hardware virtualization turned on
Most laptops and desktops from the last few years meet everything except possibly the virtualization setting, which is sometimes switched off at the factory.
Turn on virtualization
To check, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Performance tab, and click CPU. The panel on the right shows Virtualization: Enabled or Disabled. If it’s disabled, you’ll need to turn it on in your PC’s firmware settings. Our guide on how to enter BIOS in Windows 11 shows how to get there. The option is usually called Intel VT-x, Intel Virtualization Technology, AMD-V, or SVM Mode. The steps in how to enable virtualization on Windows 10 apply to Windows 11 too.
The installer may also ask you to turn on the Windows Hypervisor Platform feature and restart. Let it do that.
Install and sign in
- Go to play.google.com/googleplaygames and click the download button.
- Open the downloaded installer and follow the prompts. Restart if it asks you to.
- Open Google Play Games from the Start menu and sign in with your Google account.
- Pick a game and click Install. It downloads like any other app and gets its own Start menu shortcut.
What you can and can’t get
The catalog is games only, and only titles the developer has made available for PC. Popular games are there, but not every game on your phone will be. You won’t find WhatsApp, Instagram, banking apps, or other everyday apps in it. Games play with a keyboard and mouse, and many also support controllers.
Option 2: Use Android apps through Phone Link
If what you really want is to use an app that’s already on your Android phone, the Phone Link app that comes with Windows 11 may be enough. On supported phones (mainly recent Samsung models and some other brands), Phone Link has an Apps section that opens your phone’s apps in a window on your PC. The app is still running on the phone, so the phone needs to be nearby and on the same Wi-Fi network. For more ways to put your phone’s screen on your PC, see how to cast your phone to a Windows 11 laptop.
Option 3: A third-party Android emulator
Android emulators such as BlueStacks run a full copy of Android in a window, and many include Google Play so you can sign in and install regular apps. They are made by companies other than Microsoft and Google, they need the same virtualization setting, and they use a lot of memory. If you go this route, download the emulator only from its developer’s own website, and be careful signing in to sensitive accounts such as banking apps inside it.
For a wider look at what runs and what doesn’t, read can you run Android apps on Windows 11?
Troubleshooting
Google Play Games says virtualization isn’t enabled
Check Task Manager as described above. If it shows Enabled but the error remains, search the Start menu for Turn Windows features on or off, tick Windows Hypervisor Platform and Virtual Machine Platform, click OK, and restart.
“Your PC doesn’t meet the requirements”
The most common causes are a hard drive instead of an SSD, less than 8 GB of RAM, or fewer than four physical cores. These are hardware limits, so a setting change won’t fix them.
A game I play on my phone isn’t listed
The developer hasn’t released it for Google Play Games on PC yet. Check the game’s own website, because some publishers offer a separate Windows version instead.
Google Play Games isn’t available in my country
Google rolls the app out region by region. If it isn’t available where you are, the download page will say so.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still install Windows Subsystem for Android?
Not from the Microsoft Store. Microsoft removed it on March 5, 2025. Copies offered on other sites aren’t supported and may be tampered with.
Is Google Play Games for PC free?
Yes. The app is free, and games cost whatever they cost on Android. In-game purchases go through your Google account.
Does this work on Windows 10?
Yes, Google Play Games runs on Windows 10 version 2004 or later. See how to get the Google Play Store on Windows 10 for that version.
Will Android games slow down my PC?
They use more memory than an ordinary app because they run inside a virtual machine. Close the game when you’re done and things go back to normal.
Summary
There’s no supported way to put the full Google Play Store on Windows 11 anymore. For Android games, install Google Play Games from Google. For the apps on your phone, try Phone Link. Use a third-party emulator only if you need a specific app that neither covers.
Related: How to Download Google Play Store on Windows 10.
Related: how to install Google Drive on Windows 11.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.