This Gist provides a complete, step-by-step walkthrough for installing the Android SDK manually on Windows 11/10 and macOS (Apple Silicon/Intel) without the overhead of Android Studio.

Android SDK Manual Setup Guide.md

Android SDK Manual Setup Guide

This guide installs the Android SDK to C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk (Windows) and /Library/Android/sdk (macOS) using the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK.

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1. Install Microsoft OpenJDK

The Android SDK Manager is a Java application. Using the Microsoft Build ensures long-term support and stability.

1. Download: Go to the Microsoft OpenJDK Download Page.
2. Version: Choose OpenJDK 17 (LTS).
3. Installation:
   • Windows: Run the .msi. Crucial: Select the feature "Set JAVA_HOME variable" during the wizard.
   • macOS: Run the .pkg.

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2. Download the Android Binary Zips

Navigate to the Android SDK tools guides and scroll to the bottom.

1. Command line tools only: Download the zip for your OS (e.g., commandlinetools-win-xxxx_latest.zip).
2. SDK Platform-Tools: Download the "SDK Platform-Tools" zip (this contains adb).

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3. The "Latest" Folder Hack (Mandatory)

The SDK tools will not run unless they are nested inside a folder named latest.

Windows Setup

1. Root Folder: Create C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk.
2. Platform Tools: Extract platform-tools-latest-windows.zip directly into the root.
   • Path: ...\android-sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe
3. Command Line Tools: * Create ...\android-sdk\cmdline-tools\latest.
   • Extract the contents of your command line tools zip into that latest folder.
   • Path: ...\android-sdk\cmdline-tools\latest\bin\sdkmanager.bat

macOS Setup

1. Root Folder: Create /Library/Android/sdk.
2. Structure: Follow the same logic as Windows.
   • Path: /Library/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager

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4. Setting Environment Variables

This is the "glue" that makes the tools work.

Windows

1. Search for "Edit the system environment variables".
2. Click Environment Variables.
3. System Variables (New):
   • JAVA_HOME: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\jdk-17.x.x-hotspot (Verify your actual install path).
   • ANDROID_HOME: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk
4. Path Variable (Edit): Add these three lines:
   • %JAVA_HOME%\bin
   • %ANDROID_HOME%\cmdline-tools\latest\bin
   • %ANDROID_HOME%\platform-tools
   • %ANDROID_HOME%\emulator

macOS (Zsh)

Open terminal, run nano ~/.zshrc, or open ~/.zshrc and add:

# Java Home (Microsoft OpenJDK)
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/microsoft-21.jdk/Contents/Home

# Android Home
export ANDROID_HOME=/Library/Android/sdk

# Update Path
export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulator

Save (Ctrl+O, Enter) or (Ctrl+S) and Exit (Ctrl+X). Run source ~/.zshrc.

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5. Fetching Build-Tools & Licenses

Now that the paths are set, finish the installation via terminal (Use Admin PowerShell on Windows).

# 1. Update tools
sdkmanager --update

# 2. Download Build-Tools and Platform (e.g., API 36)
sdkmanager "build-tools;36.0.0" "platforms;android-36"

# 3. Install an Android emulator
sdkmanager --install emulator
sdkmanager --install "system-images;android-36;google_apis;arm64-v8a"
avdmanager create avd -n AVD-API36 -k "system-images;android-36;google_apis;arm64-v8a"

# 4. Accept Licenses (The most important step)
sdkmanager --licenses

# 5. Launch the android virtual device
# emulator -avd AVD-API36

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6. Verification

Run these commands to ensure everything is perfect:

• java -version (Should show Microsoft OpenJDK)
• echo %JAVA_HOME% (Windows) or echo $JAVA_HOME (Mac)
• adb version