Installing the Android SDK on Windows

  1. Download Java Developers Kit (JDK) for Windows (JRE is not sufficient).
    Even though Sun asks you to login, you don't need to.

  2. Download Eclipse Classic 3.5.1 (optional, but really useful)

  3. Download the Android SDK (R04)
    • On my desktop, I created the C:\android\ directory and saved the zip file there
    • Unzip it, creating C:\android\android-sdk_r04-windows\android-sdk-windows\
    • run the SDK Setup.exe (this takes a ridiculous amount of time and space)

  4. Set Your Windows Path environment variable
    • right-click on My Computer, and select Properties
    • under the Advanced tab, hit the Environment Variables button
    • in the dialog that comes up, under System Variables double-click on Path
    • Add ;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin to the Path variable (or wherever the jdk was installed)
    • Add ;C:\android\android-sdk_r04-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools to the Path variable

  5. Use Eclipse to download the Android ADT (an optional Android plugin for Eclipse)
    • Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software
    • In the Available Software dialog, click Add...
    • When the Add Site dialog appears, in the Name field enter "Android Plugin"
    • In the Location field, enter the URL: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
      Note: If you have trouble, try using "http" instead of "https"
    • Click OK
    • In the Available Software view, select the Developer Tools checkbox and click Next

  6. When the Install Details dialog appears, the Android DDMS and Android Development Tools features are listed. Click Next to read and accept the license agreement and install any dependencies, then click Finish

  7. Restart Eclipse

  8. Modify your Eclipse preferences to point to the Android SDK directory by selecting Window > Preferences

  9. Select Android from the left panel

  10. For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse... and locate your downloaded SDK directory ( C:\android\android-sdk_r04-windows\android-sdk-windows\)

  11. Click Apply, then OK

If the steps to install the ADT do not work, see the official Installing and Updating the ADT page