Install Android SDK on Windows 10 without Android Studio

This post was completed with the help of my friend NamNV, who pointing out the way to install Android SDK on Ubuntu without install Android Studio

Thanks to my friend

Welcome to my blog, today I write this post to guide you installing Android SDK on Windows 10 without installing Android Studio. You may wonder why we need it?

For most cases, we just need to install Android Studio and it will do all the necessary works include installing Android SDK. In other cases, you just need the Android SDK rather than install Android Studio to get the Android SDK. For example, if you are a Web/Backend developer and want to try Flutter for Desktop, so installing Android Studio is not necessary. Flutter for Desktop is a new technology, it helps to develop a Desktop app as same as what you do when developing a mobile app with Flutter. For the time being, even if you are developing Windows Desktop app you still have to install Android SDK, otherwise, you have to switch to another programming language.

Let’s going into the installation process.

1. Install Java for Windows 10

The first thing we need is to install Java, Android is based on Java, so Java is a must have thing before we do any works relative to Android development.

Because we don’t want to use Android Studio and just want the Android SDK command line version, so we don’t need to install Java SE Development Kit

Go to Java Windows 10 download page and click Download button: https://java.com/en/download/win10.jsp

2. Install Android SDK Command Line tools

This part is the most important thing in this tutorial. Android Studio help us on doing every works through it’s GUI, sometime we don’t want to use it’s GUI but using command line to interact with it’s core functions, so Android SDK Command Line tool will help us archive this

2.1 Download Android SDK Command Line tools

Go to Android Studio downloads page and select the right package: https://developer.android.com/studio/#downloads

Scroll to Command line tools only and click on the download link from Windows platform, accept the license and click on Download button

The downloaded file is not an installation file, it is a zip file that contains Android SDK tools, so we have to extract and place it in a convenient place that we will use later. Let’s place it in this location C:\Android

Create folder Android at drive C and extract the downloaded file here

2.2 Setting environment variables

Open Edit the system environment variables windows by following these steps:

1. On windows search box (at the task bar), type “env” and wait for it to run
2. Click to open “Edit the system environment variables” program
3. After “System Properties” opened at tab “Advanced“, click on “Environment Variables” button

Now we have to setting the “ANDROID_HOME” environment variable to “C:\Android“

When the “Environment Variables” windows is opened, click on “New” button at “User variables for…” section. Fill ANDROID_HOME at the “Variable name:” input and fill C:\Android at “Variable value:” input. Then click OK button

We will need to use Android tools binary, so let’s modify the PATH variable to add C:\Android\tools\bin to it

2.3 Check if Android command line tools work

Open Windows Power Shell in Administrator mode

type this command and check the result

sdkmanager --help

If the result is something like the bellow, then you are ready for the next step. If not, please re-check above steps or try restarting your computer

Usage:
  sdkmanager [--uninstall] [<common args>] [--package_file=<file>] [<packages>...]
  sdkmanager --update [<common args>]
  sdkmanager --list [<common args>]
  sdkmanager --licenses [<common args>]
  sdkmanager --version

With --install (optional), installs or updates packages.
    By default, the listed packages are installed or (if already installed)
    updated to the latest version.
With --uninstall, uninstall the listed packages.

    <package> is a sdk-style path (e.g. "build-tools;23.0.0" or
             "platforms;android-23").
    <package-file> is a text file where each line is a sdk-style path
                   of a package to install or uninstall.
    Multiple --package_file arguments may be specified in combination
    with explicit paths.

With --update, all installed packages are updated to the latest version.

With --list, all installed and available packages are printed out.

With --licenses, show and offer the option to accept licenses for all
     available packages that have not already been accepted.

With --version, prints the current version of sdkmanager.

2.3 Install Android SDK

Open Windows Power Shell in Administrator mode and run this command to install Android SDK 29, you can change this number to your desired version

sdkmanager --install "platform-tools" "platforms;android-29" "build-tools;29.0.2"

For the first time running the installation, you will be asked for reading and accept the license, type y and press enter key

Congratulation, you have just installed the Android SDK on Windows 10 without installing Android Studio, if you have any problems or questions regrading this tutorial, please let me know. Thank you!