How to Fix Android Emulator Not Running on macOS After Android Studio Update

When working with Android Studio on macOS, the Android Emulator is a critical tool for testing your apps. However, after recent updates—especially the Meerkat release—some developers have faced issues where the emulator refuses to start or crashes silently. If you’re stuck in this situation, don’t worry. This guide walks you through practical, tested solutions to get the emulator working again on macOS (including versions like 11.7.10 and later).

Common Symptoms

• Emulator does not start at all
• “No emulators found” even though they are installed
• Emulator opens but shows a black screen or freezes
• Android Studio shows a timeout error when launching the emulator

Step-by-Step Fixes

1. Check Intel HAXM or ARM Support

Depending on your Mac’s chipset (Intel or Apple Silicon), the emulator backend needs to match.

• For Intel Macs: Ensure Intel HAXM is installed.
• For Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): Use the Apple Emulator image. Google has released ARM64-based system images to support this.

To check or install a compatible system image:

1. Open AVD Manager in Android Studio.
2. Edit or create a new Virtual Device.
3. Select a system image labeled with arm64-v8a (for Apple Silicon) or x86_64 (for Intel).
4. Complete setup and launch the emulator again.

2. Update Android Emulator and SDK Tools

Outdated emulator or SDK components often cause compatibility issues after an Android Studio update.

• Open SDK Manager > SDK Tools
• Make sure these are updated:
  • Android Emulator
  • Android SDK Platform-Tools
  • Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM installer) – for Intel Macs
  • Android SDK Command-line Tools

After updating, restart Android Studio and test the emulator again.

3. Rebuild and Restart Emulator Configuration

Corrupted emulator configurations can cause launch failures.

1. Delete Old AVDs:
   • Go to AVD Manager
   • Delete all virtual devices
2. Wipe Emulator Data:
   • When editing a device, click Wipe Data
3. Recreate Emulator:
   • Create a new AVD from scratch using the correct image for your CPU

4. Grant Permissions and Fix Security Warnings

macOS has strict permission settings, especially for apps not from the App Store.

• Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security
• Allow permissions for:
  • Android Emulator
  • Android Studio
• If you see a message like “Emulator can’t be opened because the developer cannot be verified,” click Allow Anyway

5. Run Emulator from Terminal for Debugging

Sometimes launching from the terminal gives more insights:

~/Library/Android/sdk/emulator/emulator -avd Pixel_5_API_34

Replace Pixel_5_API_34 with the name of your AVD. If errors appear, they can point to missing dependencies or corrupted files.

Code Snippet: Simple Kotlin App to Test Emulator

Use this snippet to confirm your emulator runs apps properly:

package com.example.emulatortest

import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        val textView = TextView(this)
        textView.text = "Emulator is working!"
        setContentView(textView)
    }
}

Deploy this simple Kotlin app to your emulator. If it launches and displays the message, your setup is working.

Bonus Tips

• Use Cold Boot instead of Quick Boot for fresh testing.
• Disable Hyper-V or other virtualization layers if dual-booting with Windows via Bootcamp or Parallels.
• Keep your macOS version updated to avoid low-level hardware compatibility issues.

Useful Official Links

• Download Android Studio
• Kotlin Documentation
• Android Emulator Troubleshooting

By following the steps above, you should be able to restore Android Emulator functionality on your macOS system. These fixes are designed to be practical and safe, ensuring you can get back to developing and testing your APKs smoothly.

Stay productive and keep coding with confidence!