BlueStacks 5

About BlueStacks 5

BlueStacks puts a full Android environment inside a desktop window. Applications that only ship for phones install and run as if they were on a handset, except with the processor, memory and storage of a workstation behind them, which is why a mid range desktop outruns almost any phone on the same title.

The control mapping is what makes it more than a curiosity. Touch targets bind to keyboard keys, a mouse look mode covers camera control, and gamepad input maps straight through, so a title designed for two thumbs becomes playable with the input devices already on the desk. Mapping profiles save per application and can be edited while the application is running.

The instance manager runs several independent Android environments side by side, each with its own storage and its own account state. Instances can be cloned from a configured base, and a synchronised mode mirrors input across all of them at once, which is the whole reason people run more than one.

Everything else is desktop plumbing done properly. Files drag in and out of a shared folder, screen recording and screenshots write straight to the host disk, resolution and frame rate targets are set per instance, and the graphics backend can be switched between rendering paths when a particular title misbehaves on the default one.

What is included in this build

• Full Android runtime in a resizable desktop window
• Keyboard, mouse and gamepad mapping with per-application profiles
• Instance manager running several independent environments at once
• Synchronised input mirroring across multiple instances
• Shared folder for moving files between the host and the runtime
• Screen recording and screenshot capture written to the host disk
• Per-instance resolution, frame rate and memory allocation settings
• Switchable graphics backends for titles that fight the default renderer

Changed in version 5.22.166.1003

• Improved stability on machines with hybrid graphics
• Lower idle CPU use when an instance is running in the background
• Faster instance cloning from a configured base image
• Updated control mapping presets for popular titles
• Reduced install size after runtime component cleanup

Installation walkthrough

These steps assume a clean machine. If a previous release of the same application is present, deal with that first, since an overlapping install is the most common cause of a setup that stops halfway.

1. Enable hardware virtualisation in the machine firmware before installing, or performance will be poor.
2. Disable real-time protection for the length of the install.
3. Run the installer as administrator and let it place the runtime on a fast internal drive.
4. Allocate memory and processor cores per instance from the settings panel on first launch.
5. Reboot once so the virtualisation driver loads cleanly.

System requirements and file details

Frequently asked about this title