Android Studio

ApplicationGoogle LLC

Also called android studio ide, studio64

Google LLCProductivity

Google's official Android IDE. The Windows process is studio64.exe. It is built on IntelliJ platform code. It is not IntelliJ IDEA.

What you need to know

Android Studio is studio64.exe. IntelliJ is idea64.exe.

Android Studio is Google's Android IDE. It is built on IntelliJ platform code. JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA is still a different installer and license. The emulator is usually the memory hog, not the Start tile.

What is it?: Google's official Android IDE
Same as IntelliJ?: No. Different product and exe
Why so much RAM?: The emulator is the usual hog

Feex says

If studio64.exe plus the emulator ate the RAM, I would shrink the AVD or use a physical phone. I would not uninstall IntelliJ IDEA to free that memory. Those are different products.

What is Android Studio?

Android Studio is Google's official IDE for Android apps. It bundles the SDK manager and emulator. It is not IntelliJ IDEA and not VS Code.

If you have never used it

If an Android class said install Android Studio, get it from developer.android.com/studio. The IDE is studio64.exe. The emulator is the RAM hog. IntelliJ IDEA is a different JetBrains product even though Studio is built on IntelliJ platform code. idea64.exe will not give you the Android SDK manager.

What is it used for?

Android app projects

Gradle modules, layouts, and the device manager. IntelliJ Ultimate is not this SDK installer.

Android Emulator

Google lists 16 GB RAM for Studio plus emulator. That VM is why Task Manager looks scary.

SDK and platform tools

sdkmanager and adb live with this install. They are not a JetBrains Toolbox plugin.

Who is it for?

People building Android apps
Students whose lab PC must run an AVD
Anyone who installed IntelliJ and wondered where the emulator went

Current status

Android Studio (2013) is a current android ide from Google LLC. The vendor still points Windows users at https://developer.android.com/studio.

How old is it?

Google shipped Android Studio in 2013 to replace Eclipse ADT. It is younger than IntelliJ (2001). Current Canary and stable channels are the product. Eclipse-for-Android guides are stale.

Versions

Major channels first. Exact build numbers are not all verified here.

Stable

Canary

System requirements

Values follow the publisher's public guidance. Workload still changes the real need.

Minimum

Minimum system requirements
Operating system	64-bit Microsoft Windows 10, per Google's Android Studio install page
RAM	8 GB for Studio, 16 GB for Studio and emulator, per Google

Resource profile

CPU demand: Follows what you open inside the app
RAM demand: Follows documents, tabs, or libraries

Installed processes

These executables belong to this product when it is installed.

Installed processes
studio64.exe	Android Studio IDE
qemu-system-x86_64.exe	Android Emulator on many AVDs

Startup components

Android Studio can restore the last project. The emulator starts when you run an AVD, not as an inbox Windows service.

File locations

Common Android Studio locations
Typical install	C:\Program Files\Android\Android Studio\

File formats

KTJAVAXMLGradle

Common problems

Emulator RAM shock

Google lists 8 GB for Studio alone and 16 GB for Studio plus emulator. That is vendor language, not a Feex score.

Hyper-V or HAXM fights

The emulator wants virtualization. Docker Desktop and other VMs can collide. IntelliJ Community does not host this AVD.

Getting unstuck

Check SDK Manager inside Android Studio

Missing platform tools are an SDK package, not an IntelliJ plugin you forgot.

Confirm studio64.exe under Android\Android Studio

JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA is the other product. Both can look like a JetBrains window.

Install only from developer.android.com/studio

A third-party Android Studio pack with extra toolbars is junk.

Alternatives

IntelliJ IDEA if you write Java that is not Android. VS Code is a lighter editor and does not replace this SDK stack.

Official help and downloads

Start with the vendor. Random exe sites are not a support channel.

Official contacts
Download	developer.android.com/studio Official installer or vendor page
Help	developer.android.com/studio/intro Vendor support
Official site	developer.android.com/studio Start here, not a random exe host
Install and requirements	developer.android.com/studio/install RAM Google lists for Studio and the emulator

Related hardware

Google lists 8 GB RAM for Studio and 16 GB for Studio plus emulator, plus 8 to 16 GB free disk. An SSD helps the emulator images.

Technical details

Vendor version numbers change. This article does not pin a build.

Sources and verification

Reviewed by Feex editorial. Last verified August 2026 Status: Feex Reviewed. How we research.

Android Studio official site · Vendor product page
Android Studio help · Vendor support
Install Android Studio · Official Windows RAM and disk list
Foxhole process map · First-party samples on Windows PCs. Not a lab benchmark.

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