Run apps on the Android Emulator

Wear OS pairing assistant
The Wear OS pairing assistant guides you step-by-step through pairing Wear OS emulators with physical or virtual phones directly in Android Studio. The assistant can help you get the right Wear OS Companion app installed on your phone and set up a connection between the two devices. You can get started by going to the device dropdown > Wear OS Emulator Pairing Assistant.

Launch the Android Emulator without first running an app
To start the emulator:

1. 
   Open the Device Manager.
   
2. 
   Double-click an AVD, or click Run
   

.
The Android Emulator loads.
While the emulator is running, you can run Android Studio projects and choose the emulator as the target device. You can also drag one or more APKs onto the emulator to install them, and then run them.
Run the Android Emulator directly in Android Studio
The Android Emulator runs directly inside Android Studio by default. This allows you to conserve screen real estate, navigate quickly between the emulator and the editor window using hotkeys, and organize your IDE and emulator workflow in a single application window.

When the emulator is running, you'll have access to common emulator actions like rotating, and extended control options like navigation playback. To run the emulator in a separate window instead go to File > Settings > Tools > Emulator (Android Studio > Preferences > Tools > Emulator on macOS) and deselect Launch in a tool window.
Limitations
Currently, you can't use the emulator's extended controls when it's running in a tool window. If your development workflow depends heavily on the extended controls, continue to use the Android Emulator as a standalone application. In addition, certain virtual devices—such as Android TV and foldable devices—can't be run in Android Studio because they have specialized UI requirements or important functions in the extended controls.