Installing R and RStudio

Quick Guide for Mac and Windows

🧰 Overview

R is the engine for statistical computing; RStudio is the interface that makes it easier to use. You need both.

Requirements: ~500 MB disk space, 4 GB RAM (min 8 GB recommended), Windows 10/11 or macOS 12+, ~15–20 min install.

💻 Install R and RStudio

1. Go to https://cran.r-project.org.
   
2. Choose your OS:
   • Windows: Download R for Windows → base → Download R-4.5.2 for Windows
     
   • macOS: Download R for macOS → choose .pkg for your processor
     • R-4.5.2-arm64.pkg = Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
       
     • R-4.5.2-x86_64.pkg = Intel Mac
       
3. Run the installer and accept defaults.
   
4. Go to https://posit.co/download/rstudio → RStudio Desktop (Free) → download the installer for your OS.
   
5. Run installer, then open RStudio.

🧪 Test Your Setup

Open RStudio and in the Console (bottom left panel), type:

1 + 1

[1] 2

R.version.string

[1] "R version 4.5.2 (2025-10-31)"

You should see [1] 2 and your R version ([1] "R version 4.x.x (202x-0x-1x)") printed in the Console.

📦 Install packages

install.packages("tidyverse")
install.packages("srvyr")
install.packages("survey")
install.packages("broom")
install.packages("gt")

✅ You’re Ready!

If everything runs without errors, your setup is complete! You’re now ready to start using R and RStudio for data analysis and visualization. 🎉

💡 Problems?

If you experience problems or your computer does not meet the minimum requirements, you can set up a free Posit Cloud account. Posit Cloud lets you run R and RStudio directly in your web browser—no installation is required—and you can access your projects from any computer with an internet connection.