Complete List of ADB Commands with Examples (PDF)

By Rakesh Shukla
Updated on May 5, 2024
Android enthusiasts love tinkering with the phone’s settings and tweak their
devices. With the power of ADB, you can do more than you think. This command-line
tool works like a bridge between a connected computer and an Android device or
emulator. Unfortunately, most users are familiar with only a small set of ADB
commands. We have compiled a list of ADB commands for Android with detailed
explanations. With proper knowledge of the commands and their functions, you can
explore the true potential of your Android device and perform basic and advanced
tasks.

Most users make use of just a small set of commands such as adb devices, fastboot
oem unlock, fastboot flash recovery.img, and so on. Check out the following ADB
commands list with a simplified explanation for each of them. ADB or Android Debug
Bridge consists of 3 components:

Client: the computer your Android device or emulator is connected to.

Daemon: also known as ‘adbd‘ is the service that runs on your computer and Android
device to facilitate command execution and acceptance between the devices.
Server: this is the very software that handles the communication between the Client
and the Daemon.
Table of Content
List of ADB Commands with Explanation
adb
adb -s
adb -d
adb -e
adb devices
adb devices //show devices attached
adb connect ip-address-of-device
adb help
adb root
adb version
adb reboot
adb reboot bootloader
adb reboot download
adb reboot recovery
adb install
adb uninstall
adb usb
adb logcat
adb start-server
adb kill-server
adb sideload
adb pull
adb push
adb backup //
adb restore //
adb bugreport
adb jdwp
adb get-statе
adb get-serialno
adb get-state
adb wait-for-device
Download ADB Commands Cheat Sheet PDF
List of ADB Commands with Explanation
Below is a list of useful ADB commands with a brief description of their functions.
ADB can help you debug your Android phone, reboot it, sideload APKs and flashable
ZIPs, push and pull files, uninstall apps, and perform other tasks. Before you
proceed, however, set up the SDK Platform-tools on your computer or install the
aShell Terminal app to use ADB commands without root.

adb
Get the ADB version and all possible commands associated with ADB.

adb commands and parameters

adb -s
Redirect commands to a specific device when many devices are connected.

adb -s <deviceName> <command>

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adb -d
This command directs the command to a device connected via USB.

adb –d <command>
adb -e
Use this command to direct ADB commands to a connected emulator.

adb –e <command>
adb devices
This is one of the most used ADB commands as it is used to check the list of the
Android devices connected to your computer.adb devices command in windows
powershell

adb devices -l
List connected devices by model or product number.

adb devices //show devices attached

This is similar to the ‘adb devices’ command that shows you the list of connected
Android devices and emulators to your computer.

adb connect ip-address-of-device

Find out and connect the IP address of your Android device to your PC. You can use
this ADB command to set up ADB over Wi-Fi.

settings up adb over wi-fi on windows

adb help
Displays the help documentation on all ADB commands.

adb root
Restarts adbd with root permissions.

adb version
Find out the version of the ADB driver installed on your computer.

adb version command

adb reboot
Reboot your Android phone or tablet into the bootloader, fastboot, or recovery
mode.

adb reboot bootloader

Reboot your Android device into the Fastboot or Bootloader Mode. The command is
often used when you want to flash the factory images or a custom recovery.

adb reboot download

Boot Samsung devices into the Download Mode or Odin Mode.

adb reboot recovery

Reboot your device into Android Recovery mode.

adb install
Usually, we transfer an APK file to our Android device and install it via File
Manager. This command makes it easy to sideload APK files directly from your
computer. To be able to do so, copy the APK file to the SDK platform-tools folder
first. There are some variations of this command for different conditions.

adb install com.facebook.katana.apk

While you can install an APK on your Android devices using the above command, you
can use the command below to update or reinstall an app without deleting its data.

adb install -r com.facebook.katana.apk

Some apps support installation on the SD card. The following ADB commands move an
app to the SD storage.

adb install -s com.facebook.katana.apk

adb install –k <add the path of the .APK file on your computer>
adb uninstall
Uninstall an app from your phone or tablet.

adb uninstall com.facebook.katana

Uninstall an app but keep its data and cache files using the ‘-k‘ parameter as
shown below.

adb uninstall -k com.facebook.katana

adb usb
Find the Android device or emulators currently connected to your Windows, Mac, or
Linux computer.

adb logcat
See the log data of your Android device on your computer. You can also use
parameters like ‘-c‘ (clear) and ‘-d‘ (save) with the command.

adb logcat -c // clear //

Clear all existing logs on your Android phone or tablet. To save the logcat data on
your PC, use the following command.

adb logcat -d > [path_to_file] //

adb start-server
Start the adb server in case it stops responding. It’s often used after killing the
adb server as described below.

adb kill-server
Kill the ADB server if it is not functioning properly. It’s similar to turning off
our Android devices to fix small issues.

adb sideload
Sideload software update.zip file to an Android device using your computer. If you
have a flashable update.zip, copy it to the ‘platform-tools‘ folder and execute the
following command. If the zip file has a different name, rename it to “update.zip”
for convenience.

adb sideload update.zip

Alternatively, you can sideload or flash update zip packages using Android Recovery
or TWRP Recovery. For that, you will have to transfer the update.zip file to your
device, reboot your Android into recovery mode, and select the “Apply update from
sdcard” option.

adb pull
Download or pull files stored on your Android device to your computer. The pulled
files are saved to the ‘platform-tools’ folder.

adb pull /sdcard/video-01.mp4

To pull a file to a specific location or drive (D drive, for instance) on your PC,
mention the location path as shown below.

adb pull /sdcard/video-01.mp4 d:\

adb push
Push a file from your computer to your device. Please note that you’ll have to
transfer the file you want to push to the ‘platform-tools’ directory. For instance,
to push a file to your Android device’s SD card, use the following command.

adb push com.whatsapp_2.19.368-453132.apk /sdcard

Send a file to your device stored in a specific location on your computer.

adb push d:\com.whatsapp_2.19.368-453132.apk /sdcard

adb backup //
Create or take a full backup of your Android to your computer.

adb restore //
Restore the backup you have already created.

adb bugreport
Diagnose issues on Android devices. Its execution can show you log data, dumpstate,
and dumpsys from your Android device on your computer.

Don’t Miss: How to Unlock Android PIN and Pattern Using ADB

adb jdwp
See the list of JDWP processes on your PC. JDWP means Java Debug Wire Protocol.

adb get-statе
Print the device state in the command window.
adb get-serialno
Find out the ADB instance serial number.

adb get-state
Shows the ADB status of a connected device or emulator.

adb wait-for-device
This program tells ADB to wait and keep the connection on hold until the next
command is issued.

That’s all for now. ADB Shell commands are more useful than the commands mentioned
above. Don’t forget to check them out.

Download ADB Commands Cheat Sheet PDF

I’ll keep updating this list of ADB commands regularly. You can also download this
list of ADB commands as a PDF file for future reference.

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ADB and Fastboot

Rakesh Shukla
Rakesh is a geek by heart with an ardent passion for all things tech. From a young
age, he was drawn to the world of technology and found himself constantly tinkering
with gadgets and devices. He enjoys learning and discovering the newest trends in
the world of Android, iOS, and Windows.
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