NAME
adb CLI Client for ADB (Android Debug Bridge) Server.

SYNOPSIS
adb [GLOBAL_OPTIONS] command [COMMAND_OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION
Connects to the ADB Server via its smart socket interface. Allows sending requests, receives responses and manages lifecycle of the adb server.

Tasks are performed via commands. Some commands are fulfilled directly by the server while others are “forwarded over to the adbd(ADB daemon) running on the device.

GLOBAL OPTIONS:

-a Listen on all network interfaces, not just localhost.
-d Use USB device (error if multiple devices connected).
-e Use TCP/IP device (error if multiple TCP/IP devices available).
-s SERIAL Use device with given SERIAL (overrides $ANDROID_SERIAL).
-t ID Use device with given transport ID.
-H Name of adb server host [default=localhost].
-P *PORT Smart socket PORT of adb server [default=5037].
-L SOCKET Listen on given socket for adb server [default=tcp:localhost:5037].
–one-device SERIAL|USB Server will only connect to one USB device, specified by a SERIAL number or USB device address (only with ‘start-server’ or ‘server nodaemon’).
–exit-on-write-error Exit if stdout is closed.

GENERAL COMMANDS:

devices [-l] List connected devices.
-l Use long output.
help Show this help message.
version Show version number.

NETWORKING

connect HOST[:PORT] Connect to a device via TCP/IP [default PORT=5555].
disconnect [HOST[:PORT]] Disconnect from given TCP/IP device [default PORT=5555], or all.
pair HOST[:PORT] [PAIRING_CODE] Pair with a device for secure TCP/IP communication.
forward –list | [–no-rebind] LOCAL_REMOTE | –remove LOCAL | –remove-all
–list List all forward socket connections.
[–no-rebind] LOCAL_REMOTE Forward socket connection using one of the followings.
tcp:PORT (local may be “tcp:0” to pick any open port. localreserved:UNIX_DOMAIN_SOCKET_NAME. localfilesystem:UNIX_DOMAIN_SOCKET_NAME. jdwp:PROCESS PID (remote only). vsock:CID:PORT (remote only). acceptfd:FD (listen only). dev:DEVICE_NAME. dev-raw:DEVICE_NAME. (open device in raw mode)**.
–remove LOCAL Remove specific forward socket connection.
–remove-all Remove all forward socket connections.
reverse –list | [–no-rebind] REMOTE LOCAL | –remove REMOTE | –remove-all
–list List all reverse socket connections from device.
[–no-rebind] REMOTE LOCAL Reverse socket connection using one of the following.
tcp:PORT (REMOTE may be “tcp:0” to pick any open port). localabstract:UNIX_DOMAIN_SOCKET_NAME. localreserved:UNIX_DOMAIN_SOCKET_NAME. localfilesystem:UNIX_DOMAIN_SOCKET_NAME.
–remove REMOTE Remove specific reverse socket connection.
–remove-all Remove all reverse socket connections from device.
mdns check | services Perform mDNS subcommands.
check Check if mdns discovery is available.
services List all discovered services.

FILE TRANSFER:

push [–sync] [-z ALGORITHM] [-Z] LOCAL… REMOTE Copy local files/directories to device.

–sync Only push files that are newer on the host than the device.

-n Dry run, push files to device without storing to the filesystem.

-z enable compression with a specified algorithm (any/none/brotli/lz4/zstd).

-Z Disable compression.

pull [-a] [-z ALGORITHM] [-Z] REMOTE… LOCAL Copy files/dirs from device

-a preserve file timestamp and mode.

-z enable compression with a specified algorithm (any/none/brotli/lz4/zstd)

-Z disable compression

sync [-l] [-z ALGORITHM] [-Z] [all|data|odm|oem|product|system|system_ext|vendor] Sync a local build from $ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT to the device (default all)

-n Dry run. Push files to device without storing to the filesystem.

-l List files that would be copied, but don’t copy them.

-z Enable compression with a specified algorithm (any/none/brotli/lz4/zstd)

-Z Disable compression.
SHELL:

shell [-e ESCAPE] [-n] [-Tt] [-x] [COMMAND…] Run remote shell command (interactive shell if no command given).

-e Choose escape character, or “none”; default ‘~’.

-n Don’t read from stdin.

-T: Disable pty allocation.

-t: Allocate a pty if on a tty (-tt: force pty allocation).

-x Disable remote exit codes and stdout/stderr separation.

emu COMMAND Run emulator console COMMAND
APP INSTALLATION

(see also adb shell cmd package help):

install [-lrtsdg] [–instant] PACKAGE Push a single package to the device and install it

install-multiple [-lrtsdpg] [–instant] PACKAGE… Push multiple APKs to the device for a single package and install them

install-multi-package [-lrtsdpg] [–instant] PACKAGE… Push one or more packages to the device and install them atomically

-r: Replace existing application.

-t Allow test packages.

-d Allow version code downgrade (debuggable packages only).

-p Partial application install (install-multiple only).

-g Grant all runtime permissions.

–abi ABI Override platform’s default ABI.

–instant Cause the app to be installed as an ephemeral install app.

–no-streaming Always push APK to device and invoke Package Manager as separate steps.

–streaming Force streaming APK directly into Package Manager.

–fastdeploy Use fast deploy.

-no-fastdeploy Prevent use of fast deploy.

-force-agent Force update of deployment agent when using fast deploy.

-date-check-agent Update deployment agent when local version is newer and using fast deploy.

–version-check-agent Update deployment agent when local version has different version code and using fast deploy.

–local-agent Locate agent files from local source build (instead of SDK location). See also adb shell pm help for more options.

uninstall [-k] APPLICATION_ID Remove this APPLICATION_ID from the device.

-k Keep the data and cache directories.
DEBUGGING:

bugreport [PATH] Write bugreport to given PATH [default=bugreport.zip]; if PATH is a directory, the bug report is saved in that directory. devices that don’t support zipped bug reports output to stdout.

jdwp List pids of processes hosting a JDWP transport.

logcat Show device log (logcat –help for more).
SECURITY:

disable-verity Disable dm-verity checking on userdebug builds.

enable-verity Re-enable dm-verity checking on userdebug builds.

keygen FILE Generate adb public/private key; private key stored in FILE.
SCRIPTING:

wait-for [-TRANSPORT] -STATE… Wait for device to be in a given state.

STATE: device, recovery, rescue, sideload, bootloader, or disconnect. TRANSPORT: usb, local, or any [default=any].

get-state Print offline | bootloader | device.

get-serialno Print SERIAL_NUMBER.

get-devpath Print DEVICE_PATH.

remount [-R] Remount partitions read-write.

-R Automatically reboot the device.

reboot [bootloader|recovery|sideload|sideload-auto-reboot] Reboot the device; defaults to booting system image but supports bootloader and recovery too.

sideload Reboots into recovery and automatically starts sideload mode.

sideload-auto-reboot Same as sideload but reboots after sideloading.

sideload OTAPACKAGE Sideload the given full OTA package OTAPACKAGE.

root Restart adbd with root permissions.

unroot Restart adbd without root permissions.

usb Restart adbd listening on USB.

tcpip PORT Restart adbd listening on TCP on PORT.
INTERNAL DEBUGGING:

start-server Ensure that there is a server running.

kill-server Kill the server if it is running.

reconnect Close connection from host side to force reconnect.

reconnect device Close connection from device side to force reconnect.

reconnect offline Reset offline/unauthorized devices to force reconnect.
USB:

Only valid when running with libusb backend.

attach SERIAL Attach a detached USB device identified by its SERIAL number.

detach SERIAL Detach from a USB device identified by its SERIAL to allow use by other processes.
Features:

host-features
list features supported by adb server.

features
list features supported by both adb server and device.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

$ADB_TRACE Comma (or space) separated list of debug info to log: all,adb,sockets,packets,rwx,usb,sync,sysdeps,transport,jdwp.

$ADB_VENDOR_KEYS Colon-separated list of keys (files or directories).

$ANDROID_SERIAL Serial number to connect to (see -s).

$ANDROID_LOG_TAGS Tags to be used by logcat (see logcat –help).

$ADB_LOCAL_TRANSPORT_MAX_PORT Max emulator scan port (default 5585, 16 emulators).

$ADB_MDNS_AUTO_CONNECT Comma-separated list of mdns services to allow auto-connect (default adb-tls-connect).

$ADB_MDNS_OPENSCREEN The default mDNS-SD backend is Bonjour (mdnsResponder). For machines where Bonjour is not installed, adb can spawn its own, embedded, mDNS-SD back end, openscreen. If set to “1”, this env variable forces mDNS backend to openscreen.

$ADB_LIBUSB ADB has its own USB backend implementation but can also employ libusb. use adb devices -l (usb: prefix is omitted for libusb) or adb host-features (look for libusb in the output list) to identify which is in use. To override the default for your OS, set ADB_LIBUSB to “1” to enable libusb, or “0” to enable the ADB backend implementation.