How to install adb on windows

When it comes to smartphone operating systems, Android dominates in global market share. However, several features of Google’s OS can be accessed only through paths and methods that are hidden away from the average user. These have generally been done with the help of some command line Android Debug Bridge (ADB) commands, a tool that Google offers for developers to debug various parts of their applications or the system, but which we can use for all kinds of neat, hidden tricks. A prerequisite to these tricks is installing ADB on your computer. So, in this guide, we will show you how to install ADB on Windows, macOS, and Linux in quick and easy-to-follow steps.

What is Android Debug Bridge (ADB)?

The internal structure of ADB is based on the classic client-server architecture. There are three components that make up the entire process.

1. The client, i.e. the PC/Mac/Chromebook you have connected to your Android device. We are sending commands to our device from the computer through the USB cable or wirelessly.
2. A daemon (known as «adbd») that runs commands on a device. The daemon runs as a background process on each device.
3. A server that manages communication between the client and the daemon. The server runs as a background process on the computer.

How does ADB work?

Because there are three pieces that make up ADB (the client, the daemon, and the server), certain pieces to be up and running in the first place. If you have freshly booted the computer (and you don’t have it set up to start the daemon on boot), then you will need it to be running before any communication can be sent to the target Android device. You’ll see the following message in the command prompt or terminal, which will check to make sure the daemon is running.

If the daemon isn’t running, then it will start the process and tell you which local TCP port it has been started on. Once that ADB service has been started, it will continue to listen to that specific port for commands that have been sent by the ADB client. It will then set up connections to all running devices that are attached to the computer (including emulators). This is the moment when you’ll receive the authorization request on the Android device if the computer hasn’t been authorized in the past.

How to set up ADB

Phone setup

1. Launch the Settings application on your phone.
2. Tap the About phone option generally near the bottom of the list.
   • Depending on the OEM skin, the About phone page may be called something else or buried somewhere else in the Settings app on your device.
3. Then tap the Build number option seven times to enable Developer Mode. You will see a toast message when it is done.
4. Now go back to the main Settings screen, and you should see a new Developer options menu you can access.
   • On Google Pixel phones and some other devices, you might need to navigate to Settings > System to find the Developer options menu.
5. Go in there and enable the USB debugging option.
   
6. You are partially done with the phone setup process. Next up, you will need to scroll below and follow the rest of the instructions for your particular operating system.

How to set up ADB on Microsoft Windows

1. Download the Android SDK Platform Tools ZIP file for Windows.
2. Extract the contents of this ZIP file into an easily accessible folder (such as C:\platform-tools).
3. Open File Explorer and browse to where you extracted the contents of this ZIP file.
4. Open up a Command Prompt/Terminal instance from the same directory as this ADB executable. This can be done by holding Shift and right-clicking within the folder and then clicking Open command window here or Open PowerShell window here. Windows 11 users should see Open in Terminal in the right-click context menu without even pressing the Shift button on the keyboard.
   
5. Connect your smartphone or tablet to your computer with a USB cable. Change the USB mode to “file transfer (MTP)” mode. Some OEMs may or may not require this, but it’s best to just leave it in this mode for general compatibility.
6. In the Command Prompt/Terminal window, enter the following command to launch the ADB daemon:

    adb devices 

7. On your phone’s screen, you should see a prompt to allow or deny USB Debugging access. Naturally, you will want to grant USB Debugging access when prompted (and tap the always allow check box if you never want to see that prompt again).
   
8. Finally, re-enter the command from step 6. If everything was successful, you should now see your device’s serial number in the command prompt/Terminal window.
   

You can now run any ADB command on your device! Now, go forth and start modding your phone.

Notably, there exist a plethora of CLI package managers for Windows — WinGet, Scoop, and Chocolatey to name a few. In case you use them to install ADB on your PC, you don’t need to manually download and update Google’s Platform Tools. With that said, version compatibility and installation processes might vary across these package managers, so it would be better to consult the respective help manuals and product forums to get support.

How to set up ADB on macOS

1. Download the Android SDK Platform Tools ZIP file for macOS.
2. Extract the ZIP to an easily accessible location (like the Desktop, for example).
3. Open Terminal.
4. To browse to the folder you extracted ADB into, enter the following command:

    cd /path/to/extracted/folder/ 

   For example, you can place the contents on your desktop:

    cd /Users/XDA/Desktop/platform-tools/ 

5. Connect your device to your Mac with a compatible USB cable. Change the USB connection mode to “file transfer (MTP)” mode. This is not always required for every device, but it’s best to just leave it in this mode, so you don’t run into any issues.
6. Once the Terminal is in the same folder your ADB tools are in, you can execute the following command to launch the ADB daemon:

    ./adb devices 

7. On your device, you’ll see an Allow USB debugging prompt. Allow the connection.
   
8. Finally, re-enter the command from step 7. If everything was successful, you should now see your device’s serial number in macOS’s Terminal window.
   

Congratulations! You can now run any ADB command on your device!

While the guide above will certainly work, veteran macOS users can also opt to install ADB on their Macs using an unofficial package manager such as Homebrew or MacPorts. That way, you don’t have to manually update the binaries.

How to set up ADB on Linux

1. Download the Android SDK Platform Tools ZIP file for Linux.
2. Extract the ZIP to an easily accessible location (like the Desktop, for example).
3. Open a Terminal window.
4. Enter the following command:

    cd /path/to/extracted/folder/ 

5. This will change the directory to where you extracted the ADB files.
   • Example:

      cd /home/XDA/Desktop/platform-tools/ 

6. Connect your device to your Linux machine with your USB cable. Change the connection mode to file transfer (MTP) mode. This is not always necessary for every device, but it’s recommended, so you don’t run into any issues.
7. Once the Terminal is in the same folder your ADB tools are in, you can execute the following command to launch the ADB daemon:

    ./adb devices 

8. Back on your smartphone or tablet device, you’ll see a prompt asking you to allow USB debugging. Go ahead and grant it.
   
9. Finally, re-enter the command from step 8. If everything was successful, you should now see your device’s serial number in the Terminal window output.
   

Congrats! You can now run any ADB command on your device!

Linux users should know that there is an easier way to install ADB on their computers. The guide above will certainly work for you, but those who own a mainstream Debian/Ubuntu or Fedora/SUSE-based distro of Linux can skip steps 1 and 2 of the guide above and use one of the following commands:

• Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux users can type the following command to install ADB:

   sudo apt-get install android-sdk-platform-tools 

• Fedora/SUSE-based Linux users can type the following command to install ADB:

   sudo dnf install android-tools 

However, it is always better to opt for the latest binary from the Android SDK Platform Tools release since the distro-specific packages often contain outdated builds.

How to use ADB from any directory on your PC or Mac

Downloading the ADB executable is the initial step, but power users might want to access it from any folder or directory without navigating back to the original location. Fortunately, the process to do so is quite simple. All you need to do is modify the PATH variable of the host operating system.

The PATH is a powerful environmental variable used by operating systems to specify the location of important executables. For instance, you can type «calc» in the Run prompt of Windows to launch calculator, but not «chrome» to start Google Chrome — simply because the location of the latter isn’t included in the PATH variable.

The OS allows applications as well as end users to change the variable values. This is useful to people using programs/scripts that are dependent on such applications, as the program does not have to attempt to hard code the location. For this particular scenario, adding the ADB executable and other components from Google Platform Tools allows for better organization so that you don’t need to put all of your flashable files in the same folders.

Windows

1. Right-click on the Start button (or use the Windows + X keyboard shortcut) and select the System option. You will be greeted with a screen showing some system information.
2. Select Advanced system settings from the Related links section under Device specifications.
3. Click on the Environment Variables button.
4. Look for the variable named «Path» under System variables and double-click it.
5. Click Browse and navigate to the folder where you extracted the ADB files (e.g. C:\platform-tools).
   • Please ensure before you click Browse that no field is highlighted. If a field is highlighted, you will end up replacing it. Click somewhere in the list that doesn’t contain an entry to ensure that you do not replace a field.
6. When you see the folder location is properly listed, click the OK button out of all the Windows you have opened to confirm.
7. Sometimes, the graphical shell needs a restart to make the changes take effect. You can simply sign out and sign in again or reboot your PC to force Windows to use the updated PATH settings.

Now start a new terminal or command prompt instance and type adb to verify the location has been added.

In case you use a package manager like Chocolatey to install ADB, it should take care of the PATH variable editing portion as well. As a result, you can skip the above process.

macOS

1. Note down the location where you extracted the ADB tools.
2. Open the Terminal app and make sure to be in the Home directory:

   cd ~

3. In case you’re running any macOS version older than Catalina, the default shell should be Bash. For macOS Catalina and newer, the default changed to the Z shell (Zsh). Hence, you need to determine the current shell before changing the PATH variable. Type the following command and press Enter to see the shell your Mac is using:

   echo $0

4. Depending on the output, create a shell configuration file.
   • For Bash:

     touch .bash_profile

   • For Zsh:

     touch .zshrc

     • People who are already using custom shell configurations can skip this step.
5. Open the shell configuration file with TextEdit:
   • For Bash:

     open -e .bash_profile

   • For Zsh:

     open -e .zshrc

     • If you prefer to use nano/pico/vi or any other CLI text editor, you can instead.
6. Adjust the location according to the first step in the following command and add it to the shell configuration file you just opened:

   export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/extracted/folder/

   For example:

   export PATH=$PATH:/Users/XDA/Desktop/platform-tools/

7. Save the file and close the TextEdit app. Next, go back to the Terminal app and reload your shell settings.
   • For Bash:

     source .bash_profile

   • For Zsh:

     source .zshrc

8. You’re done. Optionally, verify the PATH variable assertions using the following command:

   echo $PATH

To test if the process was successful, start a new Terminal instance and type adb.

Keep in mind that if the ADB installation process is performed using a package manager, then you don’t need to modify the PATH variable on your own.

Linux

1. Note down the location where you extracted the ADB tools.
2. Open the Terminal app and make sure to be in the Home directory:

   ​​​​​​​cd ~

3. Due to the fact that most common Linux distributions ship with Bash as their default shell, the next steps will be Bash-specific. You can, of course, consult the documentation of your preferred shell and modify the commands to suit your needs.
4. Open the shell configuration file with a text editor:

   ​​​​​​​sudo nano .bashrc

   • You can also use other editors like vi or gedit.
5. Add the following line to the end of the .bashrc file. Remember to adjust the location according to the first step beforehand.

   export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/extracted/folder/

   For example:

   ​​​​​​​export PATH=$PATH:/home/xda/platform-tools/

   • Be careful editing this file; do not add anything else or change anything else.
6. Save the file. Next, go back to the Terminal app and reload your shell settings:

   ​​​​​​​source ~/.bashrc

7. Optionally, verify the PATH variable assertions using the following command:

   echo $PATH

8. And that’s how you can call ADB from anywhere under Linux.

To check, spawn a new Terminal window and type adb (without the quotes).

It is worth mentioning that you don’t need to perform these steps if you prefer to install (and update) ADB using the distro-specific packages.

Special case: How to set up ADB on Windows Subsystem for Linux and ChromeOS

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) offers Windows users a seamless way to run Linux apps. However, the environment has yet to offer full-fledged USB hardware access. As a consequence, ADB under WSL can’t access your Android device, even if you install it using the aforementioned way. Nonetheless, there exists an official workaround, which utilizes the open-source usbipd-win project. To know more, take a look at our tutorial on how to set up USB passthrough in WSL.

For ChromeOS, you need to turn on the built-in Linux development environment first. By default, it offers you a Debian instance. You can then easily set up ADB using the Linux-oriented steps mentioned earlier.

Just to cover all of our bases here, users may need to put a ./ in front of the ADB commands we list in future tutorials, especially when they are using the extracted binaries directly from the Google-provided Platform Tools ZIP. This is something any *nix user (or Windows user running PowerShell/Terminal) will likely know, but again, we want as many people as possible to understand how to do these tweaks for Android no matter how much of your operating system you know.

Optional: How to set up ADB on your browser

The ADB protocol can be implemented using the WebUSB API in order to control Android phones directly from web browsers. Tango (formerly known as Yet Another WebADB) is one such project that allows users to perform most of the functionality provided by ADB right from the web browser without installing any binary. All you need is a web browser that supports the WebUSB API (such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Vivaldi) and you are good to go.

Optional: How to use ADB over Wi-Fi

Android 11 and higher editions natively support ADB connection over Wi-Fi. This eliminates the need to deal with common USB connection issues and additional steps, such as Android OEM driver installation on Windows.

In order to set up wireless debugging, do the following:

1. Make sure that your PC/Mac and the phone are connected to the same wireless network.
2. On your phone, go to Developer options under Settings and enable Wireless debugging. On the Allow wireless debugging on this network? popup, select Allow.
   
3. Tap on the Wireless debugging option and select Pair device with pairing code.
   
4. Take note of the pairing code, IP address, and port number displayed on the phone screen.
   
5. On your PC/Mac, run the following command:

    adb pair IP_Address:Port 

   Use the IP address and port number from step 4.

6. When prompted, enter the pairing code that you received in step 4. A message should indicate that your device has been successfully paired.
7. Next, run the following command on the PC/Mac’s terminal window:

    adb connect IP_Address:Port 

   Look at the IP address & Port section under Wireless debugging in step 3 for the IP address and port.

8. If everything goes right, then you should see a message like the following:

    connected to 192.168.68.100:37173 

9. Now you’re ready to type whatever ADB shell command you want.

Examples of ADB commands

To check if you have successfully installed ADB, connect your device to your PC/Mac with your USB cable, and run the adb devices command as described above. It should display your device listed in the Command Prompt/PowerShell/Terminal window. If you get a different output, we recommend starting over with the steps.

As mentioned above, you can use ADB to do all sorts of things on an Android device. Some of these commands are built directly into the ADB binary and should work on all devices. You can also open up what is referred to as an ADB Shell that will let you run commands directly on the device. The commands which are run directly on the device can vary from device to device (since OEMs can remove access to certain ones, and also modify ADB behavior) and can vary from one version of Android to the next as well.

Below, you’ll find a list of example commands which you can do on your device:

• Print a list of connected devices: adb devices
• Kill the ADB server: adb kill-server
• Install an application: adb install <path_to_the_APK_file>
• Set up port forwarding: adb forward tcp:6100 tcp:7100
• Copy a file/directory from the device: adb pull <path_to_the_remote_object> <path_to_the_local_destination>
• Copy a file/directory to the device: adb push <path_to_the_local_object> <path_to_the_remote_destination>
• Initiate an ADB shell: adb shell

What else can I do with ADB?

Below is a list of XDA tutorials for various devices that detail many applications of ADB commands in order to modify hidden settings, customize OEM features or user interfaces, and much more!

• How to boot into recovery mode using button combos, ADB, and root apps
• How to uninstall carrier/OEM bloatware without root access
• How to debloat your phone (and more) without connecting to a PC
• How to sideload apps on Android TV: APK Install and ADB Sideload methods explained in easy-to-follow steps!
• Control your Android Smartphone from your PC for free with scrcpy

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t forget to check out our ADB commands for every power user tutorial to know more useful tips and tricks for using ADB!

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• How to Install ADB (Android Debug Bridge) on Windows 10 & Mac

This tutorial will help you easily install ADB and launch it on your Windows, Linux, or macOS machine.

What is ADB? – Android Debug Bridge is a command-line tool that has been a part of Android SDK and development tools for a long long time. The tool allows your PC to communicate with your Android device and perform several actions. Some common adb commands include adb devices, adb reboot, etc. We will come to them later in this article.

A list of few tutorials that require you to install ADB and Fastboot on your PC:

• How to Increase Galaxy Edge Screen Size without Root
• How to Install Custom Themes on Android Oreo without Root
• Get ‘Turn on Wi-Fi Automatically’ Option for Nexus 6P/5X on Android Oreo
• How to Change Android SMS Limit without Root
• Find If Project Treble Supports Your Android Oreo Device

Table of Contents

• Install ADB on Windows, Linux, and macOS
  • Make Your Android Device Ready
  • Install ADB on Windows
  • Install ADB on Linux
  • Install ADB on macOS

Install ADB on Windows, Linux, and macOS

When we or most other out there say that “You need to install ADB on your PC“, we generally mean all the major platform tools that are part of the Android SDK. However, we consider ADB for the fact that it is one of the tools that is of paramount importance, not only for developers but also for advanced users who would want to tweak their Android. So that’s what we are here for. To help you install ADB and Fastboot, or install Android SDK tools or setup platform tools, you may call it by different ways, but the process that follows is the same all around.

Now, to install ADB on your computer is just the first half of the story. The next chunk is to be carried on your Android device to make it work. Rubbish? No. It is equally important to adjust the settings on your device to make the connection successful between the PC and device. So we will have it all covered below.

Make Your Android Device Ready

In order to install ADB and use it, your device must first have the USB debugging option enabled. If you already have it or know how to do it, then you may skip this section and move on to the next.

1. Go to the device ‘Settings’ and scroll down until you see ‘About phone’ (Up to Android 7.0 Nougat) or ‘System’ -> ‘About Phone’ (Android 8.0 Oreo or above).
   
2. Find the “Build number” field and start tapping on it continuously for 7 times until you see the “You are now a developer!” toast notification on the screen.
3. Now go back to settings and access “Developer options”. On Android Oreo and above, you will find it in ‘Settings’ -> ‘System’.
4. Scroll down until you find the “USB debugging” option and switch ON the toggle. When prompted, select “OK“.
   
5. That’s it, you have just enabled USB debugging on your Android. Now head over to install ADB and establish a connection between your device and PC.

Install ADB on Windows

1. Download the platform-tools package for Windows: Link
2. We are going to need a location on the PC where the files could remain untouched, yet easily accessible. So extract the content of the downloaded “platform-tools-latest-windows.zip” file to C:\adb.
   
3. So when you view this folder, you will see something like in the image above.
4. Go to the folder where the files are present (Example: C:\adb).
5. On an empty space inside this folder, press the SHIFT key and right-click. Select “Open command window here” or “Open PowerShell window here” from the menu that appears.
   
6. Now, connect your Android device to the PC using USB cable and enter the following command to initiate the ADB connection.

   adb devices

7. Just as you enter the command, your phone will be prompted by a message to allow a USB debugging connection.
8. Also, during this time, the command prompt will return the device serial number with “unauthorized” message. Once you agree to the prompt, you are good to go. You may also select the “Always allow from this computer” option so that you will not have to go through this process again.
9. Finally, you should enter the “adb devices” command again and you will have instant ADB connection between your PC and device.

You have now been able to install ADB on Windows PC and have also established a successful connection between your PC and device.

Install ADB on Linux

1. Download the platform tools package for Linux: Link
2. Extract the content of the downloaded “platform-tools-latest-linux.zip” file to a suitable location of your choice. We prefer the Desktop.
3. So open a Terminal window and direct it to the folder where the ADB and other binaries are present.

   cd /location/to/the/folder/

4. Example:

   cd /Desktop/adb/

5. Now connect your Android device to the PC via USB cable and enter the following command in the Terminal window:

   ./adb devices

6. The first time you enter this command, the Terminal window will return the device serial along with the “unauthorized” message.
   
7. You shall also instantly see a message prompt on your device screen asking to allow USB debugging connection with the PC. So just allow it.
8. Finally, enter the “./adb devices” command again and you will be able to establish a successful connection between your PC and device over ADB.

You have now been able to install ADB on Linux.

Install ADB on macOS

1. Download the platform tools package for macOS: Link
2. Extract the content of the downloaded “platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip” file to an easily accessible location on your PC, inside a folder named “adb” (For ease of access).
3. We prefer to have it on Desktop. So now, all the platform tools package content i.e. the binaries will be present in “/Desktop/adb/”.
4. Go to the Launchpad and open Terminal.
5. You will now need to direct it to the location where ADB and other binary files are present. So enter the following command:

   cd /location/to/the/folder/

6. Example:

   cd /Desktop/adb/

7. Now that your Terminal is directed to use this location, you can connect your device to the PC via USB cable.
8. Enter the following command to initiate an ADB connection with your Android device.

   ./adb devices

9. As soon as you enter the command, the device will be prompted with a message to allow USB debugging. The Terminal will also display the device serial along with an “unauthorized” message.
   
10. So agree to the message and allow the connection. Then enter the “adb devices” command again to have a successful connection between your PC and device over ADB.

There you go! You have been successful to install ADB on macOS. Now that you’re done with installing, follow our tutorial on how to use ADB and Fastboot from any directory on your PC.

We make use of ADB and Fastboot in a lot of our day-to-day tutorials. So if the next time there is one that requires this, then you will already have your device and PC ready for the job.

You may now proceed to use other commands as well. If you want to get yourself familiar with other ADB commands, kindly read the documentation. That’s it, you have been successful to install ADB on your Windows, macOS, or Linux PC. You also have your device now having a perfect connection with your PC over ADB.

Was it helpful? Let us know through the comments.