ADB (Android Debug Bridge)
Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a versatile command-line tool that lets you communicate with a device. The adb command facilitates a variety of device actions, such as installing and debugging apps, and it provides access to a Unix shell that you can use to run a variety of commands on a device. It is a client-server program that includes three components:
- A client, which sends commands. The client runs on your development machine. You can invoke a client from a command-line terminal by issuing an adb command.
- A daemon (adbd), which runs commands on a device. The daemon runs as a background process on each device.
- A server, which manages communication between the client and the daemon. The server runs as a background process on your development machine.
adb is included in the Android SDK Platform-Tools package. You can download this package with the SDK Manager, which installs it at android_sdk/platform-tools/. Or if you want the standalone Android SDK Platform-Tools package, you can download it here.
Selecting Device
| Command | Description |
| adb devices | This command is used to retrieve all devices by serial number |
| adb devices -l | List of devices by product/model |
App installation & uninstallation
| Command | Description |
| adb install <apk> | Install app |
| adb shell pm install <path_from_phone> | Install app from phone path |
| adb shell pm install -r <path_from_phone> | Reinstall app from phone path |
| adb uninstall <com.test.package.name> | Remove the app |
App info
| Command | Description |
| adb shell pm list packages | List package names |
| adb shell pm list packages -f | as above + path tp APks |
| adb shell pm -3 | only third party packages |
| adb shell pm -s | only system packages |
| adb shell pm -u | also uninstalled packages |
| adb shell dumpsys package packages | List info on all apps |
| adb shell pm dump name | List info on one package |
| adb shell pm path package | path to the APK file |
Permissions
| Command | Description |
| adb shell pm permission groups | Permission groups definitions |
| adb shell pm list permissions -g -f | List permissions details |
Common actions
| Command | Description |
| am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d URL | To open the URL |
Miscellaneous
| Command | Description |
| screencap -p .png | Screenshot (saved on device) |
| screenrecord .mp4 | Screen capture (path on device) |
ADB daemon
| Command | Description |
| adb kill-server | Kill the server if it is running |
| adb start-server | Ensure that there is a server running |
| adb root | Restarts the adbd with root permissions |