Complete List of ADB Commands and Fastboot Commands

Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a command line tool which lets you run commands on the connected Android device or an emulator. It is widely used for development purposes and is already available in Android Studio in android sdk/platform-tools. The commands which are run on the device through ADB are called “adb commands”. Here we are going to have a look at complete list of adb and fastboot commands and what actions they perform.

How Android Debug Bridge (adb) works?

According to Wikipedia, the adbd daemon runs on the device and the adb client starts a background server to multiplex commands sent to the connected device.

Below are the list of adb and fastboot commands along with the description on what operations it performs.

List of ADB Commands and their Functions

adb devices

This command prints a list of all attached devices with USB Debugging enabled. In response, it returns the serial number and state of the device.

Syntax:

adb devices

Response:

a123a456            device

adb forward

This command forwards the socket connections. It required USB Debugging enabled on the device.

Syntax:

adb forward <local> <remote>

Example:

adb forward tcp:6100 tcp:7100

Set up forwarding of host port 6100 to emulator/device port 7100

adb kill-server

It terminates the adb server process. Sometimes you might want to terminate the adb server and restart it to resolve the problems.

Syntax:

adb kill-server

adb connect

This command allows using adb over Wi-Fi. This requires the host and the device connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Syntax:

adb connect <host>[:<port>]

To use ADB over Wi-Fi, firstly connect the device to PC and set tcp ip port to 5555 using “adb tcpip 5555” command. Now find the IP address of the device from Settings -> About -> Status -> IP address. Now you can use adb connect command to use ADB over Wi-Fi.

Example:

adb connect 192.168.x.x:5555

adb usb

Restarts ADB in USB mode.

Syntax:

adb usb

adb install

Pushes an Android application (.apk) from host to an emulator or the device.

Syntax:

adb install [option] <path to .apk>

Example:

adb install test.apk

adb uninstall

Uninstalls or removes the package from the emulator or Android device.

Syntax:

adb uninstall [option] <PACKAGE>

Example:

adb uninstall com.test.app

adb shell pm list packages

Prints all packages installed on the device/emulator.

Syntax:

adb shell pm list packages [options] <FILTER>

Example:

adb shell pm list packages

adb shell pm path

Prints the path to the APK of the given package.

Syntax:

adb shell pm path <PACKAGE>

Example:

adb shell pm path com.android.phone

adb shell pm clear

This command deletes all the data associated with the package (clears app data and cache).

Syntax:

adb shell pm clear <PACKAGE>

Example:

adb shell pm clear com.test.app

adb pull

Downloads or pulls a specified file from an emulator/device to your computer (host).

Syntax:

adb pull <remote> [local]

Example:

adb pull /sdcard/test.mp4

To download test.mp4 to drive D below command is used.

adb pull /sdcard/test.mp4 d:\

adb push

This command is used to upload or push or copy a file from the host (computer) to an emulator or the device.

Syntax:

adb push <local> <remote>

Example:

adb push d:\test.mp4 /sdcard

adb shell ls

Lists directory contents.

Syntax:

ls [options] <directory>

Example:

adb shell

ls

adb shell cd

Change the directory or folder.

Syntax:

cd <directory>

Example:

adb shell

cd /system

adb shell rm

Removes files or directories.

Syntax:

rm [options] <files or directory>

Example:

adb shell

rm /sdcard/test.pdf

adb shell mkdir

Make a directory or create a folder.

Syntax:

mkdir [options] <directory name>

Example:

adb shell

mkdir /sdcard/test

adb shell touch

Create an empty file or change file timestamps.

Syntax:

touch [options] <file>

Example:

adb shell

touch /sdcard/test.txt

adb shell pwd

Prints current working directory location.

Syntax:

pwd

Example:

adb shell

pwd

adb shell cp

Copy files and directories.

Syntax:

cp [options] <source> <destination>

Example:

adb shell

cp /sdcard/text.txt /sdcard/folder/

adb shell mv

Move or rename files.

Syntax:

mv [options] <source> <destination>

Example:

adb shell

mv /sdcard/tmp /system/tmp

adb shell netstat

Shows network statistics.

Syntax:

netstat

Example:

adb shell

netstat

adb shell ping

Test the connection and the latency between two network connections.

Syntax:

ping [options] <destination>

Example:

adb shell

ping www.android.com

adb shell net cfg

Manage and configure network connections via profiles.

Syntax:

netcfg [<interface> {dhcp|up|down}]

Example:

adb shell

netcfg

adb shell ip

Show, manipulate routing, devices, policy routing, and tunnels.

Syntax:

ip [options] object

object := { link | addr | addrlabel | route | rule | neigh | ntable |tunnel | tuntap | maddr | mroute | mrule | monitor | xfrm |netns | l2tp }

optoins := { -V[ersion] | -s[tatistics] | -d[etails] | -r[esolve] |-f[amily] { inet | inet6 | ipx | dnet | link } |-l[oops] { maximum-addr-flush-attempts } |-o[neline] | -t[imestamp] | -b[atch] [filename] |-rc[vbuf] [size]}

Example:

adb shell

ip -f inet addr show wlan0

adb logcat

Prints log data on the screen.

Syntax:

adb logcat

adb shell dumpsys

Dumps system data.

Syntax:

adb shell dumpsys [options]

Example:

adb shell dumpsys

adb shell dumpsys batterystats

adb shell dumpstate

Dumps state.

Syntax:

adb shell dumpstate

adb shell screencap

Takes a screenshot of the device’s display.

Syntax:

adb shell screencap <filename>

Example:

adb shell screencap /sdcard/screenshot.png

adb shell screenrecord

Records the device’s screen. It requires the device to be running on Android 4.4 (API level 19) or higher.

Syntax:

adb shell screenrecord [options] <filename>

Example:

adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/screen.mp4

adb root

Restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions.

Syntax:

adb root

adb sideload

Sideloads OTA update.zip package and other files on the device. Know more.

Syntax:

adb sideload <file.zip>

Example:

adb sideload update.zip

adb shell ps

Prints process status.

Syntax:

ps [options]

Example:

adb shell

ps

adb shell top

Displays top CPU processes.

Syntax:

top [options]

Example:

adb shell

top

adb shell getprop

Get property via the android property service.

Syntax:

getprop [options]

Example:

adb shell

getprop

adb shell setprop

This command is used to set property service.

Syntax:

setprop <key> <value>

Example:

adb shell

setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555

What is Fastboot?

Fastboot is a diagnostic protocol primarily used to modify the flash filesystem via USB connection from the host computer. It requires the device be booted into boot loader mode or fastboot mode or secondary program loader mode. Once the fastboot protocol is enabled it accepts the commands sent to it via USB using command line interface.

List of Fastboot Commands and their Operations

Below is the list of fastboot commands which can be used to perform certain operations when the device is connected to the computer (host) in Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode.

fastboot devices

This command is similar to adb devices it prints a list of all attached devices in fastboot mode. In response, it returns the serial number of the device.

Syntax:

fastboot devices

fastboot reboot

Reboots the device to normal or standard mode. Used to exit the fastboot mode or boot loader mode.

Syntax:

fastboot reboot

fastboot reboot recovery

This commands boots the device into Recovery Mode.

Syntax:

fastboot reboot recovery

fastboot oem unlock

Unlocks bootloader on the device.

Syntax:

fastboot oem unlock

fastboot oem lock

Used to relock the bootloader on the device.

Syntax:

fastboot oem lock

fastboot oem device-info

Prints bootloader lock/unlock status.

Syntax:

fastboot oem device-info

fastboot flash recovery

Flashes recovery image to the device.

Syntax:

fastboot flash recovery <file-name.img>

Example:

fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

fastboot boot

Used to boot the image file without installing or flashing on the device. Can be used to boot recovery image without flashing on the device.

Syntax:

fastboot boot <file-name.img>

Example:

fastboot boot recovery.img

fastboot flash

Flashes flashable zip file from fastboot or bootloader mode.

Syntax:

fastboot flash <file.zip>

Example:

fastboot flash update.zip

fastboot getvar cid

Displays CID (Carrier ID) of the device.

Syntax:

fastboot getvar cid

This was the complete list of ADB and Fastboot commands. However, to use the above fastboot and adb commands make sure you have installed ADB and Fastboot drivers – Windows, and Mac.

If you find this post helpful then don’t forget to share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus etc.