ADB Drivers are important if you want to connect your Android to your computer. In this article, you will be able to download ADB Drivers for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Jun 23, 2019 ADB, short form Android Debug Bridge, is a command-line tool which helps you communicate with an Android device. An Android device can be anything such as a smartphone, tablet, wearable, TV, set-top box or even something as simple as an Android emulator (yeah, you don’t even need an actual device). Android Debug Bridge (ADB) download is a powerful tool designed for flash ROM or android smart phone rooting. ADB tool for android allows sending commands to android device from PC via USB cable. Android Debug Bridge supports communication with an emulator along with a.
If you have been using Android for quite some time now, then you would have most probably come across the term ‘ADB‘. You would have heard about adb especially if you have been trying to root your Android device or install TWRP recovery or install a custom ROM or custom MOD on your Android device. Many of the Android related guides are based upon ADB as it is a very powerful tool offered by Google.
![Download android adb for windows Download android adb for windows](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126888347/906395320.jpg)
In this guide, we will cover everything about ADB in the most detailed yet simplified way possible. Read ahead to know more and download ADB for your computer.
Downloads; FAQs; ADB Kits (525 KB) (adb.exe AdbWinApi.dll AdbWinUsbApi.dll) ADB Driver Installer Universal Android USB Driver for Windows; APK Installer APK Installer for Windows, Android ©2015 ADB Shell. From a shell on my PC, I can run adb shell cmd package list packages, and get a list of all installed packages.I would like to run this and similar commands locally on my Android phone (Nexus 6P) in a terminal emulator (currently using Termux).
Contents
ADB Download | Android Debug Bridge (adb)
ADB, short form Android Debug Bridge, is a command-line tool which helps you communicate with an Android device. An Android device can be anything such as a smartphone, tablet, wearable, TV, set-top box or even something as simple as an Android emulator (yeah, you don’t even need an actual device). The ADB can be accessed via a Unix Shell prompt on which you can issue ‘adb commands‘ to get things done such as installing APK files on your device, debug apps (great for developers), access/enable hidden features that are normally not made available to all the users.
Most of the common Android users do not know or care about ADB and rightly so. ADB is not something which everyone needs. Even those who know ADB are not aware of the full potential of it. Then again, ADB is actually intended for developers, so there’s that. That is the reason why ADB is hidden well inside a hidden menu called ‘Developer options’ inside the settings. Even to enable Developer options, you need to go through a few steps (nothing big, we’ve got you covered).
But ADB is not only used by developers anymore. Many of us have started using it for a variety of purposes. First and foremost one is: Rooting your device and installing a TWRP Recovery. To do any of the aforementioned things, you must have your bootloader unlocked. And for that, you need to connect your device to your PC. And for your PC to communicate effectively with your Android – well you guess it right – you need ADB. Bingo!
Download ADB Drivers
You can download ADB drivers from the below links. Be sure to download the right file according to the type of operating system you are using on your computer.
- For Windows: Download
- For Linux: Download
- For Mac: Download
Note: A guide on how to install them properly is available in the next section.
How to Install ADB Drivers
Installing ADB drivers is not a big task actually, but getting it to work involves a few steps which we have clearly explained in the below guide. There is a separate guide for all the operating systems.
Adb Download For Android
Getting your Phone Ready
Well, before you even get to install ADB on your computer, there are a few steps which you must take care, on your Android device. As we said before, ADB is not for everyone and hence it is not readily usable out of the box in any Android device. It is hidden inside a menu in the settings and you just need to enable it to use it. Follow the below steps carefully:
- Go to the Settings app on your device.
- Now, inside settings, you need to find an information item called ‘Build number’. This is nothing but the Android Software version build information. In most of the devices, it will be available in Settings > About Phone > Build number. In modern Samsung devices, it will be available under Settings > About Phone > Software information > Build number. In short, the Build number information will be available where the software information of your device is displayed.
- Once you find the Build number, simply tap on it repeatedly until you see the words ‘You are now a developer‘.
- Now, if you go back to the main screen of your Settings app, you will find a new menu called ‘Developer options‘. Open the same.
- Inside Developer options, scroll until you see the setting called ‘USB debugging‘. Simply tap on it to enable the same.
Now your Android device is just one step away from accepting all the incoming ADB Commands.
Related: ADB Sideload: How to Use it to Sideload TWRP, OTA Updates, & ROMs
How to Install ADB on Windows
- Download ADB Drivers for Windows.
- Extract the downloaded zip file in an easily accessible location. We recommend C:adb.
- Go to the folder where you have extracted the contents of the download zip file. Open a command window here:
- Press and Hold Shift Key + Right Click on the empty space inside the folder.
- Select ‘Open command window here‘ or ‘Open power shell window here’. Either is fine.
- Now, connect your Android device to your Windows computer using a USB cable.
- Next, execute the below command in the command prompt or PowerShell window:
- If this is your first time connecting your Android after enabling USB Debugging, you should now get a prompt on your Android device as below:
Click on the checkbox ‘Always allow from the computer‘ and then click OK. - Now, once again, execute the below command in the command prompt or PowerShell window:Now, you should see your device being listed on the screen with your device serial number as in the below image: If you do not see any serial number in the above step, then there is some issue with your ADB installation. If that is the case, carefully repeat the above steps.
- Done!
How to Install ADB on Linux
Some Linux users may need to put a ./ in front of the ADB commands used in this tutorial.
For example, IF the following ADB command does not work for you:
Use as in below:
- Download ADB Drivers for Linux.
- Extract the downloaded zip file in an easily accessible location. You can simply use your Desktop for this purpose.
- Open a Terminal Window.
- Inside the terminal window, enter the following command to go the directory where the adb zip file are extracted.The path given above is for an example. Make sure to enter the actual path in the above command. In my Linux computer, the path is something like ‘/Users/Vish/Desktop/platform-tools/‘
- Now, connect your Android device to your Linux computer using a USB cable.
- Next, execute the below command in the command prompt or PowerShell window:
- If this is your first time connecting your Android after enabling USB Debugging, you should now get a prompt on your Android device as below:
Click on the checkbox ‘Always allow from the computer‘ and then click OK. - Now, once again, execute the below command in the command prompt or PowerShell window:Now, you should see your device being listed on the screen with your device serial number as in the below image: If you do not see any serial number in the above step, then there is some issue with your ADB installation. If that is the case, carefully repeat the above steps.
- Done!
How to Install ADB on macOS
- Extract the downloaded zip file in an easily accessible location. You can simply use your Desktop for this purpose.
- Open Terminal.
- Inside the terminal window, enter the following command to go the directory where the adb files are extracted.The path given above is for an example. Make sure to enter the actual path in the above command. On my mac, the path is something like ‘/Users/Vish/Desktop/platform-tools/‘
- Now, connect your Android device to your Mac using a USB cable.
- Next, execute the below command in the command prompt or PowerShell window:
- If this is your first time connecting your Android after enabling USB Debugging, you should now get a prompt on your Android device as below:
Click on the checkbox ‘Always allow from the computer‘ and then click OK. - Now, once again, execute the below command in the command prompt or PowerShell window:Now, you should see your device being listed on the screen with your device serial number as in the below image: If you do not see any serial number in the above step, then there is some issue with your ADB installation. If that is the case, carefully repeat the above steps.
- Done!
Now you have successfully configured ADB Drivers on your computer. Now, your device can accept and process basically any ADB Command thrown at it without any issues. Not to mention the world of options that is open for you: Unlocking bootloader, installing custom ROMs what not.
If you need any sort of help with downloading ADB Drivers or installing them, do let us know in the comments below!
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Active3 months ago
From a shell on my PC, I can run
adb shell cmd package list packages
, and get a list of all installed packages. I would like to run this and similar commands locally on my Android phone (Nexus 6P) in a terminal emulator (currently using Termux). If I open the same shell with
/system/bin/sh
, and then try to run /system/bin/cmd package list packages
, nothing happens (no errors, just outputs nothing and reloads the prompt). If I run
/system/bin/cmd -l
the list of options appears as expected. $PATH
and $LD_LIBRARY_PATH
are the same in both environments. One major difference is that echo $USER
returns 'shell' from adb shell
, but returns my local username from /system/bin/sh
launched from Termux.Is there any way to replicate the behavior of commands run from
adb shell
in a terminal emulator locally on Android?Edit:My device is rooted, and I am OK with root only solutions.
rjdangrjdang
3 Answers
The problem is Termux. By design, Termux runs only (or is mostly?) the Linux command line programs that you install from within Termux using apt or the newer 'native' package management interface, e.g. apt install bsdtar. What you need to run the adb shell commands is a terminal emulator that can truly access the underlying Android file system, not just the Termux that is practically a chroot save for the fact that it's aware it's not running commands from the filesystem root /.
As a simple test, run the following command:
It should return something like
/system/bin/ls
. But if it returns something like /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/applets/ls
then you have to change your terminal emulator to something else. I suspect that Termux was designed to take into account the more restrictive shell execution policies that Google put into place after KitKat or the Android 4.X.The Android distribution I'm using, LineageOS 14.1, comes with a built-in shell emulator that allows me to run commands found in /system/bin/ls.
Need to Eat BreakfastNeed to Eat Breakfast
I don't have a rooted Nougat device handy, but something like the following may be a close enough approximation to
adb shell
(assuming you are using SuperSU):I (very briefly) tested it from Termux on a rooted Marshmallow device.
To elaborate:
- the
-i
flag is used to start with an empty environment USER=shell
isn't specifically required, but for some reasonsu
refuses to run with a completely empty environment$(PATH=/system/xbin:/system/bin:/su/bin:/sbin:/magisk/.core/bin which su)
points to the full path of the su binary on your device and can be hardcoded if you prefershell
instructs thesu
binary to login as the shell user (the same asadb shell
)--context u:r:shell:s0
sets the appropriate SELinux context--shell /system/bin/sh
instructs SuperSU to use the system shell rather than it's ownsush
shell
Another option would be to actually run adb from the device, connecting to itself over TCP. If you need some functionality that is only available via adb (e.g. in my case it was
adb forward
) then this may be your only option. Unfortunately this isn't particularly convenient.I wasn't able to find success with any publicly available adb binaries, so I build it myself with a few minor changes. You can see the sources I used and the changes I made at https://github.com/shakalaca/fastboot-adb-android and https://github.com/brbsix/fastboot-adb-android, respectively.
Once you have adb installed, here's an abbreviated list of commands I used to connect to the device:
To shut down:
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EDITI originally answered this without the
termux
tag in mind. This worked for me while trying to execute shell commands on a vanilla emulator and saw this question while researching, so I tried to answer it differently.You almost had it there in your question. You only need to execute
sh
:If
result 0
the commands were succesful, else otherwise![Android Android](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126888347/141352892.jpg)
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Android Adb Shell Root
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