ADB Commands

Information obtained from: http://adbshell.com/****

Connection

adb devices

This will list the connected devices; if “unathorised” appears, this means that you have to unblock your mobile and accept the connection.

This indicates to the device that it has to start and adb server in port 5555:

adb tcpip 5555

Connect to that IP and that Port:

adb connect <IP>:<PORT>

If you get an error like the following in a Virtual Android software (like Genymotion):

adb server version (41) doesn't match this client (36); killing...

It’s because you are trying to connect to an ADB server with a different version. Just try to find the adb binary the software is using (go to C:\Program Files\Genymobile\Genymotion and search for adb.exe)

Packet Manager

Install/Uninstall

adb install [option] <path>

adb install test.apk
adb install -l test.apk forward lock application
adb install -r test.apk replace existing application
adb install -t test.apk allow test packages
adb install -s test.apk install application on sdcard
adb install -d test.apk allow version code downgrade
adb install -p test.apk partial application install

adb uninstall [options] <PACKAGE>

adb uninstall com.test.app
adb uninstall -k com.test.app Keep the data and cache directories around after package removal.

Packages

Prints all packages, optionally only those whose package name contains the text in <FILTER>.

adb shell pm list packages [options] <FILTER-STR>

adb shell pm list packages <FILTER-STR>
adb shell pm list packages -f <FILTER-STR> #See their associated file.
adb shell pm list packages -d <FILTER-STR> #Filter to only show disabled packages.
adb shell pm list packages -e <FILTER-STR> #Filter to only show enabled packages.
adb shell pm list packages -s <FILTER-STR> #Filter to only show system packages.
adb shell pm list packages -3 <FILTER-STR> #Filter to only show third party packages.
adb shell pm list packages -i <FILTER-STR> #See the installer for the packages.
adb shell pm list packages -u <FILTER-STR> #Also include uninstalled packages.
adb shell pm list packages --user <USER_ID> <FILTER-STR> #The user space to query.

adb shell pm path <PACKAGE>

Print the path to the APK of the given .

adb shell pm path com.android.phone

adb shell pm clear <PACKAGE>

Delete all data associated with a package.

adb shell pm clear com.test.abc

File Manager

adb pull <remote> [local]

Download a specified file from an emulator/device to your computer.

adb pull /sdcard/demo.mp4 ./

adb push <local> <remote>

Upload a specified file from your computer to an emulator/device.

adb push test.apk /sdcard

Screencapture/Screenrecord

adb shell screencap <filename>

Taking a screenshot of a device display.

adb shell screencap /sdcard/screen.png

adb shell screenrecord [options] <filename>

Recording the display of devices running Android 4.4 (API level 19) and higher.

adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/demo.mp4
adb shell screenrecord --size <WIDTHxHEIGHT>
adb shell screenrecord --bit-rate <RATE>
adb shell screenrecord --time-limit <TIME> #Sets the maximum recording time, in seconds. The default and maximum value is 180 (3 minutes).
adb shell screenrecord --rotate # Rotates 90 degrees
adb shell screenrecord --verbose

(press Ctrl-C to stop recording)

You can download the files (images and videos) using adb pull

Shell

adb shell

Get a shell inside the device

adb shell

adb shell <CMD>

Execute a command inside the device

adb shell ls

Processes

If you want to get the PID of the process of your application you can execute:

adb shell ps

And search for your application

Or you can do

adb shell pidof com.your.application

And it will print the PID of the application

System

adb root

Restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions. Then, you have to conenct again to the ADB server and you will be root (if available)

adb sideload <update.zip>

flashing/restoring Android update.zip packages.

Logs

Logcat

To filter the messages of only one application, get the PID of the application and use grep (linux/macos) or findstr (windows) to filter the output of logcat:

adb logcat | grep 4526
adb logcat | findstr 4526

adb logcat [option] [filter-specs]

adb logcat

Notes: press Ctrl-C to stop monitor

adb logcat *:V lowest priority, filter to only show Verbose level
adb logcat *:D filter to only show Debug level
adb logcat *:I filter to only show Info level
adb logcat *:W filter to only show Warning level
adb logcat *:E filter to only show Error level
adb logcat *:F filter to only show Fatal level
adb logcat *:S Silent, highest priority, on which nothing is ever printed

adb logcat -b <Buffer>

adb logcat -b radio View the buffer that contains radio/telephony related messages.
adb logcat -b event View the buffer containing events-related messages.
adb logcat -b main default
adb logcat -c Clears the entire log and exits.
adb logcat -d Dumps the log to the screen and exits.
adb logcat -f test.logs Writes log message output to test.logs .
adb logcat -g Prints the size of the specified log buffer and exits.
adb logcat -n <count> Sets the maximum number of rotated logs to <count>. 

dumpsys

dumps system data

adb shell dumpsys [options]

adb shell dumpsys

adb shell dumpsys meminfo

adb shell dumpsys battery

Notes: A mobile device with Developer Options enabled running Android 5.0 or higher.

adb shell dumpsys batterystats collects battery data from your device

Notes: Battery Historian converts that data into an HTML visualization. STEP 1 adb shell dumpsys batterystats > batterystats.txt STEP 2 python historian.py batterystats.txt > batterystats.html

adb shell dumpsys batterystats --reset erases old collection data

adb shell dumpsys activity

Backup

Backup an android device from adb.

adb backup [-apk] [-shared] [-system] [-all] -f file.backup
# -apk -- Include APK from Third partie's applications
# -shared -- Include removable storage
# -system -- Include system Applciations
# -all -- Include all the applications