List of ADB Commands and Fastboot Commands for Android

ADB, the Android Debug Bridge, is one of the most powerful features built into Android. That combined with the Fastboot tool, if used right, can be incredibly useful in managing your Android device. That is the reason why we are bringing you the full list of all the ADB and Fastboot commands so that the user can make use of them when needed.

If you are into rooting your Android device or customizing it as per your taste, then you would have come across ADB and Fastboot tools. These are the two core functionalities built into the Android Operating system. The ADB and Fastboot commands are universal across all the Android devices and will produce the same result in them. Both ADB and Fastboot commands can be used to perform various tasks on your Android device. ADB can be used while the device is turned on and the Fastboot commands can be used while the device is turned off.

Before proceeding to use ADB and Fastboot on your Android device and/or your PC, there are a few things you need to take care of.

List Of Adb Commands And Fastboot Commands For Android

ADB Commands List

Below is the complete list of all the ADB commands in existence and what they do:

ADB Command What it does
adb help Shows ADB Help documentation.
adb devices Lists all the Android devices connected via ADB.
adb reboot Reboots your Android device.
adb reboot bootloader Reboots your Android device into fastboot / bootloader mode.
adb recovery Reboots your Android device into recovery mode.
adb install Helps you install an APK file on your Android device.
⇒ adb install filename.apk Install the APK file
⇒ adb install -r filename.apk Re-installs or updates an app.
⇒ adb install -s filename.apk Installs the APK file in SD card (if the app supports).
adb uninstall Helps you install an app file on your Android device.
⇒ adb uninstall com.facebook.katana Simply uninstalls the app.
⇒ adb uninstall -k com.facebook.katana Keeps the data and cache folder after the app is uninstalled.
adb logcat Displays the log data onto the screen.
adb bugreport Displays the dumpsys, dumpstate and logcat data on the screen.
adb jdwp Lists the JDWP (Java Debug Wire Protocol) processes on the device.
adb get-serialno Shows the adb instance serial number string with the device.
adb get-state Displays the device status.
adb wait-for-device Used to set a delay before the next command is issued. It executes when the device is online but it can be programmed to wait till another process is done.
adb start-server Starts the adb server process.
adb kill-server Stops the adb server process.
adb sideload Used to flash a zip file in recovery mode when the zip file is available in the computer and not phone. Read more.
adb pull Pulls any file from your device and saves it on your computer. Read more.
adb push Used to push a file into your Android device. Read more.
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ADB Shell Commands List

Here’s a complete list of all the ADB Shell Commands and what they do:

ADB Shell Command What it does
adb shell Starts the remote shell command console in the device
adb shell pm uninstall -k –user 0 package.name.com Helps you uninstall a system app from your Android device. Replace package.name.com with the actual package name of the app you want to uninstall.
adb shell dumpsys Dumps all system data about your Android device’s hardware and software configuration
adb shell dumpsys display Displays all the hardware and software configuration about your display.
adb shell dumpsys battery Displays all the hardware and software configuration about your battery.
adb shell dumpsys batterystats Displays all the info about your battery statistics.
adb shell wm density Helps you change the pixel density on your Android device.
adb shell pm list packages Lists all the apps installed on your device as package names.
adb shell pm list packages -s Lists all the system apps installed on your device as package names.
adb shell pm list packages -3 Lists all the 3rd party apps installed on your device as package names.
adb shell pm list packages -d Lists all the disabled apps on your device as package names.
adb shell pm list packages -e Lists all the enabled apps on your device as package names.
adb shell pm list packages -u Lists all the uninstalled apps with installed pages on your device as package names.
adb shell screencap /sdcard/screenshot.png Takes a screenshot of your device screen and saves it in sdcard with the name ‘screenshot.png
adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/screenrecord.mp4 Starts recording your device screen and saves the video in ‘sdcard‘ with the name ‘screenrecord.mp4‘. The default record time is 180 Seconds (which is maximum). You can press CTRL + C to stop the recording any time.
adb shell screenrecord –size 1920×1080 /sdcard/screenrecord.mp4 Screen recording with custom width and height for the video.
adb shell screenrecord –time-limit 120 /sdcard/screenrecord.mp4 Screen recording with custom time limit for the video. Max value is 180. You can enter any value in the place of 120 in this command.
adb shell screenrecord –bit-rate 4000000 /sdcard/screenrecord.mp4 Screen recording with custom bit rate for the video. The value ‘4000000’ sets the bitrate to 4MBPS. Change accordingly.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
cd /system
Changes the directory to ‘/system’. Changes accordingly.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
rm -f /sdcard/facebook.apk
Deletes a file from your Android device. Give the file name with the proper path.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
crm -d /sdcard/Facebook
Deletes a folder from your Android device. Give the folder name with the proper path.
mkdir /sdcard/AndroidMore Creates a new folder named ‘AndroidMore’ under ‘/sdcard’
cp /sdcard/filename.apk /sdcard/FolderName/ To copy a file.
mv /sdcard/filename.apk /sdcard/FolderName/ To move a file.
mv /sdcard/filename.apk /sdcard/anotherfilename.apk To rename a file.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
netstat
To check the network statistics of your Android device.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
ip -f inet addr show wlan0
Displays your phone’s Wi-Fi IP address.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
top
Displays top CPU processes running on your Android device.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
getprop ro.build.version.sdk
Used to get the properties of your Android’s build.prop configuration.
adb shell
<Hit Enter and then execute the following command>
setprop net.dns1 1.2.3.4
Used to set values to the properties present in your Android’s build.prop configuration files.
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Fastboot Commands List

Here’s the list of all the Fastboot commands and what they do:

Fastboot Command What it does
fastboot devices List all the Android devices that are connected in fastboot mode to your computer.
fastboot oem unlock Unlocks the bootloader on your Android device (if the OEM allows).
fastboot oem lock Relocks the bootloader on your Android device.
fastboot reboot bootloader Reboots your device into fastboot / bootloader mode (while you are still in fastboot mode itself). It is necessary sometimes.
fastboot flash Used to flash files on your Android device.
fastboot flash boot boot.img Flashes boot image on your Android device’s boot partition.
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img Flashes recovery image on your Android device’s recovery partition.
fastboot boot filename.img Instead of flashing the file, this command simply boots it (if the file is bootable).

That was all from our side for the ADB Commands and Fastboot commands list. If we had missed anything, do let us know in the comments below!

5 thoughts on “List of ADB Commands and Fastboot Commands for Android”

  1. One thing I have noticed is how a few fastbboot commands have changed with im assuming, later versions of Android. For example unlocking the bootloader on your device. trying to think of some others ive had to use. I wanna say “fastboot unlock bootloader” was a way of getting into one of my older devices but ive had several different methods ive had to use so is that infact changed with later versions of the android OS/kernel or that come down to Make, Model, and or Carrier?

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  2. Just an FYI, Fastboot is not enabled on Samsung Galaxy J2 devices, and the fastboot oem un/lock commands do not work. HOWEVER, using Recovery Mode might help on these devices

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