awesome-adb

The Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a toolkit included in the Android SDK package, it is not only a powerful tool for Android developers and testers, but also a good toy for Android fans.

This repository renews continually, Pull Requests and Issues are welcomed. If you found this is useful, you can star it and conveniently back here to view when necessary.

Note: Some commands may depending on the version of Android system or ROM.

Other languages: :cn: Chinese

• Basic Usage
  • Command syntax
  • Targeting equipment for command
  • Start/Stop
  • View adb version
  • Run adbd as root
  • Designated adb server network port
• Device connection management
  • Inquiries connected device / simulator
  • USB connection
  • Wireless connection (Android11+)
  • Wireless connection (need to use the USB cable)
  • Wireless connection (without using the USB cable)
• Application Management
  • Check the list of
    • All applications
    • system applications
    • third-party usage
    • Application package name contains a string
  • Install APK
  • Uninstalling
  • Disable or enable apps
    • Disable apps
    • Enable apps
  • Clear app cache data
  • View Reception Activity
  • View Running Services
  • Query package detail information
  • Query application installation path
• Interact with Applications
  • Launch app / Start an Activity
  • Start a Service
  • Stop service
  • Send a broadcast
  • Force stop an application
  • Trim memory
• File Management
  • Copy files from a device to a computer
  • Copy files from a computer to a device
• Analog Keys / inputs
  • Power button
  • menu
  • HOME key
  • return key
  • volume control
  • Media Control
  • On / Off screen
  • Slide to unlock
  • Enter text
• View Log
  • Android log
  • Filter the log by level
    • Filter by tag and log level
    • Log format
    • Clear log
  • Kernel log
• View device information
  • Model
  • Battery Status
  • Screen Resolution
  • Screen density
  • Display Parameters
  • android_id
  • IMEI
  • Android system version
  • IP address
  • Mac Address
  • CPU Information
  • Memory Information
  • More hardware and system properties
• Modify Settings
  • Resolution
  • Screen density
  • Overscan
  • Turn off Android Debug
  • allow/forbidden access non SDK API
  • Show/hide status bar or navigation bar
• Utility functions
  • Screenshots
  • Recording Screen
  • Remount system partition as writable
  • Check connection over WiFi password
  • To set the system date and time
  • restart cellphone
  • Detect whether the device is root
  • Monkey use stress testing
  • On / off WiFi
• Flashing-Phone related commands
  • Restart to Recovery mode
  • To restart from the Recovery Android
  • Restart to Fastboot mode
  • Through sideload system update
• Security-related commands
  • Enable / Disable SELinux
  • Enable / Disable dm_verity
• More adb shell command
  • See process
  • View real-time resource consumption
  • query process uid
  • Other
• common problem
  • Start adb server failure
  • com.android.ddmlib.AdbCommandRejectedException
• adb unofficial implementation
• related commands
• Acknowledgements
• Reference Links

Basic Usage

Command syntax

adb basic syntax of the command is as follows:

adb [-d|-e|-s <serialNumber>] <command>

If only one device / emulator connection, you can omit the [-d | -e | -s <serialNumber>] this part, the direct use adb <command>.

Targeting equipment for command

If you have more than one device / emulator connection, you need to specify the target device for the command.

Parameter	Meaning
-d	Specifies currently the only Android device USB connector as the command target
-e	Specify currently the only goal for the command to run the simulator
-s <SerialNumber>	Specifies the device number corresponding serialNumber / simulator command target

In the case of multiple devices / simulators are connected to the more common -s <serialNumber> parameters, serialNumber can be obtained through adb devices command. Such as:

$ adb devices

List of devices attached
cf264b8f	device
emulator-5554	device

Output in the cf264b8f and emulator-5554 is serialNumber. For example, this time I want to specify cf264b8f this equipment to run the adb command to take a screen resolution:

adb -s cf264b8f shell wm size

Encountered multiple devices / simulators use the case of these parameters for the command to specify the target device, hereinafter to simplify the description will not be repeated.

Start/Stop

Start adb server command:

adb start-server

(Generally no need to manually execute this command, when you run the command adb adb server if found does not start automatically from the transfer.)

Stop adb server command:

adb kill-server

View adb version

command:

adb version

Sample output:

Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.36
Revision 8f855a3d9b35-android

Run adbd as root

The operating principle is adb adb server daemon and the phone side PC side adbd establish a connection, then the PC side adb client via adb server forward command parsing after running adbd receive commands.

So if adbd ordinary rights to perform some require root privileges to execute the command can not be directly used adb xxx execution. Then you can then execute the command adb shell after su, but also allows adbd root privileges to perform this high privilege can execute arbitrary commands.

command:

adb root

Normal output:

restarting adbd as root

Now run adb shell, take a look at the command line prompt is not turned into a #?

After some phone root can not let adbd by adb root execute commands with root privileges, some models such as Samsung, will be prompted to adbd can not run as root in production builds, then you can install adbd Insecure, then adb root try.

Accordingly, if you want to restore adbd non-root privileges, you can use adb unroot command.

Designated adb server network port

command:

adb -P <port> start-server

The default port is 5037.

Device connection management

Inquiries connected device / simulator

command:

adb devices

Example output:

List of devices attached
cf264b8f	device
emulator-5554	device

Output format is [serialNumber] [state], serialNumber that is, we often say that the SN, state the following categories:

• Offline - indicates that the device is not connected to the success or unresponsive.

• Device - device is connected. Note that this state does not identify the Android system has been fully activated and operational in the device during startup device instance can be connected to the adb, but after boot the system before it becomes operational.

• No device - no device / emulator connection.

The output shows the current connected the two devices / simulators, cf264b8f and emulator-5554 are they SN. As can be seen from the emulator-5554 name it is an Android emulator.

Common alarm output:

1. No device / emulator connection is successful.

   List of devices attached
   

2. The device / emulator is not connected to adb or unresponsive.

   List of devices attached
   cf264b8f	offline
   

USB connection

USB connection normal use adb by the need to ensure that:

1. Hardware status is normal.

   Including Android devices in the normal power state, USB cable and interface intact.

Developer Options 2. Android devices and USB debugging mode is on.

You can go to the “Settings” - “Developer options” - “Android Debug” view.

If you can not find the developer options in the settings, it needs to make it through an egg is displayed: In the “Settings” - “About phone” continuous click “version number” 7 times.

1. The device driver is normal.

   It seems to worry about the Linux and Mac OS X, the Windows likely to be encountered in the case of the need to install drivers, this can be confirmed right “Computer” - “Properties”, the “Device Manager” in view on related equipment Is there a yellow exclamation point or question mark, if not explain the driving state has been good. Otherwise, you can download a mobile assistant class program to install the driver first.

2. Status after confirmation via USB cable connected computers and devices.

   adb devices
   

   If you can see

   xxxxxx device
   

   Description Connection successful.

Wireless connection (Android11+)

Doc in Android developers

Android 11 and higher support deploying and debugging your app wirelessly from your workstation using Android Debug Bridge (adb). For example, you can deploy your debuggable app to multiple remote devices without physically connecting your device via USB. This eliminates the need to deal with common USB connection issues, such as driver installation.

To use wireless debugging, you need to pair your device to your workstation using a pairing code. Your workstation and device must be connected to the same wireless network. To connect to your device, follow these steps:

1. Update to the latest version of the SDK Platform-Tools.

2. Connect Android device to run adb computer connected to the same local area network, such as connected to the same WiFi.

3. Enable the Wireless debugging option.

4. On the dialog that asks Allow wireless debugging on this network?, click Allow.

5. Select Pair device with pairing code. Take note of the pairing code, IP address, and port number displayed on the device.

6. On your workstation, open a terminal and navigate to android_sdk/platform-tools.

7. Run adb pair ipaddr:port. Use the IP address and port number from step 5.

8. When prompted, enter the pairing code that you received in step 5. A message indicates that your device has been successfully paired.

  none
  Enter pairing code: xxxxxx
  Successfully paired to ...

1. (For Linux or Microsoft Windows only) Run adb connect ipaddr:port. Use the IP address and port under Wireless debugging.

Wireless connection (need to use the USB cable)

In addition to the USB connection to the computer to use adb, can also be a wireless connection - although the connection process is also step using USB needs, but after a successful connection to your device can get rid of the limit of the USB cable within a certain range it !

Steps:

1. Connect Android device to run adb computer connected to the same local area network, such as connected to the same WiFi.

2. The device connected to the computer via a USB cable.

   Make sure the connection is successful (you can run adb devices see if you can list the device).

3. Allow the device listens on port 5555 TCP / IP connections:

   adb tcpip 5555
   

4. Disconnect the USB connection.

5. Find the IP address of the device.

   Generally the ‘Settings’ in - “About phone” - “state information” - “IP address” is found, you can also use the following in the View device information - IP address a Lane method adb command.

6. Connect the device via IP address.

   adb connect <device-ip-address>
   

   Here <device-ip-address> is the IP address of the device found in the previous step.

7. Confirm the connection status.

   adb devices
   

   If you can see

   <device-ip-address>:5555 device
   

   Description Connection successful.

If you can not connect, verify that Android devices and the computer is connected to the same WiFi, then execute adb connect <device-ip-address> that step again;

If that does not work, by adb kill-server restart the adb and then try it all over again.

The wireless connection

command:

adb disconnect <device-ip-address>

Wireless connection (without using the USB cable)

Note: You need root privileges.

On a “wireless connection (need to use USB cable)” method is described in official documents, need the help of a USB cable to enable the wireless connection.

Since we want to achieve a wireless connection, it can all step down are wireless it? The answer is energy.

1. Install a terminal emulator on the Android device.

   Equipment already installed you can skip this step. Terminal emulator download address I use is: Terminal Emulator for Android Downloads

2. To run the Android device and computer adb is connected to the same local area network, such as connected to the same WiFi.

3. Open a terminal emulator on your Android device, in which run the command sequence:

   su
   setprop service.adb.tcp.port 5555
   

4. Find the IP address of the Android device.

   Generally the ‘Settings’ in - “About phone” - “state information” - “IP address” is found, you can also use the following in the View device information - IP address a Lane method adb command.

5. Connect Android device on a computer via adb and IP addresses.

   adb connect <device-ip-address>
   

   Here <device-ip-address> is the IP address of the device found in the previous step.

   If you can see connected to <device-ip-address>: 5555 such output indicates a successful connection.

• Notice: * Some device may not working unless you restart adbd service, so you need to run command on the device’s terminal as below

   restart adbd
  

  if restart is not working, try following command:

   stop adbd
   start adbd
  

Application Management

Check the list of

Check the list of basic commands format

adb shell pm list packages [-f] [-d] [-e] [-s] [-3] [-i] [-u] [--user USER_ID] [FILTER]

That is the basis of adb shell pm list packages can add some parameters on the filter to view different lists, supports filtering parameters are as follows:

Parameter	display list
No	all applications
-f	Display apk file application association
-d	Show only applications disabled
-e	Show only enabled applications
-s	Display only System
-3	Show only third-party application
-i	Display applications installer
-u	Contains uninstall applications
<FILTER>	package name contains <FILTER> strings

All applications

command:

adb shell pm list packages

Example output:

package:com.android.smoketest
package:com.example.android.livecubes
package:com.android.providers.telephony
package:com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
package:com.android.providers.calendar
package:com.android.providers.media
package:com.android.protips
package:com.android.documentsui
package:com.android.gallery
package:com.android.externalstorage
...
// other packages here
...

system applications

command:

adb shell pm list packages -s

third-party usage

command:

adb shell pm list packages -3

Application package name contains a string

For example, to view a list of package names that contain the string mazhuang applications, order:

adb shell pm list packages mazhuang

Of course, you can also use grep to filter:

adb shell pm list packages | grep mazhuang

Install APK

Format:

adb install [-lrtsdg] <path_to_apk>

parameter:

Adb install may be followed by some optional parameters to control the behavior of the installation APK, available parameters and their meanings are as follows:

Parameter	Meaning
-l	Will be applied to protect the installation directory / mnt / asec
-r	Allowed to cover the installation
-t	Allowed to install application specified in AndroidManifest.xml android: testOnly =" true " Application
-s	Install apps to sdcard
-d	Downgrade coverage allows installation
-g	Grant all runtime permissions
–abi abi-identifier	Force install an apk for a specific ABI, abi-identifier could be armeabi-v7a、arm64-v8a、v86、x86_64, etc.

After you run the command to see if similar to the following output (status is Success) represents the installation was successful:

[100%] /data/local/tmp/1.apk
	pkg: /data/local/tmp/1.apk
Success

The above is the output of adb current latest version v1.0.36, it will push apk file to display the progress of the percentage of mobile phones.

Using older versions of adb output is this:

12040 KB/s (22205609 bytes in 1.801s)
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/SogouInput_android_v8.3_sweb.apk
Success

If the status is Failure said installation failure, such as:

[100%] /data/local/tmp/map-20160831.apk
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/map-20160831.apk
Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS]

Common Installation failed output code, the meaning and possible solutions are as follows:

Output	Meaning	solutions
INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS	application already exists	use -r parameters
INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_APK	invalid APK file
INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_URI	invalid filename APK	APK file names to ensure no Chinese
INSTALL_FAILED_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE	lack of space	cleanup space
INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PACKAGE	program of the same name already exists
INSTALL_FAILED_NO_SHARED_USER	shared user requested does not exist
INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE	already installed the app, but signature is not the same; or uninstalled, but data is not removed.
INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE	shared user request exists but the signatures do not match
INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_SHARED_LIBRARY	installation package used on the device unusable shared library
INSTALL_FAILED_REPLACE_COULDNT_DELETE	can not be deleted when replacing
INSTALL_FAILED_DEXOPT	dex optimization validation failure or lack of space
INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK	equipment system version is lower than the application requirements
INSTALL_FAILED_CONFLICTING_PROVIDER	equipment already exists with the same name in application content provider
INSTALL_FAILED_NEWER_SDK	equipment system version higher than the application requirements
INSTALL_FAILED_TEST_ONLY	test-only applications, but when you install -t parameter is not specified
INSTALL_FAILED_CPU_ABI_INCOMPATIBLE	contains incompatible device CPU Application Binary Interface for native code
INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_FEATURE	application uses device features that are unavailable
INSTALL_FAILED_CONTAINER_ERROR	sdcard access failure	confirm sdcard is available, or to install built-in storage
INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_INSTALL_LOCATION	can not be installed to the specified location	switch mounting position, add or delete -s parameters
INSTALL_FAILED_MEDIA_UNAVAILABLE	installation location is unavailable	generally sdcard, confirm sdcard is available or to install built-in storage
INSTALL_FAILED_VERIFICATION_TIMEOUT	Installation Timeout verify
INSTALL_FAILED_VERIFICATION_FAILURE	verify the installation package fails
INSTALL_FAILED_PACKAGE_CHANGED	calling application program expects inconsistent
INSTALL_FAILED_UID_CHANGED	previously installed the app, and this assignment UID inconsistent	remove residual files previously installed
INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE	already installed the application later	use -d parameters
INSTALL_FAILED_PERMISSION_MODEL_DOWNGRADE	installed target SDK runtime support for application permissions of the same name, to install the runtime version does not support permission
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NOT_APK	specified path is not a file or not to .apk end
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_BAD_MANIFEST	unresolved AndroidManifest.xml file
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION	parser encounters an exception
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES	installation package is not signed
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_INCONSISTENT_CERTIFICATES	already installed the app, and signed with the APK files are inconsistent	first uninstall the application on the device, then install
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_CERTIFICATE_ENCODING	encountered while parsing APK file CertificateEncodingException
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_BAD_PACKAGE_NAME	manifest file no or an invalid package name
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_BAD_SHARED_USER_ID	manifest file specifies an invalid shared user ID
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_MANIFEST_MALFORMED	encountered while parsing file manifest error structural
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_MANIFEST_EMPTY	in the manifest file can not be found to find operable label (instrumentation or application)
INSTALL_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR	installation fails because of system problems
INSTALL_FAILED_USER_RESTRICTED	Users are limited to installing applications	open options ‘install app via USB’ in developer options, if it was opened, close and reopen it
INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PERMISSION	application attempts to define an existing permission name
INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS	applications include device application binary interface does not support the native code
INSTALL_CANCELED_BY_USER	applications installed on the device needs confirmation, but not operate the device or the point of cancellation	agree to install on the device
INSTALL_FAILED_ACWF_INCOMPATIBLE	applications are not compatible with the device
INSTALL_FAILED_TEST_ONLY	APK file is build via Android Studio ‘RUN’	Rebuild via Gradle assembleDebug or assembleRelease, or Generate Signed APK
INSTALL_FAILED_ABORTED: User rejected permissions	applications installed on the device has risk tips, needs confimation, but no operate or canceled	agree to install on the device
Does not contain AndroidManifest.xml	invalid APK file
Is not a valid zip file	invalid APK file
Offline	device is not connected successfully	first device with adb successful connection
Unauthorized	unauthorized device allows debugging
Error: device not found	not successfully connected equipment	equipment and adb first successful connection
Protocol failure	device is disconnected	first device with adb successful connection
Unknown option: -s	Android 2.2 does not support the following installation to sdcard	do not use -s parameters
No space left on device	lack of space	cleanup space
Permission denied … sdcard …	sdcard unavailable
signatures do not match the previously installed version; ignoring!	already installed this app, but signatures do not match	uninstall previous installed, then install this one

Reference: PackageManager.java

Adb install internal principle Introduction

Adb install actually three steps:

1. push apk files to / data / local / tmp.

2. Call pm install installation.

3. Delete the corresponding apk file / data / local / tmp under.

Therefore, when necessary, according to this step, manually step through the installation process.

Uninstalling

command:

adb uninstall [-k] <packagename>

<Packagename> represents the application package name, -k optional parameter indicates uninstall the application but keep the data and cache directories.

Command Example:

adb uninstall com.qihoo360.mobilesafe

Uninstall represents 360 mobile guards.

Disable or enable apps

List all apps enabled:

adb shell pm list packages -e

Disable apps

command:

adb shell pm disable-user <packagename>

Command Example:

adb shell pm disable-user com.qihoo360.mobilesafe

Enable apps

command:

adb shell pm enable <packagename>

Command Example:

adb shell pm enable com.qihoo360.mobilesafe

Clear app cache data

command:

adb shell pm clear <packagename>

<Packagename> represents the name of the application package, the effect of this command is equivalent to the application information in the settings screen, click the “Clear Cache” and “Clear data.”

Command Example:

adb shell pm clear com.qihoo360.mobilesafe

360 mobile guards to clear the data and cache.

View Reception Activity

command:

adb shell dumpsys activity activities | grep mResumedActivity

Example output:

mResumedActivity: ActivityRecord{8079d7e u0 com.cyanogenmod.trebuchet/com.android.launcher3.Launcher t42}

Where com.cyanogenmod.trebuchet / com.android.launcher3.Launcher is currently in the foreground Activity.

*The command above may not valid in Windows, you can try adb shell dumpsys activity activities | findstr mResumedActivity or adb shell "dumpsys activity activities | grep mResumedActivity".

View Running Services

command:

adb shell dumpsys activity services [<packagename>]

<packagename> parameter is optional, command with <packagename> will output services related with that packagename, and command without <packagename> will output all services.

Complete packagename is unnecessary. For example, adb shell dumpsys activity services org.mazhuang will output services related with org.mazhuang.demo1, org.mazhuang.demo2 and org.mazhuang123, etc.

Query package detail information

command:

adb shell dumpsys package <packagename>

There are many infos in output, include Activity Resolver Table, Registered ContentProviders, package name, userId, files/resources/codes path after install, version name and code, permissions info and their granted status, signing version, etc.

<packagename> is package name of an application.

Example output:

Activity Resolver Table:
  Non-Data Actions:
      android.intent.action.MAIN:
        5b4cba8 org.mazhuang.guanggoo/.SplashActivity filter 5ec9dcc
          Action: "android.intent.action.MAIN"
          Category: "android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"
          AutoVerify=false

Registered ContentProviders:
  org.mazhuang.guanggoo/com.tencent.bugly.beta.utils.BuglyFileProvider:
    Provider{7a3c394 org.mazhuang.guanggoo/com.tencent.bugly.beta.utils.BuglyFileProvider}

ContentProvider Authorities:
  [org.mazhuang.guanggoo.fileProvider]:
    Provider{7a3c394 org.mazhuang.guanggoo/com.tencent.bugly.beta.utils.BuglyFileProvider}
      applicationInfo=ApplicationInfo{7754242 org.mazhuang.guanggoo}

Key Set Manager:
  [org.mazhuang.guanggoo]
      Signing KeySets: 501

Packages:
  Package [org.mazhuang.guanggoo] (c1d7f):
    userId=10394
    pkg=Package{55f714c org.mazhuang.guanggoo}
    codePath=/data/app/org.mazhuang.guanggoo-2
    resourcePath=/data/app/org.mazhuang.guanggoo-2
    legacyNativeLibraryDir=/data/app/org.mazhuang.guanggoo-2/lib
    primaryCpuAbi=null
    secondaryCpuAbi=null
    versionCode=74 minSdk=15 targetSdk=25
    versionName=1.1.74
    splits=[base]
    apkSigningVersion=2
    applicationInfo=ApplicationInfo{7754242 org.mazhuang.guanggoo}
    flags=[ HAS_CODE ALLOW_CLEAR_USER_DATA ALLOW_BACKUP ]
    privateFlags=[ RESIZEABLE_ACTIVITIES ]
    dataDir=/data/user/0/org.mazhuang.guanggoo
    supportsScreens=[small, medium, large, xlarge, resizeable, anyDensity]
    timeStamp=2017-10-22 23:50:53
    firstInstallTime=2017-10-22 23:50:25
    lastUpdateTime=2017-10-22 23:50:55
    installerPackageName=com.miui.packageinstaller
    signatures=PackageSignatures{af09595 [53c7caa2]}
    installPermissionsFixed=true installStatus=1
    pkgFlags=[ HAS_CODE ALLOW_CLEAR_USER_DATA ALLOW_BACKUP ]
    requested permissions:
      android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE
      android.permission.INTERNET
      android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
      android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE
      android.permission.READ_LOGS
      android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
      android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
    install permissions:
      android.permission.INTERNET: granted=true
      android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE: granted=true
      android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE: granted=true
    User 0: ceDataInode=1155675 installed=true hidden=false suspended=false stopped=true notLaunched=false enabled=0
      gids=[3003]
      runtime permissions:
        android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: granted=true
        android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE: granted=true
        android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: granted=true
    User 999: ceDataInode=0 installed=false hidden=false suspended=false stopped=true notLaunched=true enabled=0
      gids=[3003]
      runtime permissions:


Dexopt state:
  [org.mazhuang.guanggoo]
    Instruction Set: arm64
      path: /data/app/org.mazhuang.guanggoo-2/base.apk
      status: /data/app/org.mazhuang.guanggoo-2/oat/arm64/base.odex [compilation_filter=speed-profile, status=kOatUpToDa
      te]

Query application installation path

command:

adb shell pm path <PACKAGE>

Output shows application installation path.

Example output:

adb shell pm path ecarx.weather

package:/data/app/ecarx.weather-1.apk

Interact with Applications

The most used syntax for interacting with applications is :

am <command>

The common commands for <command> are as follow:

Command	Use
start [options] <INTENT>	Start an Activity specified by <INTENT>
startservice [options] <INTENT>	Start the Service specified by <INTENT>
broadcast [options] <INTENT>	Send a broadcast <INTENT>
force-stop <packagename>	Force stop everything associated with <packagename>

The <INTENT> is a flexible parameter which is corresponding to the Intent writing in the application.

The options for <INTENT> are as follows:

Parameter	Meaning
-a <ACTION>	Specify the intent action, such as android.intent.action.VIEW. You can declare this only once.
-c <CATEGORY>	Specify an intent category, such as android.intent.category.APP_CONTACTS
-n <COMPONENT>	Specify the component name with package name prefix to create an explicit intent, such as com.example.app/.ExampleActivity

There are some options addting data for <INTENT>, similar to extra for Bundle:

Parameter	Meaning
--esn <EXTRA_KEY>	null value (only key name)
-e|--es <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_STRING_VALUE>	string value
--ez <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_BOOLEAN_VALUE>	boolean value
--ei <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_INT_VALUE>	integer value
--el <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_LONG_VALUE>	long value
--ef <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_FLOAT_VALUE>	float value
--eu <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_URI_VALUE>	URI
--ecn <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_COMPONENT_NAME_VALUE>	component name
--eia <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_INT_VALUE> [, <EXTRA_INT_VALUE ...]	integer array
--ela <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_LONG_VALUE> [, <EXTRA_LONG_VALUE ...]	long array

Launch app / Start an Activity

start with Activity’s name

The syntax is:

adb shell am start [options] <INTENT>

For example:

adb shell am start -n com.tencent.mm/.ui.LauncherUI

The command above means starting the launch activity of WeChat.

adb shell am start -n org.mazhuang.boottimemeasure/.MainActivity --es "toast" "hello, world"

The command above means starting MainActivity of the application with the package name org.mazhuang.boottimemeasure with an extra string information (key is ‘toast’ and value is ‘hello, world’).

start without Activity’s name

The syntax is:

adb shell monkey -p <packagename> -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1

For example:

adb shell monkey -p com.tencent.mm -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1

The command above means starting the launch activity of WeChat.

Start a Service

The syntax is:

adb shell am startservice [options] <INTENT>

For example:

adb shell am startservice -n com.tencent.mm/.plugin.accountsync.model.AccountAuthenticatorService

The command above means starting a service from WeChat.

Another typical useage is that if devices has bottom virtual keys but not show, you can try this:

adb shell am startservice -n com.android.systemui/.SystemUIService

Stop service

The syntax is:

adb shell am stopservice [options] <INTENT>

Send a broadcast

The syntax is:

adb shell am broadcast [options] <INTENT>

Broadcast intent can be sent to all components or a specified component.

For example, the command of issuing a broadcast intent with BOOT_COMPLETED to all of the components is as following:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED

As another example of issuing a broadcast intent with BOOT_COMPLETED only to org.mazhuang.boottimemeasure / .BootCompletedReceiver is as following:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED -n org.mazhuang.boottimemeasure/.BootCompletedReceiver

The command of issuing a broadcast intent is very useful in the test, especially when a broatcast intent is hard to generate normally, it would be of great use to send the broadcast intent by the command.

Both system predefined and custom broadcast intent are able to be sent. The following is part of the system predefined broadcast intents and the triggers:

Action	Trigger
android.net.conn.CONNECTIVITY_CHANGE	network connectivity changes
android.intent.action.SCREEN_ON	screen on
android.intent.action.SCREEN_OFF	screen off
android.intent.action.BATTERY_LOW	low battery, corresponding to the “Low battery warning” system dialog
android.intent.action.BATTERY_OKAY	the battery is now okay after being low
android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED	device boot finished
android.intent.action.DEVICE_STORAGE_LOW	low memory condition on the device
android.intent.action.DEVICE_STORAGE_OK	low memory condition on the device no longer exists
android.intent.action.PACKAGE_ADDED	a new application has been installed
android.net.wifi.STATE_CHANGE	WiFi connection status changed
android.net.wifi.WIFI_STATE_CHANGED	Wi-Fi has been enabled, disabled, enabling, disabling, or unknown
android.intent.action.BATTERY_CHANGED	battery level changed
android.intent.action.INPUT_METHOD_CHANGED	system input method changed
android.intent.action.ACTION_POWER_CONNECTED	external power connected to the device
android.intent.action.ACTION_POWER_DISCONNECTED	external power removed from the device
android.intent.action.DREAMING_STARTED	system starts dreaming
android.intent.action.DREAMING_STOPPED	system stops dreaming
android.intent.action.WALLPAPER_CHANGED	wallpaper changeed
android.intent.action.HEADSET_PLUG	wired headset plugged in or unplugged
android.intent.action.MEDIA_UNMOUNTED	external media is present, but not mounted at its mount point
android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED	external media is present and mounted at its mount point
android.os.action.POWER_SAVE_MODE_CHANGED	power-saving mode changed

(Above broadcast intents are all available to be sent via adb commands)

Force stop an application

The syntax is:

adb shell am force-stop <packagename>

For example:

adb shell am force-stop com.qihoo360.mobilesafe

The command above means stopping all processes and services related to the package name com.qihoo360.mobilesafe.

Trim memory

command:

adb shell am send-trim-memory  <pid> <level>

pid: process id level: HIDDEN、RUNNING_MODERATE、BACKGROUND、RUNNING_LOW、MODERATE、RUNNING_CRITICAL、COMPLETE

For example:

adb shell am send-trim-memory 12345 RUNNING_LOW

means send command to process 12345, notify it to set level to RUNNING.

File Management

Copy files from a device to a computer

command:

adb pull <remote> [local]

• remote: file path on device
• local: directory on computer

The local parameter is optional, the default value is current directory.

For example:

adb pull /sdcard/sr.mp4 ~/tmp/

• Tips: The file from device may be not readable without root permission, you need to make sure your device is rooted and then use adb shell and su commands to gain the root permission in the adb shell environment, after that you can use cp /path/on/device /sdcard/filename to copy the target file from those directories which require root permission to a public directory, and finaly you can use adb pull /sdcard/filename /path/on/pc normally as mentioned above after exiting the adb shell environment.

Copy files from a computer to a device

command:

adb push <local> <remote>

• local: file path on computer
• remote: directory on device

For example:

adb push ~/sr.mp4 /sdcard/

• Tips: The directory on device may be not writable without root permission, you need to make sure your device is rooted and then use adb push /path/on/pc /sdcard/filename firstly, and use adb shell and su to gain the root permission in the adb shell environment, and finaly use cp /sdcard/filename /path/on/device to copy the file to the target directory.

Analog Keys / inputs

In adb shell there is a very useful command called input, through which you can do some interesting things.

Complete help information input command is as follows:

Usage: input [<source>] <command> [<arg>...]

The sources are:
      mouse
      keyboard
      joystick
      touchnavigation
      touchpad
      trackball
      stylus
      dpad
      gesture
      touchscreen
      gamepad

The commands and default sources are:
      text <string> (Default: touchscreen)
      keyevent [--longpress] <key code number or name> ... (Default: keyboard)
      tap <x> <y> (Default: touchscreen)
      swipe <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> [duration(ms)] (Default: touchscreen)
      press (Default: trackball)
      roll <dx> <dy> (Default: trackball)

Such as using adb shell input keyevent <keycode> command, different keycode to achieve different functions, keycode complete list see KeyEvent, I think the interesting part of the quote is as follows:

Keycode	Meaning
3	HOME button
4	return key
5	open dialing application
6	hang up
24	increase volume
25	Volume Down
26	Power button
27	taking pictures (in the camera application needs in)
64	Open Browser
82	menu button
85	Play / Pause
86	stop playing
87	play the next
88	played on a
122	Move the cursor to the beginning or top of the list
123	Move the cursor to the end of the line or bottom of the list
126	resume playing
127	pause play
164	Mute
176	Open the System Setup
187	switching applications
207	Open Contacts
208	Open calendar
209	Open Music
210	Open Calculator
220	Decrease screen brightness
221	Increase screen brightness
223	System Sleep
224	light up the screen
231	Open the voice assistant
276	If no wakelock allow the system to sleep

Here are some examples of the use of input command.

Power button

command:

adb shell input keyevent 26

Executive effect equivalent to pressing the power button.

menu

command:

adb shell input keyevent 82

HOME key

command:

adb shell input keyevent 3

return key

command:

adb shell input keyevent 4

volume control

Increase the volume:

adb shell input keyevent 24

lower the volume:

adb shell input keyevent 25

Mute:

adb shell input keyevent 164

Media Control

play / Pause:

adb shell input keyevent 85

Stop play:

adb shell input keyevent 86

Play the next song:

adb shell input keyevent 87

Played on one:

adb shell input keyevent 88

Resume playback:

adb shell input keyevent 126

Pause playback:

adb shell input keyevent 127

On / Off screen

It can be switched on and off by telling off the screen above the analog power button, but if you want to light up or clear off the screen, then you can use the following method.

Light up the screen:

adb shell input keyevent 224

Off screen:

adb shell input keyevent 223

Slide to unlock

If no password lock screen is unlocked by sliding gestures, so you can input swipe to unlock.

Command (parameter models Nexus 5, swipe up to unlock, for example):

adb shell input swipe 300 1000 300 500

3001000300 parameters represent 500` starting x coordinate of the start point y coordinate of the end point x coordinate y coordinate of the end point ‘.

Enter text

When the focus is in a text box, you can enter text by input command.

command:

adb shell input text hello

Hello now appear in the text box.

View Log

Log Android system is divided into two parts, the underlying Linux kernel log output to / proc / kmsg, Android’s log output to / dev / log.

Android log

Format:

[adb] logcat [<option>] ... [<filter-spec>] ...

Common usage are listed below:

Filter the log by level

Android log divided into the following levels:

• V - Verbose (lowest output most)
• D - Debug
• I - Info
• W - Warning
• E - Error
• F - Fatal
• S - Silent (highest, what is not output)

Press a grade level and above filter log is the log output.

For example, the command:

adb logcat *:W

Will Warning, Error, Fatal and Silent log output.

(Notice: tag * must surrounded with double quotation, like adb logcat "*:W", otherwise an error no matches found *:W would throws.)

Filter by tag and log level

filterspecs are a series of <tag>[:priority].

For example, the command:

adb logcat ActivityManager:I MyApp:D *:S

Represents an output tag ActivityManager above the level of Info logs, Debug log output above the level of the tag MyApp, and other tag Silent level of log (ie, shield other tag logging).

Log format

You can use adb logcat -v <format> option specifies log output format.

Log supported by the following <format>:

• brief

  The default format. The format is:

  <priority>/<tag>(<pid>): <message>
  

  Example:

  D/HeadsetStateMachine( 1785): Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0
  

• process

  The format is:

  <priority>(<pid>) <message>
  

  Example:

  D( 1785) Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0  (HeadsetStateMachine)
  

• tag

  The format is:

  <priority>/<tag>: <message>
  

  Example:

  D/HeadsetStateMachine: Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0
  

• raw

  The format is:

  <message>
  

  Example:

  Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0
  

• time

  The format is:

  <datetime> <priority>/<tag>(<pid>): <message>
  

  Example:

  08-28 22:39:39.974 D/HeadsetStateMachine( 1785): Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0
  

• threadtime

  The format is:

  <datetime> <pid> <tid> <priority> <tag>: <message>
  

  Example:

  08-28 22:39:39.974  1785  1832 D HeadsetStateMachine: Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0
  

• long

  The format is:

  [ <datetime> <pid>:<tid> <priority>/<tag> ]
  <message>
  

  Example:

  [ 08-28 22:39:39.974  1785: 1832 D/HeadsetStateMachine ]
  Disconnected process message: 10, size: 0
  

Specified format can be used simultaneously with the above filter. such as:

adb logcat -v long ActivityManager:I *:S

Clear log

adb logcat -c

Kernel log

command:

adb shell dmesg

Example output:

<6>[14201.684016] PM: noirq resume of devices complete after 0.982 msecs
<6>[14201.685525] PM: early resume of devices complete after 0.838 msecs
<6>[14201.753642] PM: resume of devices complete after 68.106 msecs
<4>[14201.755954] Restarting tasks ... done.
<6>[14201.771229] PM: suspend exit 2016-08-28 13:31:32.679217193 UTC
<6>[14201.872373] PM: suspend entry 2016-08-28 13:31:32.780363596 UTC
<6>[14201.872498] PM: Syncing filesystems ... done.

In brackets [14201.684016] time represents the core begins to start in seconds.

By kernel log, we can do some things, such as a measure of the kernel boot time, Freeing init memory find that time is in front of the line after system startup, the kernel log.

View device information

Model

Command:

adb shell getprop ro.product.model

Sample output:

Nexus 5

Battery Status

Command:

adb shell dumpsys battery

Sample output:

Current Battery Service state:
  AC powered: false
  USB powered: true
  Wireless powered: false
  status: 2
  health: 2
  present: true
  level: 44
  scale: 100
  voltage: 3872
  temperature: 280
  technology: Li-poly

Scale means the maximum value of level, and level means the current battery level. The output above means there is 44% of battery left of the device.

Screen Resolution

Command:

adb shell wm size

Sample output:

Physical size: 1080x1920

The above output means the device’s screen resolution is 1080px * 1920px.

If resolution has been changed by command, the output would be like this:

Physical size: 1080x1920
Override size: 480x1024

It means the original resolution of the screen is 1080px * 1920px, and currently it is 480px * 1024px.

Screen density

Command:

adb shell wm density

Sample output:

Physical density: 420

The output shows the density of the device is 420dpi.

If screen density has been changed by command, the output would be like this:

Physical density: 480
Override density: 160

It means the original density of the screen is 480dpi, and currently it is 160dpi.

Display Parameters

Command:

adb shell dumpsys window displays

Sample output:

WINDOW MANAGER DISPLAY CONTENTS (dumpsys window displays)
  Display: mDisplayId=0
    init=1080x1920 420dpi cur=1080x1920 app=1080x1794 rng=1080x1017-1810x1731
    deferred=false layoutNeeded=false

The mDisplayId stands for the number of the display screen, init shows the initial resolution and density of the screen, the height in app is smaller than that in init, which means the device has a virtual navigation bar with a height: 1920 - 1794 = 126px (42dp).

android_id

Command:

adb shell settings get secure android_id

Sample output:

51b6be48bac8c569

IMEI

For Android 4.4 and the belows, the IMEI viewing command is like this:

adb shell dumpsys iphonesubinfo

Sample output:

Phone Subscriber Info:
  Phone Type = GSM
  Device ID = 860955027785041

Device ID stands for IMEI.

For Android 5.0 and the aboves, the command used to view IMEI above is not working which always comes out nothing, the alternative is like this(requires root privileges):

adb shell
su
service call iphonesubinfo 1

Sample output:

Result: Parcel(
  0x00000000: 00000000 0000000f 00360038 00390030 '........8.6.0.9.'
  0x00000010: 00350035 00320030 00370037 00350038 '5.5.0.2.7.7.8.5.'
  0x00000020: 00340030 00000031                   '0.4.1...        ')

After extracting the data the normal IMEI will show, such as the IMEI above is 860955027785041.

Reference: adb shell dumpsys iphonesubinfo not working since Android 5.0 Lollipop

Android system version

Command:

adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release

Sample output:

5.0.2

IP address

Are you getting bored for pressing “Setting” - “About phone” - “state information” - “IP address” to get the IP address of the device? You can make it easily via adb command:

Command:

adb shell ifconfig | grep Mask

Sample output:

inet addr:10.130.245.230  Mask:255.255.255.252
inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0

The IP address of the device is 10.130.245.230.

The above command may result in an empty result on some devices if they are connected via WIFI, then you can use the following command to view the LAN IP:

adb shell ifconfig wlan0

Sample output:

wlan0: ip 10.129.160.99 mask 255.255.240.0 flags [up broadcast running multicast]

or

wlan0     Link encap:UNSPEC
          inet addr:10.129.168.57  Bcast:10.129.175.255  Mask:255.255.240.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::66cc:2eff:fe68:b6b6/64 Scope: Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:496520 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:68215 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:3000
          RX bytes:116266821 TX bytes:8311736

If the two commands above still don’t get the desired information, then you can try the following command (available in some system):

adb shell netcfg

Sample output:

wlan0    UP                               10.129.160.99/20  0x00001043 f8:a9:d0:17:42:4d
lo       UP                                   127.0.0.1/8   0x00000049 00:00:00:00:00:00
p2p0     UP                                     0.0.0.0/0   0x00001003 fa:a9:d0:17:42:4d
sit0     DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000080 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet0   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet1   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet3   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet2   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet4   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet6   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet5   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rmnet7   DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00000000 00:00:00:00:00:00
rev_rmnet3 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 4e:b7:e4:2e:17:58
rev_rmnet2 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 4e:f0:c8:bf:7a:cf
rev_rmnet4 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 a6:c0:3b:6b:c4:1f
rev_rmnet6 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 66:bb:5d:64:2e:e9
rev_rmnet5 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 0e:1b:eb:b9:23:a0
rev_rmnet7 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 7a:d9:f6:81:40:5a
rev_rmnet8 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 4e:e2:a9:bb:d0:1b
rev_rmnet0 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 fe:65:d0:ca:82:a9
rev_rmnet1 DOWN                                   0.0.0.0/0   0x00001002 da:d8:e8:4f:2e:fe

It shows the network connection name, connection enable status, IP address, Mac address and etc.

Mac Address

Command:

adb shell cat /sys/class/net/wlan0/address

Sample output:

f8:a9:d0:17:42:4d

The output above is the Mac address of LAN, if you want other infomation of connection, the command adb shell netcfg mentioned in the section IP address would be helpful.

CPU Information

Command:

adb shell cat /proc/cpuinfo

Sample output:

Processor       : ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l)
processor       : 0
BogoMIPS        : 38.40

processor       : 1
BogoMIPS        : 38.40

processor       : 2
BogoMIPS        : 38.40

processor       : 3
BogoMIPS        : 38.40

Features        : swp half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpv4 idiva idivt
CPU implementer : 0x51
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant     : 0x2
CPU part        : 0x06f
CPU revision    : 0

Hardware        : Qualcomm MSM 8974 HAMMERHEAD (Flattened Device Tree)
Revision        : 000b
Serial          : 0000000000000000

This is the CPU information of Nexus 5, we can find from the output that the hardware is Qualcomm MSM 8974, and the processor number is from 0 to 3, which means the cpu is a quad-core, then from the Processor we can find the architecture of the cpu is ARMv7 Processor rev 0 ( v71) .

Memory Information

Command:

adb shell cat /proc/meminfo

Sample output:

MemTotal:        1027424 kB
MemFree:          486564 kB
Buffers:           15224 kB
Cached:            72464 kB
SwapCached:        24152 kB
Active:           110572 kB
Inactive:         259060 kB
Active(anon):      79176 kB
Inactive(anon):   207736 kB
Active(file):      31396 kB
Inactive(file):    51324 kB
Unevictable:        3948 kB
Mlocked:               0 kB
HighTotal:        409600 kB
HighFree:         132612 kB
LowTotal:         617824 kB
LowFree:          353952 kB
SwapTotal:        262140 kB
SwapFree:         207572 kB
Dirty:                 0 kB
Writeback:             0 kB
AnonPages:        265324 kB
Mapped:            47072 kB
Shmem:              1020 kB
Slab:              57372 kB
SReclaimable:       7692 kB
SUnreclaim:        49680 kB
KernelStack:        4512 kB
PageTables:         5912 kB
NFS_Unstable:          0 kB
Bounce:                0 kB
WritebackTmp:          0 kB
CommitLimit:      775852 kB
Committed_AS:   13520632 kB
VmallocTotal:     385024 kB
VmallocUsed:       61004 kB
VmallocChunk:     209668 kB

MemTotal means the total memory of the device, and MemFree means the current free memory.

More hardware and system properties

More hardware devices and system properties can be obtained by the following command:

adb shell cat /system/build.prop

This will output a lot of information, including “model” and “Android system version” and other infomation which are mentioned in previous several sections.

In output also includes some other useful information, which can also be obtained individually via the command adb shell getprop <attribute name>:

Attribute name	Meaning
ro.build.version.sdk	SDK version
ro.build.version.release	Android system version
ro.build.version.security_patch	Android security patch level
ro.product.model	Type
ro.product.brand	Brands
ro.product.name	device name
ro.product.board	Processor Model
ro.product.cpu.abilist	CPU supported abi list[Ref 1]
persist.sys.isUsbOtgEnabled	OTG supports
dalvik.vm.heapsize	limit on heap size for each app
ro.sf.lcd_density	screen density

Ref 1: The property of abi list may be changed in some custom ROMs, if it can’t be obtained via ro.product.cpu.abilist, you can try this command:

adb shell cat /system/build.prop | grep ro.product.cpu.abi

Sample output:

ro.product.cpu.abi=armeabi-v7a
ro.product.cpu.abi2=armeabi

Modify Settings

Notice: Display may not normal after reset settings, you can use command adb reboot to reboot device, or reboot it maually.

Resolution

command:

adb shell wm size 480x1024

It means change the resolution to 480px * 1024px.

Reset to original resolution:

adb shell wm size reset

Screen density

command:

adb shell wm density 160

It means change the screen density to 160dpi.

Reset to original screen density:

adb shell wm density reset

Overscan

command:

adb shell wm overscan 0,0,0,200

Four parameters are left, top, right and bottom margin pixels to the edge, command above means leave 200px in screen bottom clean.

Reset to original overscan:

adb shell wm overscan reset

Turn off Android Debug

command:

adb shell settings put global adb_enabled 0

To reset:

We can’t do this via command now, because without “Android Debug” on, adb cannot communicate with Devices.

So just do it on device manually:

“Settings” - “Developer options” - “Android Debug”.

allow/forbidden access non SDK API

allow access non SDK API:

adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy_pre_p_apps 1
adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy_p_apps 1

forbidden access non SDK API:

adb shell settings delete global hidden_api_policy_pre_p_apps
adb shell settings delete global hidden_api_policy_p_apps

Note: Commands above don’t need root privileges.

meaning for number in command tail:

value	meaning
0	disable detect for non SDK API call. In this situation, there is no call log in logcat, and make strict mode API, detectNonSdkApiUsage() invalid. Not recommended.
1	Just warning – allow access all non SDK API, but retain warning in logcat. You can continue to use strick mode API.
2	It is forbidden to invoke interfaces in dark grey lists and black lists.
3	It is forbidden to invoke the interface in the black list, but it is allowed to call the interface in the dark grey list.

Show/hide status bar or navigation bar

Settings in this section correspond with “Expanded desktop” in Cyanogenmod.

command:

adb shell settings put global policy_control <key-values>

<key-values> composite by keys and their values below, format is <key1>=<value1>:<key2>=<value2>.

key	meaning
immersive.full	Hide both
immersive.status	Hide status bar
immersive.navigation	Hide navigation bar
immersive.preconfirms	?

Values for these keys are comma-delimited list of tokens, where tokens:

value	含义
apps	All applications
*	Everywhere
packagename	Include package
-packagename	Exclude package

For example:

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*

Means set hide both status bar and navigation bar everywhere.

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.status=com.package1,com.package2:immersive.navigation=apps,-com.package3

Means set hide status bar in applications whoes package name is com.package1 or com.package2, hide navigation bar in all applications, exclude whoes package name is com.package3.

Utility functions

Screenshots

Take screenshot and save to computer:

adb exec-out screencap -p > sc.png

If your adb is old version, doesn’t have exec-out command, then your can take screenshot like below:

First, take screenshot and save to device:

adb shell screencap -p /sdcard/sc.png

And then export the png file to your computer:

adb pull /sdcard/sc.png

You can use the adb shell screencap -h See help screencap command, here are two significant parameters and their meanings:

Parameter	Meaning
-p	Save the file in png format specified
-d Display-id	screenshots display the specified number (multiple screen display case next)

Found If you specify a file name can be omitted when the -p parameter to .png ending; otherwise you need to use the -p parameter. If you do not specify a file name, file contents screenshot will be directly output to stdout.

Another method to save screenshot file to computer with a single line command:

adb shell screencap -p | sed "s/\r$//" > sc.png

This depends on sed command, it’s avaliable in Linux and Mac OS X by default. In Windows, you may find it in bin directory in Git installation place. Otherwise, you may need to download sed for Windows and add the directory where sed.exe is to PATH environment variable.

Recording Screen

Record screen are saved in mp4 format to / sdcard:

adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/filename.mp4

When you need to stop press Ctrl-C </ kbd>, the default recording time and maximum recording time is 180 seconds.

If you need to export to your computer:

adb pull /sdcard/filename.mp4

You can use the adb shell screenrecord --help See help screenrecord command, the following are common parameters and their meanings:

Parameter	Meaning
–size WIDTHxHEIGHT	dimensions of the video, such as 1280x720, default screen resolution.
–bit-Rate RATE	bit-rate video, the default is 4Mbps.
–time-Limit TIME	recording length, in seconds.
–verbose	Print more information.

Remount system partition as writable

Note: You need root privileges.

/system partitions are mounted read-only, but some operating systems such as Android to add commands to remove the need to bring their own application / system write operation, it is necessary to remount it read-write.

step:

1. Enter the shell and switch to the root user privileges.

   command:

   adb shell
   su
   

2. View the current partition mounted case.

   command:

   mount
   

   Example output:

   rootfs / rootfs ro,relatime 0 0
   tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,mode=755 0 0
   devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=600 0 0
   proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
   sysfs /sys sysfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
   selinuxfs /sys/fs/selinux selinuxfs rw,relatime 0 0
   debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,relatime 0 0
   none /var tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=770,gid=1000 0 0
   none /acct cgroup rw,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
   none /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=750,gid=1000 0 0
   none /sys/fs/cgroup/memory cgroup rw,relatime,memory 0 0
   tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
   tmpfs /mnt/obb tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
   none /dev/memcg cgroup rw,relatime,memory 0 0
   none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,relatime,cpu 0 0
   none /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=750,gid=1000 0 0
   none /sys/fs/cgroup/memory cgroup rw,relatime,memory 0 0
   none /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer cgroup rw,relatime,freezer 0 0
   /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime,data=ordered 0 0
   /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /data ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,relatime,noauto_da_alloc,data=ordered 0 0
   /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache /cache ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,relatime,data=ordered 0 0
   /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist /persist ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,relatime,data=ordered 0 0
   /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/modem /firmware vfat ro,context=u:object_r:firmware_file:s0,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0337,dmask=0227,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=lower,errors=remount-ro 0 0
   /dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0
   /dev/fuse /mnt/shell/emulated/0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other 0 0
   

   Find one of our concerns with the / system of the line:

   /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime,data=ordered 0 0
   

3. remount.

   command:

   mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system
   

   Here / dev / block / platform / msm_sdcc.1 / by-name / system is we get the file path from the output in the previous step.

If the output is not an error, then the operation is successful, you can file / system under wanted.

Check connection over WiFi password

Note: You need root privileges.

command:

adb shell
su
cat /data/misc/wifi/*.conf

Example output:

network={
	ssid="TP-LINK_9DFC"
	scan_ssid=1
	psk="123456789"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	group=CCMP TKIP
	auth_alg=OPEN
	sim_num=1
	priority=13893
}

network={
	ssid="TP-LINK_F11E"
	psk="987654321"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	sim_num=1
	priority=17293
}

Ssid we shall see in the WLAN settings in the name, psk the password, key_mgmt security encryption.

If android version is above O, the path of config file should be in WifiConfigStore.xml.

adb shell
su
cat /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml

Example output:

because of too many items in the file, it can be focused on ConfigKey– WiFi name and PreSharedKey – WiFi password.

<string name="ConfigKey">&quot;Wi-Fi&quot;WPA_PSK</string>
<string name="PreSharedKey">&quot;931907334&quot;</string>

To set the system date and time

** Note: You need root privileges. **

command:

adb shell
su
date -s 20160823.131500

It said it would change the system date and time at 13:15:00 on August 23, 2016.

restart cellphone

command:

adb reboot

Detect whether the device is root

command:

adb shell
su

In this case the command line prompt is $ indicates no root privileges, is the # indicates root.

Monkey use stress testing

Monkey can generate pseudo-random event to simulate a user click, touch, gesture and other operations, you can program being developed random stress test.

Usage is simple:

adb shell monkey -p <packagename> -v 500

He told <packagename> specific application to send 500 pseudo-random events.

Monkey in detail with reference to the use of official document.

On / off WiFi

** Note: You need root privileges. **

Sometimes the need to control the device WiFi mode, you can use the following command to complete.

Open WiFi:

adb root
adb shell svc wifi enable

Close WiFi:

adb root
adb shell svc wifi disable

If successfully implemented, the output is empty; if not get root privileges to execute this command will fail, output Killed.

Flashing-Phone related commands

Restart to Recovery mode

command:

adb reboot recovery

To restart from the Recovery Android

command:

adb reboot

Restart to Fastboot mode

command:

adb reboot bootloader

Through sideload system update

If we downloaded the Android system update package corresponds to the device to your computer, you can also adb to complete the update.

Case in Recovery Mode Update:

1. Restart to Recovery mode.

   command:

   adb reboot recovery
   

2. Recovery operations on the interface device into the Apply update-Apply from ADB.

   Note: Different Recovery menu may differ from this, there is some level menu Apply update from ADB.

3. adb upload and update the system.

   command:

   adb sideload <path-to-update.zip>
   

Security-related commands

Enable / Disable SELinux

Enable SELinux

adb root
adb shell setenforce 1

Disable SELinux

adb root
adb shell setenforce 0

Enable / Disable dm_verity

Enable dm_verity

adb root
adb enable-verity

Disable dm_verity

adb root
adb disable-verity

More adb shell command

Android system is based on Linux kernel, so Linux where many commands in Android also has the same or similar implement, in adb shell where you can call. Part earlier in this document have been used in the adb shell command.

See process

command:

adb shell ps

Example output:

USER     PID   PPID  VSIZE  RSS     WCHAN    PC        NAME
root      1     0     8904   788   ffffffff 00000000 S /init
root      2     0     0      0     ffffffff 00000000 S kthreadd
...
u0_a71    7779  5926  1538748 48896 ffffffff 00000000 S com.sohu.inputmethod.sogou:classic
u0_a58    7963  5926  1561916 59568 ffffffff 00000000 S org.mazhuang.boottimemeasure
...
shell     8750  217   10640  740   00000000 b6f28340 R ps

Meaning of each column:

Listing	Meaning
USER	their user
PID	Process ID
PPID	parent process ID
NAME	process name

View real-time resource consumption

command:

adb shell top

Example output:

User 0%, System 6%, IOW 0%, IRQ 0%
User 3 + Nice 0 + Sys 21 + Idle 280 + IOW 0 + IRQ 0 + SIRQ 3 = 307

  PID PR CPU% S  #THR     VSS     RSS PCY UID      Name
 8763  0   3% R     1  10640K   1064K  fg shell    top
  131  0   3% S     1      0K      0K  fg root     dhd_dpc
 6144  0   0% S   115 1682004K 115916K  fg system   system_server
  132  0   0% S     1      0K      0K  fg root     dhd_rxf
 1731  0   0% S     6  20288K    788K  fg root     /system/bin/mpdecision
  217  0   0% S     6  18008K    356K  fg shell    /sbin/adbd
 ...
 7779  2   0% S    19 1538748K  48896K  bg u0_a71   com.sohu.inputmethod.sogou:classic
 7963  0   0% S    18 1561916K  59568K  fg u0_a58   org.mazhuang.boottimemeasure
 ...

Meaning of each column:

Listing	Meaning
PID	Process ID
PR	Priority
CPU%	instantaneous current occupancy percentage of CPU
S	process state (R = run, S = sleep, T = trace / stop, Z = zombie process)
#THR	Threads
VSS	Virtual Set Size of virtual memory consumption (including shared libraries occupy memory)
RSS	Resident Set Size actual physical memory (including shared libraries occupy memory)
PCY	scheduling policy priority, SP_BACKGROUND / SPFOREGROUND
UID	process owner user ID
NAME	process name

Top command also supports a number of command-line parameters, detailed usage is as follows:

Usage: top [ -m max_procs ] [ -n iterations ] [ -d delay ] [ -s sort_column ] [ -t ] [ -h ]
    -m num  How many processes displays up
    -n num refresh how many times
    -d num refresh interval (in seconds, default value of 5)
    -s col sorted by a column (available col value: cpu, vss, rss, thr)
    -t display thread information
    -h displays help documentation

query process uid

There are two methods:

1. adb shell dumpsys package <packagename> | grep userId=

   For example:

   $ adb shell dumpsys package org.mazhuang.guanggoo | grep userId=
      userId=10394
   

2. Get pid by ps first, then adb shell cat /proc/<pid>/status | grep Uid

   For example:

   $ adb shell
   gemini:/ $ ps | grep org.mazhuang.guanggoo
   u0_a394   28635 770   1795812 78736 SyS_epoll_ 0000000000 S org.mazhuang.guanggoo
   gemini:/ $ cat /proc/28635/status | grep Uid
   Uid:    10394   10394   10394   10394
   gemini:/ $
   

Other

The following is a brief description of other commonly used commands, has previously spoken commands no special additional explanation:

Command	function
cat	display file contents
cd	change directory
chmod	change file access mode / access
df	view disk space usage
grep	output filter
kill	kill the specified process PID
ls	list directory contents
mount	Mount View and manage directory
mv	move or rename a file
ps	view running processes
rm	delete files
top	Check process resource consumption

common problem

Start adb server failure

Error message

error: protocol fault (couldn't read status): No error

Possible Causes

adb server process wants to use 5037 port is occupied.

solution

Found consumes process 5037 port, and then terminate it. In Windows, for example:

netstat -ano | findstr LISTENING

...
TCP    0.0.0.0:5037           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       1548
...

1548 Here is the process ID, the process ends with the command:

taskkill /PID 1548

Then start adb no problem.

com.android.ddmlib.AdbCommandRejectedException

Create a new emulator in Android Studio, but cannot connect with adb, output is:

com.android.ddmlib.AdbCommandRejectedException: device unauthorized.
This adb server's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set
Try 'adb kill-server' if that seems wrong.
Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.

After install a terminal app in emulator and run su command, it shows no su program, that is not normal.

So just delete the emulator and re-download, reinstall, all is well now.

adb unofficial implementation

• fb-adb - A better shell for Android devices (for Mac).

related commands

• aapt
• am
• dumpsys
• pm
• uiautomator

Acknowledgements

Thanks friends for theirs selfless sharing and supplement. Names listed in no particular order.

zxning, linhua55, codeskyblue, seasonyuu, fan123199, zhEdward, 0x8BADFOOD, keith666666, shawnlinboy, s-xq, lucky9322.

Reference Links

• Android Debug Bridge
• ADB Shell Commands
• logcat Command-line Tool
• Android ADB命令大全
• adb 命令行的使用记录
• Android ADB命令大全(通过ADB命令查看wifi密码、MAC地址、设备信息、操作文件、查看文件、日志信息、卸载、启动和安装APK等)
• 那些做Android开发必须知道的ADB命令
• adb shell top
• 像高手一样使用ADB命令行（2）

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