How to Install ADB on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS

The command-line tool known as Android Debugging Bridge (ADB) enables developers to debug various components of their applications. It does not, however, only apply to coders. By installing ADB on your computer, whether it runs Windows, macOS, Linux, or Chrome OS, you can use the ADB commands to access capabilities of the Android platform that aren’t otherwise available. There are many fun things you can do with ADB on your Android smartphone once it has been installed. Additionally, a number of applications need ADB permissions to function. Therefore, we can help if you’ve been unclear about how to instal and utilise ADB on Windows, macOS, Linux, or Chrome OS.

Setup Your Android Device for ADB

Even if ADB is installed on your computer, it won’t do you any good unless you first configure your Android device to cooperate with ADB. Therefore, if you’re unsure of how to achieve that, read on to learn.

Open Settings on your Android device, and go to About Phone . Here, tap on Build number 7 times consecutively. Keep in mind, as Android devices have different skin, the Build Numer page may be kept under some other pages.

This will enable Developer options on your Android device. Head over to System and then open Developer Options and enable USB debugging . Now, whenever you will connect your Android device to the computer, select the File transfer (MTP) mode. You are done on the device front. Now, the next step is to set up ADB on your computer.

Install ADB on Windows

Firstly, download the ADB Platform Tools for Windows from Google s official page. Once downloaded, extract the contents of this file on your Windows PC using a file archiver utility like WinRAR.

Now head over to the extracted folder, and click on the address bar. Now, type cmd and hit enter. Instantly, a command prompt window will open up in the ADB directory.

After that, connect your Android device to Windows PC and execute adb devices command.

It will prompt a USB debugging prompt on your smartphone. Enable the Always allow checkbox and then tap on Allow .
Now, you should see your device s serial number in the Command Prompt window. If it does not detect your device then run adb devices again and this time, it will definitely detect your device. Congratulations! ADB is now successfully installed on your Windows PC.

Install ADB on macOS

Here, we’ll instal ADB on macOS by following a slightly different route. On macOS, we must first instal Homebrew before we can easily instal the Android platform-tools. An open-source package manager called Homebrew instals the lacking packages. With that said, let’s get started.

First of all, open the Terminal on your Mac and execute the below command. It will install Homebrew on your Mac. During the installation, it might ask for your password. The whole installation will take about 10 mins.

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

After that, install the ADB platform-tools from the below command.

brew install android-platform-tools --cask

Now connect the Android device to your Mac and execute the adb devices command. You will receive a prompt on your Android device to allow USB debugging. So, just enable the checkbox and tap on Allow .

You should now see the serial number of your device on Mac This signifies that ADB is successfully installed on your Mac.

Install ADB on Linux

Download the ADB Platform Tools for Linux from Google s official page and unzip the file to a suitable location like your home directory.
After that, open the Linux terminal and move to the extracted folder location. Execute the below command to move to the particular folder. Make sure to change the username to your actual Linux username.

cd /home/arjun/platform-tools

Connect your Android device and run the adb devices command on the Linux terminal. On your Android device, check the box for Always allow and then tap on the Ok button.

Finally, your Android device will show up on the Linux Terminal with the serial number. This is how you can install and set up ADB on Linux systems.

Install ADB on Chrome OS

Before I continue, let me make clear that your Chromebook should support the Play Store, have Linux enabled, and have Chrome OS running on the Developer Channel. Open Settings -> About Chrome OS -> Additional Details -> Change Channel to Dev to switch to Developer Channel. With that said, let’s learn how to instal ADB on Chrome OS.

First off, open Settings and navigate to Linux -> Develop Android Apps -> Enable the toggle for ADB Debugging. Now, restart your Chromebook and an ADB prompt will come up after the reboot. Click on Allow and move to the next step.
Now, open the Linux Terminal from the app drawer and execute the below command to install the ADB platform tools. Further, press Y to allow the installation.

sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb

After the installation, connect your Android device to Chromebook. You will get a prompt on your Chromebook about a USB device detection. Now, click on Connect to Linux .

Back to Linux Terminal, execute the adb devices command and a prompt will appear on your Android device. Enable the checkbox for Always allow and then tap on the Ok button. Congratulations, you have successfully set up ADB on Chrome OS.

If the Terminal shows Permission Denied or Command Not Found error then run the adb start-server command first and then try again with the adb devices command.

How to Use ADB on Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome OS

After ADB has been successfully installed on your Windows computer, Mac computer, Linux computer, or Chromebook, all you need to do to use it is run different ADB commands in the Terminal. Just make sure USB debugging is turned on and your Android device is linked to your computer. After that, you can experiment with other instructions and use Android very differently. The most popular ADB commands are listed below to assist you in getting started.

Command	Description
adb devices	To view the list of Android devices communicating with your computer
adb push	To move a file onto your Android device programmatically
adb pull	To move a file from your Android device programmatically
adb install	To install apps programmatically using APK files
adb reboot	To reboot your Android device
adb reboot recovery	To reboot your Android device in recovery mode
adb reboot bootloader	To reboot your Android device to bootloader
adb shell	To start a remote shell with your Android device

Install ADB on Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome OS With Ease

For all Android coders, ADB is a really helpful tool. You now understand how to set up ADB on your PC or Mac and utilise it with your Android device, even if you are not one yourself. Additionally, I’ve already provided a few of the typical ADB commands above if you’re new to this. You can now use Android in a way that you never have before. Which ADB commands are your favorites, while we’re on the subject? Please share your thoughts in the space provided below.