How to Install ADB and Fastboot Android Device (Windows, Mac & Linux): If you like to tinker around with your Android devices then you must know about ADB & fastboot. These two command-line commands are a must-have for every Android nerd out there. In this small tutorial, we will let you know how to download, use, and install ADB and fastboot.
ADB means Android Debug Bridge, which is a link between your Android phone and PC. ADB files are required when your phone is in Fastboot Mode, and you want to flash something on your device using Fastboot command. Using ADB binaries, you can put some command on your macOS terminal and install TWRP Custom Recovery using the tutorial below. This is the easiest way to get a manual installation of ADB and Fastboot. Delete your old installation (optional) rm -rf /.android-sdk-macosx/. Navigate to and click on the SDK Platform-Tools for Mac link. Go to your Downloads folder. ADB and Fastboot drivers will be automatically downloaded and installed on your Mac OS. Step 7: To confirm the installation, go to the extracted android-sdk-macosx directory and then open the platform-tools folder. Here you will see ADB and fastboot apps, along with several other tools in this directory.
What are ADB and Fastboot
ADB and Fastboot are command-line utilities that work when you connect your Android device to your computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) using a usb cable. These commands let you perform actions like backing up partitions, installing apps, and certain other actions that are not available via GUI. ADB works when your Android device is booted into Android and fastboot works when your Android device not booted into Android. For fastboot, you need to work boot your Android device in fastboot mode. Using fastboot you can access all the partitions on your Android device.
Where to Download ADB and Fastboot
Hit the links below to download ABD and fastboot from Google directly. Once downloaded unzip the files, and you will have a folder named platform-tools. Inside this folder, you will have the ADB and fastboot executables which we will be using later.
Download ADB and fastboot for Windows
Download ADB and fastboot for Mac
Download ADB and fastboot for Linux
ADB and Fastboot Drivers
Windows users also need to download and install ADB and fastboot drivers for their Android devices. You can find links to major manufacturers below.
Mac and Linux users need not worry about drivers.
Install ADB and Fastboot
If you have downloaded the Software then you don’t need to Install ADB and Fastboot, The file is in the Zip formate you can extract the file anywhere in your computer. i.e I have extracted into the “D:/Razi/platform-tools” folder, Now go to that folder and press the shift button and right lick on your mouse, then click on the “Open PowerShell window here” then a command prompt will open. Now done.
Setup Device
To access you device using ADB you need to enable usb debugging on your Android device. To enable USB debugging to follow below steps on your Android device:-
- Navigate to Settings -> About and tap on build number seven times. You will see a message saying “Your are now a developer”.
- Go back to Settings, and you will see an option called Developer Options. Click on that and enable USB debugging.
Using ADB and Fastboot
Turn on your Android device, and connect it to your computer (Windows, Mac or Linux) using an appropriate USB cable.
Windows users need to open Command Prompt, and Mac & Linux users need to open Terminal. Once done navigate to the platform-tools folder which was created when you downloaded ADB and fastboot. You can now issue ADB commands.
ADB & Fastboot Commands – Windows vs Mac/Linux
When issuing adb and fastboot commands on Windows you need to type adb and fastboot respectively. For Mac and Linux, you need to use ./adb and ./fastboot.
Check Connected Devices
Once you have navigated to the platform-tools folder, you can check if your Android device is connected successfully or not using adb devices fastboot command. If your device is connected successfully it will be listed once you issue the command. If you are in fastboot mode and do fastboot devices you will again see a list of devices connected.
The first time you issue an ADB command, you need to tick the box beside Always Allow from this computer. This adds your computer to a list of trusted devices for ADB and fastboot.
How to Boot into Fastboot from ADB
You can boot into fastboot mode by issuing below command
Other Important ADB and Fastboot commands
reboot your Android device normally
restart your device in bootloader mode
restart your device in recovery mode
used to unlock bootloader in fastboot mode. Please note, not all devices support this command. Unlocking your bootloader may void your warranty and also wipe all your data.
reboot into bootloader mode from fastboot mode
Android Adb For Mac
used to flash a custom recovery on your Android device. Place custom recovery img file in the same folder as platform-tools, and replace filename.img in command with the name of the file downloaded for example twrp.img.