Mastering Android Debug Bridge (ADB): 30 Wireless & Terminal Commands

What is Android Debug Bridge (ADB)?

Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a versatile command-line tool that lets developers communicate with physical Android devices or emulators. It provides direct shell access, file transfer, APK management, and system metrics logging.

1. Connecting Wirelessly Over Wi-Fi (No Cables Required)

With Android 11 and above, pair and connect over your local Wi-Fi network without third-party tools:

# Pair your phone (Find IP and pairing port in Developer Options > Wireless Debugging)
adb pair 192.168.1.105:37281

# Connect to the wireless debugging port
adb connect 192.168.1.105:41235

# Verify active devices
adb devices -l

2. Installing, Updating and Uninstalling APKs

# Install an APK with permission auto-grant (-g) and reinstall overwrite (-r)
adb install -r -g app-release.apk

# Uninstall an application while keeping its user data cache
adb uninstall -k com.jmdworld.app

# List all third-party installed packages on the device
adb shell pm list packages -3

3. Triggering Deep Links & Android Intents

Testing deep links manually by typing URLs into mobile browsers is slow. Trigger intents directly from your terminal:

# Open a specific URL via deep-link scheme
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d "https://jmdworld.in/blog" com.jmdworld.app

# Broadcast an FCM mock notification intent
adb shell am broadcast -a com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE

4. Screen Capture, Recording & Logcat Filtering

# Take a screenshot and save directly to your computer
adb exec-out screencap -p > screenshot_device.png

# Record high-resolution screen video (up to 3 minutes)
adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/demo.mp4
adb pull /sdcard/demo.mp4 ./

# Stream application logs with color formatting, filtering by tag
adb logcat -s "JMD_APP_TAG:V" "*:E"

Mastering ADB streamlines device testing, QA validation, and mobile performance profiling.