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ADB / Fastboot

ADB and Fastboot Setup: Complete Beginner Guide

Published: June 5, 2026 • Applies to: Windows 10/11, macOS, Linux

ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and Fastboot are command-line tools that let you communicate directly with Android devices from your computer. This guide takes you from zero to a working setup on Windows, macOS, or Linux in about ten minutes.

What ADB and Fastboot Actually Do

ADB is part of Google's Android SDK platform-tools package. It creates a communication bridge between your computer and an Android device over USB (or Wi-Fi). With ADB you can install APK files, copy files to and from the device, capture the device screen, read system logs, and send shell commands directly to the Android operating system.

Fastboot is a companion tool that works when the device is in bootloader mode rather than fully booted. It is used for tasks like flashing factory images, unlocking the bootloader on supported devices, and writing individual partition images. Both tools ship in the same platform-tools package, so installing one gives you the other.

Download Platform-Tools

Google publishes the platform-tools package as a standalone ZIP file. You do not need to install all of Android Studio to get ADB and Fastboot. The standalone package is available from the Android developer documentation pages under "SDK Platform-Tools release notes." Search for "Android SDK Platform-Tools" on developer.android.com to find the current download links for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Download the ZIP for your operating system. The file will be named something like platform-tools_r35.0.2-windows.zip. Extract it to a permanent location. A good choice is:

  • Windows: C:\platform-tools\
  • macOS / Linux: ~/platform-tools/ or /usr/local/platform-tools/

Avoid placing it in a path with spaces (like the Desktop or a folder with your username if it contains spaces) as this can cause issues when typing paths in some terminals.

Add ADB to PATH on Windows

Adding the platform-tools directory to your system PATH lets you run adb from any directory without typing the full path each time. To do this on Windows 10 or 11:

  1. Press Win + S, type "environment variables," and click "Edit the system environment variables."
  2. In the System Properties window, click "Environment Variables."
  3. Under "System variables," find the variable named Path and click Edit.
  4. Click New and type the full path to your platform-tools folder, for example C:\platform-tools.
  5. Click OK three times to close all dialogs.
  6. Open a new Command Prompt window (existing ones will not pick up the change) and run adb version. You should see output like Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.41.

Setup on macOS and Linux

On macOS, add the following line to your ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bash_profile if you use bash):

export PATH="$HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"

Save the file, then run source ~/.zshrc to apply the change in the current terminal session. Verify with adb version.

On Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch), the same approach works. Alternatively, many distributions package ADB through their package manager:

sudo apt install adb          # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dnf install android-tools # Fedora
sudo pacman -S android-tools  # Arch

Package-manager versions may lag behind the current SDK release. For the latest platform-tools, use the standalone ZIP from Google instead.

Your First ADB Connection

Before running any ADB commands, make sure USB debugging is enabled on your Android device. Go to Settings > About Phone, tap Build Number seven times to unlock Developer Options, then go back to Settings > Developer Options and turn on USB Debugging.

Connect the device with a USB cable and run:

adb devices

The first time you run this, Android will show an authorization dialog asking whether to trust the computer. Tap Allow. Then run adb devices again. The output should look like:

List of devices attached
R5CT21XXXXX    device

The serial number followed by "device" confirms a successful, authorized connection. "Unauthorized" means the authorization dialog was not accepted. "Offline" usually means the ADB server needs a restart: run adb kill-server followed by adb start-server.

Using Fastboot

Fastboot works when the device is in bootloader mode, not normal Android. To reboot into bootloader mode from ADB:

adb reboot bootloader

Then check that Fastboot sees the device:

fastboot devices

On Windows, Fastboot requires a separate WinUSB driver for the bootloader interface. Google's USB Driver package (available through Android Studio's SDK Manager) includes this. After installing, the device should appear in Device Manager under "Android Device" with the Android Bootloader Interface entry.

To reboot the device back to normal Android from Fastboot mode:

fastboot reboot