How to setup ADB on Microsoft Windows
- Download the Android SDK Platform Tools ZIP file for Windows.
- Extract the contents of this ZIP file into an easily accessible folder (such as C:\platform-tools)
- Open Windows explorer and browse to where you extracted the contents of this ZIP file
- Then open up a Command Prompt from the same directory as this ADB binary. This can be done by holding Shift and Right-clicking within the folder then click the “Open command window here” option. (Some Windows 10 users may see “PowerShell” instead of “command window”.)
- Connect your smartphone or tablet to your computer with a USB cable. Change the USB mode to “file transfer (MTP)” mode. Some OEMs may or may not require this, but it’s best to just leave it in this mode for general compatibility.
- In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command to launch the ADB daemon:
adb devices - On your phone’s screen, you should see a prompt to allow or deny USB Debugging access. Naturally, you will want to grant USB Debugging access when prompted (and tap the always allow check box if you never want to see that prompt again).
- Finally, re-enter the command from step #6. If everything was successful, you should now see your device’s serial number in the command prompt (or the PowerShell window).
Yay! You can now run any ADB command on your device! Now go forth and start modding your phone by following our extensive list of tutorials!
