How to Install ADB and Fastboot on Windows, Mac and Linux

Originally written by Adnan Ahmed, updated by Dibyajyoti Kabi. First published June 26, 2017. Updated October 24, 2026.

The best way to install ADB and Fastboot today is Google’s official SDK Platform-Tools package. You download one small ZIP file, extract it, add the folder to your PATH, and you can run adb and fastboot from any terminal window.

This post used to send you to Minimal ADB and Fastboot v1.4.3. That tool was handy back in 2017, but it hasn’t been updated since. So I rewrote the whole guide around Google’s own tools.

I will show you how to set it up on Windows, Mac and Linux, how to test it with your phone, and how to fix the errors people hit most.

Key points

• Get ADB and Fastboot from Google’s SDK Platform-Tools. The current version is 37.0.1, released in July 2026.
• Minimal ADB and Fastboot v1.4.3 is from 2017 and too old for current Android phones.
• Windows needs a USB driver for your phone. Mac and Linux don’t.
• Turn on USB debugging on the phone before you run any adb command.
• Samsung Galaxy phones don’t have a Fastboot mode. They use Download mode and Odin.
• On Android 11 and newer, you can use ADB over Wi-Fi with Wireless debugging.

What are ADB and Fastboot?

ADB (Android Debug Bridge) is a command-line tool that lets your computer talk to an Android phone while it’s booted into Android or recovery. Fastboot is a separate tool that works when the phone is in bootloader mode. You use it to flash partitions, unlock the bootloader and boot custom images.

Both tools come in the same package from Google, called SDK Platform-Tools. You don’t need Android Studio to get them.

Why I stopped recommending Minimal ADB and Fastboot

Minimal ADB and Fastboot v1.4.3 came out in 2017. It shipped with the ADB and Fastboot builds from that time and never got an update after that.

That’s a problem on current phones. An ADB build from 2017 doesn’t have newer commands like adb pair, which you need for wireless debugging on Android 11 and newer.

It was also Windows only, and these days you mostly find it on third-party download sites. Google’s package is free, official and works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If you still have Minimal ADB on your Windows PC, remove it from Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Two different copies of adb.exe on the same computer cause the “server version doesn’t match” error I cover below.

Where do you download ADB and Fastboot?

Download ADB and Fastboot from Google’s SDK Platform-Tools page on developer.android.com. Google offers a separate ZIP for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the links below always point to the latest release. The current version is 37.0.1 from July 2026. Each ZIP is small and needs no installer.

Your computer	Official download
Windows	platform-tools-latest-windows.zip
Mac	platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip
Linux	platform-tools-latest-linux.zip

These are Google’s direct links. You can also download from the Platform-Tools release notes page, which shows Google’s terms before the download starts and lists what changed in each version.

How to install ADB and Fastboot on Windows

Here’s how to set it up on Windows 11. The same steps work on Windows 10.

1. Download platform-tools-latest-windows.zip from the table above.
2. Right-click the ZIP and pick Extract All.
3. Change the destination to C:\ and click Extract. You’ll end up with a C:\platform-tools folder.
4. Open the Start menu, type environment variables and open Edit the system environment variables.
5. Click Environment Variables.
6. Under User variables, select Path and click Edit.
7. Click New, type C:\platform-tools and click OK on all three windows.
8. Open a new Command Prompt or Terminal window and run the command below.

adb version

If you see a version number, ADB is ready. That’s it.

Don’t want to change PATH?

You can skip steps 4 to 7. Open the C:\platform-tools folder, right-click an empty spot and pick Open in Terminal. Then put .\ in front of every command, like this:

.\adb devices

This works fine. The only catch is that you have to open the terminal from that folder every time.

Install the USB driver on Windows

Windows needs a driver to see your phone over USB. Mac and Linux don’t, so skip this part if you’re not on Windows.

1. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, install the official Samsung USB Driver for Mobile Phones (v1.9.5.0) from Samsung Developers. My Samsung USB driver guide walks you through the install.
2. If you have a Google Pixel, install the Google USB Driver.
3. For Xiaomi, OnePlus, Motorola and other brands, grab the driver from my list of Android USB drivers for Windows and Mac.

Restart your PC after the driver install. It saves you a lot of “device not found” headaches.

How to install ADB and Fastboot on a Mac

A Mac doesn’t need any USB driver. You only need the ZIP and one change to your shell.

1. Download platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip.
2. Double-click the ZIP in your Downloads folder. You’ll get a folder called platform-tools.
3. Open Terminal and move that folder to your home folder:

mv ~/Downloads/platform-tools ~/

4. Add it to your PATH. macOS uses zsh by default, so run these two commands:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

5. Run adb version to check that it works.

How to install ADB and Fastboot on Linux

Linux needs one extra step so your user account can talk to the phone over USB. I’m using Ubuntu and Debian commands here.

1. Download platform-tools-latest-linux.zip.
2. Extract it to your home folder:

unzip ~/Downloads/platform-tools-latest-linux.zip -d ~/

3. Add the folder to your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

4. Install the udev rules and add yourself to the plugdev group, as Google explains on its hardware device setup page:

sudo apt install android-sdk-platform-tools-common
sudo usermod -aG plugdev $LOGNAME

5. Log out and log back in so the group change takes effect.
6. Run adb version.

Your distro probably has its own adb package too. It can lag behind Google’s release, so I stick with the ZIP.

How do you turn on USB debugging?

Open Settings > About phone and tap Build number seven times to turn on Developer options. Then open Developer options and switch on USB debugging. On Samsung Galaxy phones, Build number is one level deeper, under Settings > About phone > Software information.

Here are the exact steps for Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones.

On a Samsung Galaxy phone:

1. Open Settings > About phone > Software information.
2. Tap Build number seven times. Enter your PIN if it asks.
3. Go back to Settings. Developer options now shows at the bottom of the list.
4. Open Developer options and turn on USB debugging.

On a Google Pixel:

1. Open Settings > About phone and tap Build number seven times.
2. Go to Settings > System > Developer options.
3. Turn on USB debugging.

Xiaomi, OnePlus and other brands use slightly different paths. My Developer options guide covers them, and Google lists the general steps on its developer options page.

How to check that ADB and Fastboot work

1. Connect your phone with a USB cable. Use a data cable, not a charge-only one.
2. Open a terminal and run:

adb devices

3. Look at your phone. You’ll see an Allow USB debugging prompt. Check Always allow from this computer and tap Allow.
4. Run adb devices again. You should see your phone’s serial number followed by the word device.

Now test Fastboot. This reboots the phone to the bootloader and lists it:

adb reboot bootloader
fastboot devices

If you see a serial number, Fastboot works too. Run fastboot reboot to go back to Android.

This Fastboot test works on Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Motorola and most other phones. It won’t work on a Samsung phone, and I explain why below.

How to fix common ADB and Fastboot errors

These are the errors people run into most, with the fix for each one.

adb devices shows “unauthorized”

Your phone hasn’t accepted your computer yet. Turn on the screen and look for the USB debugging prompt.

If the prompt never shows up, open Developer options, tap Revoke USB debugging authorizations, then unplug the cable and plug it back in.

“adb is not recognized as an internal or external command”

Windows can’t find adb.exe. Either C:\platform-tools isn’t in your PATH, or you’re using a terminal window you opened before you changed PATH.

Close the window, open a new one and try again. Or use the .\adb method from inside the folder.

Fastboot is stuck at “waiting for any device”

On Windows, this is almost always a driver problem. ADB and Fastboot use different driver entries, so a phone can work fine in ADB and still not show up in Fastboot.

Keep the phone in bootloader mode and open Device Manager. Find the device with a yellow warning mark, pick Update driver and point it to the Google USB Driver folder.

If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, this isn’t a bug. Samsung phones don’t have a Fastboot mode at all. They use Download mode, and you flash them with Odin. Grab it from my Odin download page.

“no permissions” on Linux

Your user account can’t access the phone over USB. Check that you installed android-sdk-platform-tools-common, added yourself to plugdev, and logged out and back in.

Then unplug the phone and connect it again.

Device shows as “offline”

Restart the ADB server:

adb kill-server
adb devices

Still offline? Try a different USB port or cable, and accept the debugging prompt on the phone again.

“adb server version doesn’t match this client”

You have two different copies of ADB on your computer, and they keep restarting each other. Old Minimal ADB installs and phone suite apps are the usual cause.

On Windows, run where adb to see every copy. Remove the old ones and keep only C:\platform-tools.

Samsung phone not detected at all

On newer Samsung Galaxy phones, Auto Blocker can block commands sent over USB. If it’s on, ADB won’t work even with USB debugging enabled.

Turn it off in Settings > Security and privacy > Auto Blocker while you work, and turn it back on when you’re done. Samsung explains this on its Auto Blocker support page.

How do you use ADB over Wi-Fi?

On Android 11 and newer, you can use ADB without a cable. Turn on Wireless debugging in Developer options, pair your computer once with the adb pair command and a six-digit code, then connect with adb connect. Your phone and computer must be on the same Wi-Fi network.

1. Connect your phone and computer to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. On the phone, open Developer options and turn on Wireless debugging.
3. Tap Wireless debugging, then Pair device with pairing code. Note the IP address, port and six-digit code.
4. On your computer, pair using that IP address and port. It looks something like this:

adb pair 192.168.1.20:37099

5. Type the six-digit code when it asks.
6. Go back to the main Wireless debugging screen. It shows the IP address and a different port. Use that one to connect:

adb connect 192.168.1.20:41235

7. Run adb devices to confirm.

You only pair once per computer. Next time, turn on Wireless debugging and run adb connect. Google covers the full details in its ADB documentation.

FAQ

Do I need Android Studio to use ADB?

No. Platform-Tools is a separate download and has everything you need for adb and fastboot. Android Studio is only for building apps.

Is Minimal ADB and Fastboot safe?

It was a popular tool, but it hasn’t been updated since 2017, and you can’t always tell where a copy on a download site came from. Google’s package is free and official, so I’d use that instead.

Can I use Fastboot on a Samsung phone?

No. Samsung Galaxy phones don’t have a Fastboot mode. You flash firmware in Download mode with Odin, and you can get official firmware with Bifrost.

How do I update ADB and Fastboot?

Run adb kill-server, download the latest ZIP again and replace your old platform-tools folder with the new one. Your PATH stays the same, so nothing else changes.

Related guides

• How to enable Developer options, USB debugging and OEM unlock
• Download the Samsung USB driver
• Android USB drivers for Windows and Mac
• How to remove Samsung bloatware without root using ADB
• How to sideload flashable ZIPs with TWRP
• How to downgrade an Android app without root
• Download Odin for Samsung, all versions

That’s it. You now have ADB and Fastboot set up the official way, and you can drop the old Minimal ADB for good.

Stuck somewhere? Leave a comment with your phone’s model number (for example SM-S938B), your Android or One UI version, and the exact error you see. I’ll help you figure it out.