{"id":888,"date":"2026-02-17T16:45:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/?p=888"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:46:00","slug":"stop-clicking-around-the-adb-commands-that-save-me-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/software\/stop-clicking-around-the-adb-commands-that-save-me-hours\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Clicking Around: The ADB Commands That Save Me Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you ship Android apps, you quickly learn that some tasks are either painful (too many taps) or inconsistent to reproduce from UI. ADB makes these workflows deterministic and fast\u2014especially when you\u2019re debugging, doing QA, or validating regressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is my \u201cdaily driver\u201d ADB cheat sheet: commands I use constantly during development and troubleshooting.<\/p>\n\n\n

Prerequisites<\/em> (If you use real device)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Enable Developer options on the device<\/li>\n
  • Enable USB debugging<\/li>\n
  • Verify connection:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
    <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
    adb<\/span> <\/span>devices<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>l<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
    If you see your device listed, you\u2019re good.<\/p>\n\n
    1) Reset app state (clean repro)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    The fastest way to reproduce issues from a truly clean state.<\/p>\n\n\n
    <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
    adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>pm<\/span> <\/span>clear<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>am<\/span> <\/span>force<\/span>-<\/span>stop<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
      \n
    • pm clear<\/code> wipes app data and cache<\/li>\n
    • am force-stop<\/code> kills the app process and prevents immediate background restart<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
      2) Install \/ reinstall (fast iteration)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      Useful when you\u2019re testing local builds repeatedly.<\/p>\n\n\n
      <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
      adb<\/span> <\/span>install<\/span> <\/span>app<\/span>.<\/span>apk<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>install<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>r<\/span> <\/span>app<\/span>.<\/span>apk<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>install<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>r<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>d<\/span> <\/span>app<\/span>.<\/span>apk<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>install<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>g<\/span> <\/span>app<\/span>.<\/span>apk<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
        \n
      • -r<\/code> reinstall while keeping app data (not always guaranteed across all scenarios)<\/li>\n
      • -d<\/code> allow version downgrade<\/li>\n
      • -g<\/code> grants runtime permissions at install time on supported Android versions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
        3) Deep link & intent testing (no manual tapping)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
        Perfect for verifying navigation, attribution, onboarding links, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n
        <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
        adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>am<\/span> <\/span>start<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>a<\/span> <\/span>android<\/span>.<\/span>intent<\/span>.<\/span>action<\/span>.<\/span>VIEW<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>d<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>myapp:\/\/product\/123<\/span>"<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
        Start a specific Activity with extras:<\/p>\n\n\n
        <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
        adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>am<\/span> <\/span>start<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>n<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span>\/<\/span>.<\/span>MainActivity<\/span> <\/span>--<\/span>es<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>source<\/span>"<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>adb<\/span>"<\/span> <\/span>--<\/span>ei<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>id<\/span>"<\/span> <\/span>123<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
          \n
        • --es<\/code> string extra<\/li>\n
        • --ei<\/code> int extra<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
          4) Logcat focused on your app (less noise)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
          Clear logs, then filter by the app PID:<\/p>\n\n\n
          <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
          adb<\/span> <\/span>logcat<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>c<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>logcat<\/span> <\/span>--<\/span>pid<\/span>=<\/span>$<\/span>(<\/span>adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>pidof<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
          This is one of the quickest ways to reduce noise when hunting crashes or edge-case flows.<\/p>\n\n
          5) Disable animations (speed up QA\/UI tests)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
          <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
          adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>settings<\/span> <\/span>put<\/span> <\/span>global<\/span> <\/span>window_animation_scale<\/span> <\/span>0<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>settings<\/span> <\/span>put<\/span> <\/span>global<\/span> <\/span>transition_animation_scale<\/span> <\/span>0<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>settings<\/span> <\/span>put<\/span> <\/span>global<\/span> <\/span>animator_duration_scale<\/span> <\/span>0<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
          6) Toggle network quickly (failure scenarios)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
          <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
          adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>svc<\/span> <\/span>wifi<\/span> <\/span>disable<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>svc<\/span> <\/span>wifi<\/span> <\/span>enable<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>svc<\/span> <\/span>data<\/span> <\/span>disable<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>svc<\/span> <\/span>data<\/span> <\/span>enable<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
          7) Measure cold start time from terminal<\/strong><\/h2>\n
          Look for:<\/p>\n
            \n
          • ThisTime<\/code><\/li>\n
          • TotalTime<\/code><\/li>\n
          • WaitTime<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            In many teams, TotalTime<\/code> is the number tracked across builds (but always compare on the same device + similar thermal\/battery conditions).<\/p>\n\n\n
            <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
            for<\/span> <\/span>i<\/span> <\/span>in<\/span> <\/span>1<\/span> <\/span>2<\/span> <\/span>3<\/span> <\/span>4<\/span> <\/span>5<\/span>;<\/span> <\/span>do<\/span><\/span>\n  <\/span>adb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>am<\/span> <\/span>start<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>W<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>S<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>n<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span>\/<\/span>.<\/span>MainActivity<\/span> <\/span>|<\/span> <\/span>grep<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>E<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>ThisTime|TotalTime|WaitTime<\/span>"<\/span><\/span>\ndone<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n
            My favorite QA loop one-liner<\/strong><\/h2>\n
            Install, reset state, start:<\/p>\n\n\n
            <\/circle><\/circle><\/circle><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
            adb<\/span> <\/span>install<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>r<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>g<\/span> <\/span>app<\/span>.<\/span>apk<\/span> <\/span>&&<\/span> \\<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>pm<\/span> <\/span>clear<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span> <\/span>&&<\/span> \\<\/span><\/span>\nadb<\/span> <\/span>shell<\/span> <\/span>am<\/span> <\/span>start<\/span> <\/span>-<\/span>n<\/span> <\/span>com<\/span>.<\/span>example<\/span>.<\/span>app<\/span>\/<\/span>.<\/span>MainActivity<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
            When you ship Android apps, you quickly learn that some tasks are either painful (too many taps) or inconsistent to reproduce from UI. ADB makes these workflows deterministic and fast\u2014especially when you\u2019re debugging, doing QA, or validating regressions. Below is my \u201cdaily driver\u201d ADB cheat sheet: commands I use constantly during development and troubleshooting. Prerequisites (If you use real device) Enable Developer options on the device Enable USB debugging Verify connection: adb devices -l If you see your device listed, you\u2019re good. 1) Reset app state (clean repro) The fastest way to reproduce issues from a truly clean state. adb…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":891,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions\/891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barisuslucan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}