Use ADB to Push Files / Install APKs and Control Android Devices with Scrcpy

An­droid De­bug Bridge (ADB) is a ver­sa­tile com­mand-line tool that al­lows users to in­ter­act with An­droid de­vices.

scrcpy is a pow­er­ful tool that al­lows users to con­trol and mir­ror An­droid de­vice's screen on com­puter.

Prerequisites:

1. Enable Developer Options on Android device:

1. Enable USB Debugging:

1. Install ADB on computer:

• Windows Platform (via Chocolatey)

  Open an elevated Command Prompt (Run as Ad­min­is­tra­tor).

@"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET "PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin"

Close and re­open the Com­mand Prompt to en­sure the in­stal­la­tion is rec­og­nized.

choco install adb
adb --version

• Linux Platform (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install adb -y
adb version

Part 1: Pushing Files to an Android Device Using ADB

1. Connect Android device to computer via USB.

   • Make sure the de­vice is rec­og­nized by run­ning:

     adb devices

   • If device is listed, you're ready to proceed. If not, check USB connection and drivers.

2. Push File(s) to the device:

   • Use the adb push com­mand to copy the file to a di­rec­tory on de­vice. For ex­am­ple:

     adb push path/to/app.apk /sdcard/

adb push ./Cover.jpeg /storage/emulated/0/Backup/

This com­mand copies Cover.jpeg to the /storage/emulated/0/Backup/ di­rec­tory on de­vice.

1. Install the APK:

   • Use the adb install com­mand to in­stall the APK di­rectly:

     adb install path/to/app.apk

   • If the APK is al­ready on the de­vice (e.g., in /sdcard/), you can in­stall it us­ing:

     adb shell pm install /sdcard/app.apk

2. Verify the installation:

   • Check if the app is in­stalled by search­ing for it on de­vice or us­ing:

     adb shell pm list packages | grep package.name

Notes:

• If you en­counter per­mis­sion is­sues, you may need to re­mount the sys­tem par­ti­tion as read-write (re­quires root ac­cess):

  adb root
  adb remount

• For system apps, you may need to push the APK to /system/app/ or /system/priv-app/ and set the correct permissions.

Example:

• Push the APK to the device

adb push app.apk /sdcard/

• Install the APK

adb install /sdcard/app.apk

• Alternatively, install directly from computer

adb install path/to/app.apk

That's it! You've suc­cess­fully pushed and in­stalled an APK us­ing ADB.

Part 2: Using Scrcpy to Mirror and Control Android Device

Prerequisites

1. Enable USB Debugging on Android device:

• Go to Settings > About phone > Tap Build number 7 times to enable Developer Options.

1. Install ADB and scrcpy:

   Win­dows via Choco­latey(Run as Ad­min­is­tra­tor)

   choco install adb scrcpy -y

   Linux Plat­form (Ubuntu/​De­bian)

   sudo apt install adb scrcpy -y

Use scrcpy via ADB

1. Connect Android device to computer via USB.

   • En­sure the de­vice is rec­og­nized by run­ning:

     adb devices

   • If device is listed, you're ready to proceed. If not, check USB connection and drivers.

2. Run scrcpy:

   • Open a ter­mi­nal or com­mand prompt and sim­ply run:

     scrcpy

   • This will launch the scrcpy window, mirroring Android device's screen.

3. Wireless Connection (Optional):

   • If you want to use scrcpy wire­lessly, fol­low these steps:

     1. Connect device via USB initially.
     2. Enable wireless debugging:

- Go to **Settings** > **Developer options** > Enable **Wireless debugging**.

3. Pair device with computer:

adb pair <IP>:<PORT>

(Replace `<IP>` and `<PORT>` with the values shown in the Wireless debugging settings on device.)

   ```bash
    adb pair 172.16.8.56:35953
   ```

   Enter pairing code: `672265`

   > Successfully paired to 172.16.8.56:34121 [guid=adb-DYDMMFWC6XFAX4MN-2bJXjj]



4. Disconnect the USB cable.

5. Connect wirelessly:

adb connect <IP>:<PORT>

adb connect 172.16.8.56:34121

> connected to 172.16.8.56:34041

6. Run `scrcpy` as usual:

scrcpy

7. Run `scrcpy` with TCP/IP:

   ```bash
   scrcpy --tcpip=<IP>:<PORT>
   ```

   ```bash
   scrcpy --tcpip=172.16.8.56:34121
   ```

   > `scrcpy --tcpip=<IP>:<PORT>` allows direct connection to Android device over Wi-Fi.

Common scrcpy Commands and Options

scrcpy sup­ports many com­mand-line op­tions for cus­tomiza­tion. Here are some use­ful ones:

• Reduce resolution:

  scrcpy -m1024

  (Scales the de­vice screen to a max­i­mum width of 1024 pix­els.)

• Limit frame rate:

  scrcpy --max-fps 30

  (Lim­its the frame rate to 30 FPS.)

• Record the screen:

  scrcpy --record file.mp4

  (Records the screen to a file named file.mp4.)

• Disable screen mirroring (only control):

  scrcpy --no-display

  (Use­ful for con­trol­ling the de­vice with­out dis­play­ing its screen.)

• Turn off the device screen:

  scrcpy --turn-screen-off

  (Mir­rors the de­vice but turns off its screen.)

• Copy device clipboard to computer:

  scrcpy --forward-all-clipboard

  (Syncs the clip­board be­tween the de­vice and com­puter.)

• Rotate the device screen:

  scrcpy --rotation 1

  (Ro­tates the de­vice screen. Val­ues: 0 (no ro­ta­tion), 1 (90°), 2 (180°), 3 (270°).)

Keyboard and Mouse Controls

• Right-click triggers BACK
• Middle-click triggers HOME
• Alt+f toggles fullscreen
• There are many other shortcuts

Conclusion

ADB and Scrcpy are pow­er­ful tools for man­ag­ing and con­trol­ling An­droid de­vices.

With ADB, can push and in­stall APKs, while Scrcpy al­lows to mir­ror and con­trol de­vice’s screen with ease.

Reference

• https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy

Related

• SCRCPY 軟件 - 電腦鏡像及控制手機