In this guide, we will show you how you can directly run ADB from your web browser. ADB or Android Debug Bridge is no doubt the most useful tool for Android enthusiasts which allows them to flawlessly communicate with a device. Using ADB, you can perform a lot of modifications and tweaks on your device. Users who are accustomed to the use of the ADB command line even use ADB commands to install apps on their phones. Other features of ADB also allow users to transfer files using the Sideload functionality or even remove bloatware from their devices. Apart from that, ADB also proves very useful in custom development.
There are a lot of useful ADB commands, some of which you can use to boot your device into fastboot mode or recovery mode and carry out other useful customizations. However, in order to make use of these useful ADB commands, you need to have ADB installed on your computer, which you can do so by installing the Android SDK Platform-tools. After that, you will have to open the CMD or PowerShell window in order to execute the commands. But there is a way that you can avoid all of this trouble because it is now possible to directly run ADB from your Web browser, and today, we will be discussing just that.
How to Run ADB from Your Web Browser
XDA Forum member SteelToe makes use of the WebUSB API in his project of WebADB. The connection between your device and the web browser is established by the use of API. But you need to make sure that the browser that you use has API already integrated with itself. At the moment, Google Chrome, Edge and any other Chromium browser already have API integrated into them. Talking about the WebADB project, it sports a lot of useful features. Below mentioned are some of the highlighted features of WebADB:
- APK Installation
- Interactive Shell
- Screen Recording
- Scrcpy Screen Mirroring
- Device Information
- File Manager
- Enabling ADB over Wi-Fi
Now that you know all of the features that the WebADB has, let’s now discuss how to use it to directly run ADB from your web browser. Read on!
STEP 1: Enable USB Debugging on your Phone
First of all, you will have to enable USB Debugging on your device. This will help your computer to recognize your device in ADB mode. So in order to enable USB debugging mode head over to the Settings app > About Phone > Tap on Build Number 7 times > Go back to Settings > System > Advanced > Developer Options > Enable USB Debugging. For further detail, you can access our guide on How to enable USB debugging on Android devices.
STEP 2: Enable Chrome Flag
Even though Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers already come with WebUSB API integrated, you will still need to enable it in order to use it for the first time. To do that, you are required to make use of Chrome’s experimental feature called flags. Follow the given instructions for the task:
STEP 1: First you need to launch the web browser on your PC and then type the location below in the address bar:
chrome://flags
STEP 2: Along the same lines, if you are using Microsoft Edge, then you will have to type the location given below:
edge://flags
STEP 3: After that, go to the search bar and key to Enable new USB backend and then press enter.
STEP 4: Now from the search result, select this flag and then change its status from disabled to enabled.
STEP 5: Now you will be asked to restart your browser. That can be done by clicking on the Relaunch button situated on the bottom of the page.
STEP 3: Running ADB from Your Web Browser
After the above two steps, you have successfully set up your PC and your phone for the process. Now it is time to use the WebADB. Follow the steps given below:
STEP 1: While your phone has USB debugging enabled, connect it to your computer using a USB cable.
STEP 2: Now you need to open the WebADB website and then click on the located under the left menu bar.
STEP 3: Then a dialogue box will appear from which you have to select your device and click on Connect.
STEP 4: With the above step, your device will now be added into the Available device section. Then click on the connect button below it.
STEP 5: Now you will see the Allow USB debugging prompt on your phone. There you need to select allow. Always allow checkmark will grant permission to the computer to use ADB from your device in the future.
STEP 6: And that is it. Now you can make use of the available features to perform any task or modification. For instance, you can utilize the Screen capture feature to take a screenshot of your device and or even make use of the interactive shell to carry out the desired ADB Commands.
STEP 7: Along the same lines, you can also use the file manager feature to browse your device’s directories or even use the Install APK feature to install an APK directly on your device.
On this note, we conclude our guide on how to directly run ADB from your Web browser. If you have any queries regarding the same, let us know in the comment section below.
