Android is the most popular mobile operating system out there with over 70 percent market share globally. Under the hood, it uses a modified version of the Linux kernel for all its core system services. Being open-source, Android also permits you to tinker with the software of your phone.

ADB and fastboot are tools that unlock elevated access to the Android system by connecting your phone to a desktop computer. Here's everything you need to know about using ADB and fastboot on Linux machines.

What Are ADB and Fastboot?

By default, several inherent features of the Android operating system are abstracted from the average user and require a special method to access them. Android Debug Bridge, or ADB, is a command-line tool that allows you to communicate and run commands on your Android phone via your computer.

Before you can start using ADB, you will first need to enable USB debugging on your phone. Once done, you can now enjoy elevated access to your phone's software and run various ADB commands for installing packages, rebooting your phone, capturing phone screenshots via desktop, and more.

Learn More:Practical ADB Commands Every Android User Should Know

Fastboot is also a command-line tool that comes built-in with the Android SDK and is primarily used to modify the flash filesystem on your phone via a USB connection from a host computer. This is especially useful for rooting your Android device or flashing a custom ROM or custom recovery.

Proceed with caution while using the fastboot tool since the actions are irreversible and can even potentially brick your phone if you enter the wrong commands. Although the chances of that happening are minute, it never hurts to keep your data backed up on the cloud or external storage as a safety precaution.

Installing ADB and Fastboot on Linux

To get started with installing these tools on a Linux machine, visit the Android SDK Platform Tools release page and scroll down to the Downloads section. Click on the Download SDK Platform-Tools for Linux link to download the latest version of ADB and fastboot as a ZIP file.

Android SDK releases page

Extract the downloaded ZIP file to a desired location and open a new terminal instance inside the platform-tools folder. This folder will contain the adb and the fastboot file alongside various other tools that are a part of the Android SDK.

To use ADB, run this command after connecting your phone to the laptop and enabling USB debugging:

        ./adb devices
    
ADB devices command

If your phone is successfully detected, the output will display an alphanumeric code with device written next to it. If not, make sure that you allow any prompts on your phone to authorize your laptop for USB debugging permissions.

To boot into the fastboot or bootloader mode on your phone, run the following ADB command:

        ./adb reboot bootloader
    

Once in fastboot mode, you can check if your phone is successfully detected on your desktop with this command:

        ./fastboot devices
    
Fastboot devices command

Similar to the output generated by the adb devices command, the fastboot devices command should also display an alphanumeric code to indicate that your phone has been detected. Now you can perform all the fastboot operations such as flash, boot, oem unlock, format, and more.

To boot back into the Android operating system from fastboot mode, issue the following command:

        ./fastboot reboot
    

Become an Android Power User With ADB and Fastboot

ADB and fastboot are powerful tools that can help you manage and debug the existing software on your phone or change it altogether. With ADB privileges, some applications also provide extra features that aren't available without rooting your device.

However, you might not always have a USB cable lying around to connect your phone to your computer. Guess what, you can also set up and use ADB wirelessly.