adb cannot find my device for Android debugging. Why?

Question

1. I installed Windows USB Android SDK driver for the Android Dev Phone 1
2. I enabled all the debugging modes and stuff on the phone.
3. It even says...USB debugging connected.
4. When I type adb devices , it shows me only my emulator , and not my phone.

It doesn't seem to recognize my Android Phone as an adb device. Why is that?

Answer 1

Might be faster just to restart the adb server:

adb kill-server ; adb start-server

Or what I often use:

adb kill-server ; adb devices

When you call adb devices it automatically starts up the adb server. Then gives you the list of devices it can find. Sometimes even then it doesn't find the device right away so you may need to call adb devices a few more times.

Answer 2

There're many reasons which can cause the problem, try:

1. Turn on "USB debugging mode" in Settings->Application->Development.
2. Reinstall device drivers.
3. Restart Window/Mac.
4. Restart device.

Answer 3

To complete the other answers in case other people have this problem: I also had this problem, all those solutions did not work.

I just had to... change the USB socket in which I plugged my cable.

Actually, it took some time to find that because Windows was correctly recognizing the device. But not ADB.

Answer 4

Mine finally recognized the device after changed USB connection mode to "Camera (PTP)" Settings > Storage > (upper right hand corner more options) USB computer connection.

I don't know if it's because I rooted mine.

Answer 5

For Samsung Note 3 specifically, you will need to switch to "Media Device USB3.0" instead of just "Media Device MTP" before the device show up on adb devices.

Answer 6

I had same problems and tried everything, and that worked for me, Sometimes the problem is in the drivers; try this :

http://adbdriver.com

download the adb driver and run it, it will download the driver for your phone,