← Manual

02 Getting started on Windows

02 Getting started on Windows

Applies to: Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit, and an Android phone running Android 5 or later. Wireless debugging needs Android 11 or later.

Reconciled against the frozen build (desktop companion 1.0.0). Read this boundary first: the Windows installer definition exists and the Windows code paths are covered by unit tests, but no Windows build has been run on real Windows hardware - the MSI needs Windows plus WiX and was not produced. Treat the Windows steps below as the defined behaviour, not as a recorded run.

Windows is the platform that needs a driver. Google states plainly that if you are developing on Windows you need the appropriate USB driver for your phone (developer.android.com/studio/run/oem-usb). The companion never installs a driver silently; it opens the official pages and leaves the install to you.

Step 1 - Install the companion

  1. Run the installer produced from packaging/ on a Windows machine (see packaging/windows/build-msi.ps1), or run from source with gradlew.bat :desktop:run.
  2. If Windows shows a SmartScreen warning for an unsigned build, the app's header names the build; continue only if you trust where it came from.

What you should see: one window titled Android Video Recovery, a driver line reading "Windows: drivers in this order", an "adb: ..." line, five tabs - Repair, Phone (ADB), Audio, Export any file, Setup - and a status bar along the bottom.

Step 2 - Let the app install platform tools

  1. Open the Setup tab and press Install managed platform-tools.
  2. It downloads pinned platform-tools r37.0.1, verifies size, SHA-256 and SHA-1, extracts with guards, and smoke-tests adb version into the app's own data folder. The Official platform-tools page button opens Google's download page if you prefer to supply your own copy.

Step 3 - Connect the phone and check Device Manager

  1. Plug the phone in with a data cable, unlock it, and set the USB mode to "File Transfer" if you want to browse files (support.google.com/android/answer/9064445).
  2. Open Device Manager and look at what appears.

What you should see when things are working: your phone under "Portable Devices", or an entry such as "Android Composite ADB Interface" under "Android Phone".

What a missing driver looks like: an entry with a yellow warning triangle, often "Other device" or "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)".

Step 4 - Work through the driver steps, in order

The Setup tab has the three steps as buttons, in the order that works best:

  1. 1. Windows Update - let Windows find a driver (Device Manager > your phone > Update driver > Search automatically).
  2. 2. Manufacturer's support page - if Windows Update fails, use your phone maker's own page for that exact model. Some manufacturers publish no standalone driver.
  3. 3. Wireless ADB (no driver) - if no driver is available, or you lack admin rights, pair over Wi-Fi instead; it needs no USB driver at all (chapter 04).

There is also a Google USB driver - Google/Pixel devices only button. It is labelled that way on purpose: Google documents that driver for its own devices, and every other brand goes to its manufacturer (developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb). The brand guides in ../brand-guides/ name the official source per manufacturer, and where no official driver download exists they say so rather than pointing at an aggregator.

Step 5 - See the phone and accept the prompt

  1. On the Phone (ADB) tab, press Refresh devices.
  2. On the phone, tap Allow on "Allow USB debugging?" and tick "Always allow from this computer" if you like.
  3. Press Refresh devices again and confirm the state reads [device].

Step 6 - Next