This guide shows you how to manually install the Android ADB Driver (the .inf based driver package) on a Windows computer. The same steps work on Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8 and 7.
Install the Android ADB Driver manually
What you need: a Windows computer and the Google USB Driver (usb_driver_r13-windows.zip).
- Download the ADB Driver package and extract (unzip) it to a folder you can find easily, such as the Desktop. If you have already done this, skip to the next step.
- Press Win + R, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Device Manager.
- In Device Manager, click the name of your computer at the top of the list.
- Open the Action menu and choose Add legacy hardware.
- When the Add Hardware wizard opens, click Next.
- Select Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced) and click Next.
- Keep Show All Devices selected and click Next.
- Click Have Disk, then click Browse.
- Open the extracted driver folder, select the android_winusb.inf file and click Open, then click OK.
- Select the driver shown in the list and click Next, then click Next again to start the installation. If a Windows Security prompt appears, choose Install.
- Click Finish. If Device Manager shows the new device with Code 10, ignore it; the warning clears after a restart.
- Restart the computer.
Once the computer has restarted, connect your Android device with a USB cable. It is now ready for ADB, Fastboot and file transfer.
Readme Once
- Driver Signature Error: If Windows refuses to install the driver because it is not digitally signed, follow the How to Fix Driver Signature Error guide and then try again.
- Driver Easy: If you still have trouble with the USB driver, you can use the Driver Easy application to find and install the required drivers automatically.
- Credits: The Android ADB Driver is created and distributed by Google. All credit goes to them for making the driver available for free.
