Generally developers connect their Android devices to their development system or computer via a USB cable in order to install/debug applications and for other purposes of course. However, you can also perform all these by connecting your device via a common Wi-Fi network.

The following steps will enable you to connect your device to your computer via a Wi-Fi network and use the ADB tool. Here’s how to use ADB over Wi-Fi:

  • Step 1
    Connect your Android device to your computer and have USB debugging enabled. Open the terminal/cmd and type:</p> 
    adb tcpip 5555

    You will get the following message as output:

    restarting in TCP mode port: 5555

    You have successfully enabled ADB over TCP/IP using the port 5555. In case that port is not available, you can use a different one.</li>

    • Step 2
      Get the IP address of your Android device by going to Settings -> About -> Status – IP Address. Type it into the terminal:</p> 
      adb connect #.#.#.#

      You will get the following message as output:

      connected to #.#.#.#:5555
    • Step 3
      ADB is now connected over Wi-Fi. You can remove the USB cable. Run the following command to confirm if the device is connected or not:</p> 
      adb devices

      You should get the output as:

      List of devices attached:
#.#.#.#:5555    device

      </ul>

    P.S. If you want switch back to USB mode, type:

    adb usb