Files & Transfer Android 1.0+ Risk: SAFE

Pull File / Directory from Device

Copies files and directories from the Android device to the host computer.

Command Syntax

adb pull
Generic Syntax: adb pull [-a] [-z <ALGORITHM>] [-Z] <remote_path>... <local_path>

Options & Parameters

Flag Description
-a Preserve file timestamps and file permissions.
-z <ALGO> Enable compression (brotli, lz4, zstd).

Real-World Usage Examples

Pull screenshot from device
Downloads screenshot to current computer directory.
adb pull /sdcard/Download/screen.png ./
Output:
/sdcard/Download/screen.png: 1 file pulled, 0 skipped. 35.8 MB/s (2489102 bytes in 0.066s)
Pull DCIM camera photos preserving timestamps
Downloads entire photo gallery maintaining original file modified dates.
adb pull -a /sdcard/DCIM/Camera ./MyPhotos
Output:
/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/: 42 files pulled, 0 skipped. 52.1 MB/s (892019482 bytes in 16.321s)