App Management Android 1.0+ Risk: SAFE

Start Activity / Launch App

Launches an Activity, opens an application, or triggers a custom Intent with extras.

Command Syntax

adb shell am start

Generic Syntax:

am start [-D] [-W] [-P <FILE>] [--start-profiler <FILE>] [-S] [-N] [-R <COUNT>] [-a <ACTION>] [-d <DATA_URI>] [-t <MIME_TYPE>] [-c <CATEGORY>] [-e|--es <EXTRA_KEY> <EXTRA_STRING_VALUE>] [-n <COMPONENT>]

Options & Parameters

Flag	Description
-n <COMPONENT>	Explicit component name formatted as package/activity class.
-a <ACTION>	Intent action name (e.g. android.intent.action.VIEW).
-d <DATA_URI>	Intent data URI (e.g. https://example.com or tel:123).
-t <MIME>	Intent MIME type (e.g. image/png, video/mp4).
-c <CATEGORY>	Intent category (e.g. android.intent.category.LAUNCHER).
-e <KEY> <VAL>	Pass string extra to the intent.
--ez <KEY> <VAL>	Pass boolean extra (true/false).
--ei <KEY> <VAL>	Pass integer extra.
-W	Wait for launch to complete and print benchmark timings.
-S	Force stop the target app before starting the activity.
-D	Enable debugging (wait for debugger attachment).

Real-World Usage Examples

Launch an app by package and main activity

Starts the specified activity.

adb shell am start -n com.example.app/.MainActivity

Output:

Starting: Intent { cmp=com.example.app/.MainActivity }

Open website URL in default Android browser

Launches browser with URL.

adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d https://webadbshell.dev

Output:

Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.VIEW dat=https://webadbshell.dev }

Measure cold start launch time (-W)

Measures TotalTime, WaitTime, and LaunchState.

adb shell am start -W -n com.spotify.music/com.spotify.music.MainActivity

Output:

Starting: Intent { cmp=com.spotify.music/.MainActivity }
Status: ok
LaunchState: COLD
Activity: com.spotify.music/.MainActivity
TotalTime: 382
WaitTime: 405
Complete

Force-stop before starting (-S)

Kills the application process first then cold-launches the activity.

adb shell am start -S -n com.example.app/.MainActivity

Output:

Stopping: com.example.app
Starting: Intent { cmp=com.example.app/.MainActivity }