How to use ADB Shell when Multiple Devices are connected? Fails with "error: more than one device and emulator"

Use the -s option BEFORE the command to specify the device, for example:

adb -s 7f1c864e shell

See also http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html#directingcommands

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adb -d shell (or adb -e shell).

This command will help you in most of the cases, if you are too lazy to type the full ID.

From http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html#commandsummary:

-d - Direct an adb command to the only attached USB device. Returns an error when more than one USB device is attached. -e - Direct an adb command to the only running emulator. Returns an error when more than one emulator is running.

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Another alternative would be to set environment variable ANDROID_SERIAL to the relevant serial, here assuming you are using Windows:

set ANDROID_SERIAL=7f1c864e
echo %ANDROID_SERIAL%
"7f1c864e"

Then you can use adb.exe shell without any issues.

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I found this question after seeing the 'more than one device' error, with 2 offline phones showing:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\android-tools>adb devices
List of devices attached
SH436WM01785    offline
SH436WM01785    offline
SH436WM01785    sideload

If you only have one device connected, run the following commands to get rid of the offline connections:

adb kill-server
adb devices

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To install an apk on one of your emulators:

First get the list of devices:

-> adb devices
List of devices attached
25sdfsfb3801745eg        device
emulator-0954   device

Then install the apk on your emulator with the -s flag:

-> adb -s "25sdfsfb3801745eg" install "C:\Users\joel.joel\Downloads\release.apk"
Performing Streamed Install
Success

Ps.: the order here matters, so -s <id> has to come before install command, otherwise it won't work.

Hope this helps someone!

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The best way to run shell on any particular device is to use:

adb -s << emulator UDID >> shell

For Example:
adb -s emulator-5554 shell

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This gist will do most of the work for you showing a menu when there are multiple devices connected:

$ adb $(android-select-device) shell
1) 02783201431feeee device 3) emulator-5554
2) 3832380FA5F30000 device 4) emulator-5556
Select the device to use, <Q> to quit:

To avoid typing you can just create an alias that included the device selection as explained here.

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User @janot has already mentioned this above, but this took me some time to filter the best solution.

There are two Broad use cases:

1) 2 hardware are connected, first is emulator and other is a Device.
Solution : adb -e shell....whatever-command for emulator and adb -d shell....whatever-command for device.

2) n number of devices are connected (all emulators or Phones/Tablets) via USB/ADB-WiFi:

Solution: Step1) run adb devices THis will give you list of devices currently connected (via USB or ADBoverWiFI)
Step2) now run adb -s <device-id/IP-address> shell....whatever-command no matter how many devices you have.

Example
to clear app data on a device connected on wifi ADB I would execute:
adb -s 172.16.34.89:5555 shell pm clear com.package-id

to clear app data connected on my usb connected device I would execute:
adb -s 5210d21be2a5643d shell pm clear com.package-id

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For Windows, here's a quick 1 liner example of how to install a file..on multiple devices

FOR /F "skip=1"  %x IN ('adb devices') DO start adb -s %x install -r myandroidapp.apk

If you plan on including this in a batch file, replace %x with %%x, as below

FOR /F "skip=1"  %%x IN ('adb devices') DO start adb -s %%x install -r myandroidapp.apk

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Running adb commands on all connected devices

Create a bash (adb+)

adb devices | while read line
do
if [ ! "$line" = "" ] && [ `echo $line | awk '{print $2}'` = "device" ]
then
    device=`echo $line | awk '{print $1}'`
    echo "$device $@ ..."
    adb -s $device $@
fi

done use it with

adb+ //+ command

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Create a Bash (tools.sh) to select a serial from devices (or emulator):

clear;
echo "====================================================================================================";
echo " ADB DEVICES";
echo "====================================================================================================";
echo "";

adb_devices=( $(adb devices | grep -v devices | grep device | cut -f 1)#$(adb devices | grep -v devices | grep device | cut -f 2) );

if [ $((${#adb_devices[@]})) -eq "1" ] && [ "${adb_devices[0]}" == "#" ]
then
    echo "No device found";
    echo ""; 
    echo "====================================================================================================";
    device=""
    // Call Main Menu function fxMenu;
else
    read -p "$(
        f=0
        for dev in "${adb_devices[@]}"; do
            nm="$(echo ${dev} | cut -f1 -d#)";
            tp="$(echo ${dev} | cut -f2 -d#)";
            echo " $((++f)). ${nm} [${tp}]";
        done

        echo "";
        echo " 0. Quit"
        echo "";

        echo "====================================================================================================";
        echo "";
        echo ' Please select a device: '
    )" selection

    error="You think it's over just because I am dead. It's not over. The games have just begun.";
    // Call Validation Numbers fxValidationNumberMenu ${#adb_devices[@]} ${selection} "${error}" 
    case "${selection}" in
        0)
            // Call Main Menu function fxMenu;
        *)  
            device="$(echo ${adb_devices[$((selection-1))]} | cut -f1 -d#)";
            // Call Main Menu function fxMenu;
    esac
fi

Then in another option can use adb -s (global option -s use device with given serial number that overrides $ANDROID_SERIAL):

adb -s ${device} <command>

I tested this code on MacOS terminal, but I think it can be used on windows across Git Bash Terminal.

Also remember configure environmental variables and Android SDK paths on .bash_profile file:

export ANDROID_HOME="/usr/local/opt/android-sdk/"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/tools:$PATH"

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As per https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb#directingcommands

What worked for me (tested on Ubuntu bash)

$ adb devices
List of devices attached 
646269f0    device
8a928c2 device
$ export ANDROID_SERIAL=646269f0
$ echo $ANDROID_SERIAL
646269f0
$ adb reboot bootloader

This enables you to use normal commands and scripts as if there was only the ANDROID_SERIAL device attached.

Alternatively you can mention the device serial everytime

$ adb -s 646269f0 shell

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Here's a shell script I made for myself:

#! /bin/sh

for device in `adb devices | awk '{print $1}'`; do
  if [ ! "$device" = "" ] && [ ! "$device" = "List" ]
  then
    echo " "
    echo "adb -s $device $@"
    echo "------------------------------------------------------"
    adb -s $device $@
  fi
done

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For the sake of convenience, one can create run configurations, which set the ANDROID_SERIAL:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/syUOE.png

Where the adb_wifi.bat may look alike (only positional argument %1% and "$1" may differ):

adb tcpip 5555
adb connect %1%:5555

The advance is, that adb will pick up the current ANDROID_SERIAL.
In shell script also ANDROID_SERIAL=xyz adb shell should work.

This statement is not necessarily wrong:

-s SERIAL  use device with given serial (overrides $ANDROID_SERIAL)

But one can as well just change the ANDROID_SERIAL right before running the adb command.

One can even set eg. ANDROID_SERIAL=192.168.2.60:5555 to define the destination IP for adb.
This also permits to run adb shell, with the command being passed as "script parameters".

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you can use this to connect your specific device :

   * adb devices
  --------------
    List of devices attached
    9f91cc67    offline
    emulator-5558   device

example i want to connect to the first device "9f91cc67"

* adb -s 9f91cc67 tcpip 8080
---------------------------
restarting in TCP mode port: 8080

then

* adb -s 9f91cc67 connect 192.168.1.44:8080
----------------------------------------
connected to 192.168.1.44:8080

maybe this help someone

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