ADB over Wifi, pre Android 11

Yep, this is doable too. But it requires an initial connection over USB.

  1. Connect the device over USB, with USB debugging enabled
  2. Open a terminal and check the device is connected:
    > adb devices
  3. Ask the device to listen for adb connections on a particular port:
    > adb tcpip 12345 or
    > adb -s DEVICE_ID tcpip 12345
  4. Once the adb has restarted, disconnect the device from USB.
  5. Check the device IP address, and connect to it over wifi:
    > adb connect 192.168.0.2:12345
  6. Ready to develop.
  7. Once done with dev, return the device to USB mode to not let the tcp port open as as security risk:
    > adb usb

It’s a bit more work than the simple settings toggle on Android 11, but works just as well once connected.

Note: The devices need to be on the same wifi network, and not be connected through VPN.