Export picture from Android Virtual Machine

Question

I used an Android Virtual Device (AVD) for some while and got some pictures on it, that I want to have outside of the AVD. The problem is, that I don't know a way to get the picture out of it, since the folders on my laptop, that the AVM was running on, only contain compressed images of the whole system.

Does anyone know, if the picture might be stored as a .jpg file somewhere on my laptop (probably in $HOME/android-sdk-linux/) or if there is a way to export the picture?

I thought about just taking a screenshot of it, since they are saved as .jpg files on my laptop, but I don't know, if it might compromise the quality.

Thank you in advance!

More information, that could be helpful:

OS: Linux Mint, Kernel version 4.4.0-135-generic

AVD type and Android version: Nexus 5, Android 6.0

Emulated CPU: Intel Atom (x86_64)

Answer 1

adb comes pretty handy in this situation.

• Simply navigate to the platform-tools dir in your SDK installation folder (or start terminal right away if its path is saved in system varibles) and start terminal.

• Navigate to the folder where your pics are saved (or use ls command to view files).

• Use adb command to "pull" the files to your desktop:

  adb pull sdcard/<location_of_pics> /home/<user name>/Desktop
  

e.g adb pull sdcard/DCIM/pic001.jpg /home/<user name>/Desktop

Alternatively do this via explorer using a method similar to this one only that there no need for hotspot or extra config since the virtual device is running on the same PC and network runs through virtual adapters :)

Answer 2

While I second Xaviers recommendation of adb (which comes in handy in many cases, helping you to solve issues – e.g. by accessing the logs, see logging), let me mention some easy alternatives:

• you can install an FTP Server in your Android VM. That lets you access files easily via web browser (ftp://<ip-of-androidVM>/) or a dedicated FTP client.
• some other File Servers are available to be installed into your AndroidVM, and offer a nice web interface themselves – again to be used by any web browser (http://<ip-of-androidVM>/) on your PC
• also see my list Remotely manage media and files for additional alternatives.

_{Disclaimer: all above links go to my Android website.}