A USB connection mode on Android devices which allows a USB connected computer to directly interact with the device.

USB debugging is a connection mode on Android devices which allows a USB connected computer to interact with the device. This can be used to e.g.,

  • Transfer data between the computer and the device.
  • Read log data from the device.
  • Execute commands directly on the device.
  • Debug applications running on the device.

More details can be found e.g. in our tag-wiki.

By default, USB debugging is disabled with stock ROMs (some custom ROMs however have it enabled by default). To toggle it on or off, you can find the corresponding switch in Settings › Developer – which is hidden by default in Android 4.2 onwards.

You can make this section visible by going to Settings › About device and "hammering" the entry telling your ROM's build version until a toast-message congratulates you for having become a developer.

Useful links on our site