Error initializing ADB: Unable to create Debug Bridge: Unable to start ADB server

23
votes

When no other of these questions are helping me, then this means I need to remove and reinstall Android Studio.

Here's the error:

Error initializing ADB: Unable to create Debug Bridge:
Unable to start ADB server: adb server version (36) doesn't match this client;
killing... could not read OK from ADB server

  • failed to start daemon error:
    cannot connect to daemon 'C:\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe start-server' failed -- run manually if necessary.
4
androidandroid-studioadb
After hours of searching and no results, I found the solution on MacOS by accident. Hit cmd + ; and I was met with a screen with a red "no sdk" dropdown. Filling that in with the existing Android API made it all work. - Phix
See stackoverflow.com/questions/55647530/… - Ojonugwa Jude Ochalifu

4 Answers

49
votes

There are a couple of solutions depending on what exactly is causing the problem.

So, just follow the following steps.

Step 1:- Close Android-Studio.
Step 2:- Open Command prompt or win + r, type cmd and press Enter.
Step 3:- Navigate to your platform-tools, in most of the cases the location is: 

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

but in your case, the location is: 

C:\Android\Sdk\

For Mac users the path is

/Users/[user]/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools

Step 4:- Type adb.exe start-server, Press Enter
Step 5:- Open Android Studio again.

For Mac the command is just adb start-server

The problem should be solved!

If the problem persists, then follow these steps-

Step 1:- Close Android Studio.
Step 2:- Press Alt + Ctrl + Del, then choose Start Task Manager.

Windows Task Manager opens.

Step 3:- Go to the processes tab.
Step 4:- Look for adb.exe and select that.
Step 5:- Press End Process.
Step 6:- Open Android Studio again.

That's it. Now your problem must be solved!

But if the problem is still there (which I don't think will happen), then there is something wrong (or might be missing) in your platform-tools.

To fix that, delete platform-tools from your computer, then download them again from Official Android Developer website.

Extract the downloaded file.

Now place the extracted file, where platform-tools were located before deleting.

Default Location of platform-tools is 

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\

But in your case, the location is 

C:\Android\Sdk\
9
votes

I spent around a complete day to look for the solution but couldn't find the exact one.

Finally what I did was that I uninstalled my antivirus and after that it worked like a charm.

So, here I shortlist the steps to check whether you are solving for the correct problem or not:-

  1. Run command prompt and set path to where adb.exe file is present. (In most of the cases it's found at C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools)
  2. Type adb start-server and press enter.
  3. If there is an error displayed saying something like "Cannot connect to daemon" , then you must look in your antivirus for firewall settings and add the path to its exceptions or you can simply uninstall your antivirus.
5
votes

Steps to follow for Immediate recovery.

No need to close Android Studio.

  1. Goto Task Manager By Clicking (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
  2. Open Processes Tab.
  3. Click Image Name in the Processes Tab for Ascending Order(A-Z).
  4. Now choose adb.exe (or) adb.exe*32 (or) adb.exe*64.
  5. Now Click End Process Button at Right End Bottom corner.
  6. That's All , Now your adb will auto re-started When Launching Application.
3
votes

Download, extract and replace the platform-tools folder with this one here because the adb.exe file could be corrupted or empty with a file size of 0KB

File path on windows

C:\Users[user]\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools

File path on mac

/Users/[user]/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools