ADB.exe is obsolete and has serious performance problems

Question

I am using Windows 10 and when I launch the Virtual Device Emulator in Android Studio I keep getting the message which reads:

"The ADB binary at C:\Users\siviw\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe is obsolete and has serious performance problems with the Android Emulator. Please update to a newer version to get significantly faster app / file transfer".

I am a new developer with little experience. What do I need to update to a newer version so that message is no longer shown?

Art

If you already have the latest version of ADB installed, and still getting the error, this is a known issue. Google hasn't yet provided any other ADB. Click on the "never show again" option and continue. – Fonz

It's amazing that they would add that error message to their code, and then... release it like that!!! – Shoup

Just got this message. 3 years later. It turned out a new version of the SDK tools just became available... I guess this is just Google's way of saying 'A new update is available' – Ellyellyn

Just got this message in Visual Studio 2019 Community (with "seriousperformance" grammatical error). Going to Android SDKs and Tools, tab Tools, reveals I already have the latest available Android SDK Build-Tools (30.0.2). Selected "Ignore this message" checkbox on next start-up. – Pare

In my case, i had a additional file adb.exe at C:/adb/adb.exe, I deleted this folder, and everything was fixed. I manually downloaded it for some stuff, so it was not update-able – Aardvark

Answer 1

I am new to android as well. dkalev's answer is correct but not very descriptive for a new user. I have outlined the steps below.

1. Double Shift to open the search box
2. Type SDK Manager
3. In the results shown click "SDK Manager"
4. In the window that opens click the second tab "SDK Tools". You should see that there is an update available for SDK Build-Tools on the first line
5. Check "Show Package Details" in the lower right hand corner
6. Scroll to the last (latest version) item under "SDK Build-Tools" and check the box. (Mine was 28.0.1)
7. Click "Apply"
8. In the dialogue box that pops up, click "OK"
9. When the installer finishes, click "Finish"
10. Uncheck "Show Package Details" and look at "Android SDK Build-Tools" (first line). There should be no update available and it should say "Installed"
11. Click "OK" to close the SDK Manager

Wedurn

Should there be a "Step 6b: also click the last major version in each that is not yet installed" (so 27.0.3, 26.0.3, etc)? – Nonviolence

If this doesn't work, check task manager for more than one instance of adb.exe; other apps besides Android Studio might start instances of this program. – Nonviolence

But then my SDK Build Tools is of the latest version – Lohman

My list is sorted latest to oldest, so it's now the first item. I will note however that I'm getting the warning even though the newer versions are all Beta releases. I suspect that it's also optimistic to claim that a new version is always much faster. I bet they wrote that message for one particular upgrade and then have just never changed it. It probably really just means you're out of date, catch up. – Mucker

latest versioon is (step 6) 30.0.0-rc2 – Straightforward

If you see more than one sdk selected. Remove all the old versions of the SDK by un selecting them. Leave only the most recent version selected and follow the steps above. This worked for me. – Nettles

Thanks for this answer. I had a release candidate ("rc") installed. I removed that, updated all versions to the latest versions (ie, 26.0.2 to 26.0.3, 27.0.2 to 27.0.3) – Unstriped

When you say "Scroll to the last item", do you mean "Scroll to the last ***checked*** item"? – Neva

Your answer and @褚阳光 below solved it for me. I hope others get to see. – Cora

After updating the plugin you may need to restart Android Studio/Operating system to take effect. Or you may try to create a new emulator and delete the old one. – Hormonal

still had the issue after updating, no need to delete older versions what i did, closed the device then i wiped the data for the device error was gone no need to delete the your device – Chicken

I love it when someone explains without any image and it directly hit the point with exactly same settings. Thank you man. Cheers – Aniline

Answer 2

For me, update SDK doesn't help. I solve this problem by unchecking the emulator option "Use detected ADB location". Give it a try.

Tshombe

I could kiss you – Jule

This also worked for me. I only have 1 copy of adb.exe on my entire system, and it's the latest. Only un-checking this option removed the error for me. – Tarsus

Any information on what this does and why it works? – Ichnography

I'm glad this is the steps i followed. And it work! Otherwise, God knows all hell breaks loose if I had done different steps. Thanks man. – Bohunk

Answer 3

I had the same problem and solved it by updating the Android SDK Build-Tools. Open the SDK manager in Android studio (double shift and type SDK manager). Then on the second tab (SDK Tools) update the Android SDK Build-Tools and the error message should go away.

Strip

Answer 4

This is an years old bug.

Check your adb version like this : (the adb path is given with the error itself)

C:\Users\<your_user_name_>\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe --version

output :

Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.41

Version 29.0.4-5871666

Installed as C:\Users\sunil\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe

It means this adb comes from the latest sdk platform tools 29.0.4. Check the latest version from official site here.

If you already have the latest version of ADB installed, and still getting the error, this is a known issue. Google hasn't yet provided any other ADB. Click on the "never show again" option and continue.

Fonz

Have version 30.0.4-6686687 and still get this problem and it is the current latest version. – Unsaddle

It seems they show this message whenever an update is available, including RC (release candidate) updates. – Ellyellyn

Answer 5

17-01-2019

This works for me. Just opened Android SDK Manager Then it showed 4 Updates Available. So I just Updated it and No more above warning.

Inch

Thank you, I think the most simple way. That could fix an issue I had in Android Studio with Logcat when I use scrcpy.adb installed from snap. – Handal

or if you use VS Code and only use the SDK Manager of Android Studio, you can use steps in here – Obtect

Answer 6

Had the same issue but in my case the fix was slightly different, as no updates were showing for the Android SDK Tools. I opened the Virtual Device Manager and realised my emulator was running API 27. Checked back in the SDK Manager and I didn't have API 27 SDK Tools installed at all. Installing v 27 resolved the issue for me.

Book

Answer 7

This happened to me. And, in my case I need Android SDK Platform 29 because I am using react native 0.63 and Android 10 (Q). I had to uninstall Android SDK Platform 28 because it was the one that caused the warning. I found this video See Here explaining the process.

1. Open Android Studio then click on configure

2. Go to SDK Manager

3. Go to SDK Tools and click show package details

4. Uncheck Android SDK Platform 28 (OBS: for me) and Apply

5. Click OK and Finish.

With this I was able eliminate the warning.

Lani

open android studio. Go to SDK Manager, SDK Tools click show package details – Omland

Answer 8

In my case what removed this message was (After updating everything) deleting the emulator and creating a new one. Manually updating the adb didn't solved this for. Nor updating via the Android studio Gui. In my case it seems that since the emulator was created with "old" components it keep showing the message. I had three emulators, just deleted them all and created a new one. For my surprise when it started the message was no more.

Cannot tell if performance is better or not. The message just didn't came up. Also I have everything updated to the latest (emulators and sdk).

Chuipek

Just to add on this matter. After the message went out. I created an older sdk emulator (older than current). And it showed the message again with that particular emulator. But then somewhere in the future the message stop showing at all. If you are with this issue, is a witch hunt for me. And cannot say it will not show again in the future. In my case I will every now and then (after sdk updates) will try to delete and recreate emulators just to keep them with a current revision. – Chuipek

By "I had three emulators" did you mean you have a single emulator binary but three AVD (android virtual device) definitions in your AVD manager? – Coralyn

This situation after a few days came back to hunt me. Now I am now mostly using devices so I am not sure if the problem persists after so many updates. – Chuipek

This also worked for me. If nothing works, just try to remove Virtual Device and add again and try to check that you already have sdk that you need is installed because you can have duplicates of same SDKs. – Raft

Answer 9

I had the same problem and solved it by updating the Android SDK Build-Tools in Android Studio.

step 1 - Double shift and type SDK manager, this will open the SDK manager

step 2 - Then on the second tab (SDK Tools), update the Android SDK Build-Tools and the error message should go away.

if this does not resolve check the option in Setting tab,use detected Adb tool in Setting tab

Meredith

Answer 10

(You mentioned you are new to Android Studio) so I recommend pressing the Android Studio > Help > Check for updates... button that will update your environment.

Pleiades

Answer 11

I solved this error by uninstalling two older SDK build tools versions, leaving only the most recent one.

Parahydrogen

Answer 12

The solution that worked for me -

I closed my Android Studio.

I visited this site - https://androidstudio.io/downloads/tools/download-the-latest-version-of-adb.exe.html

From there I downloaded the latest adb.zip file

I unzipped the folder and copied the 3 files -

adb.exe
AdbWinApi.dll
AdbWinUsbApi.dll 

I went to the folder - C:\Users\PayelSenapati\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools

There I replaced the old files by the new files. (Paste followed by replace the existing files)

Then I reopened my Android Studio, opened my virtual android device. Everything went fine. The error was no more.

Doty

This solution worked for me as well. However the link above has some security certificate issues. I used developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools instead. – Diaphysis

Answer 13

In the SDK Manager, in the SDK Tools tab, check if you have any updates, if not, deselect "Hide Obsolete Packages" and check if you have something marked as (obsolete) if so, deselect the item and apply. In my case, it was the Android SDK Tools.

Folkmoot

Thanks Lucas. But unchecking the Android SDK Tools, makes my program stopped running. The emulator couldn't open and Console show message "Waiting for device to come online". – Carberry

Answer 14

First you need to check which SDK your Emulator is using and as @kuya suggested you need to follow those steps and install the latest version of that SDK Build Tool. Suppose your Emulator uses SDK 27 then you need to install latest in that series. For me it was 27.0.3. After that the error was gone.

Leguminous

Answer 15

Try factory reset to virtual device from Android Device Manager

Petiolule

Answer 16

None of the top-voted answers worked for me, except when I unchecked "Use detected ADB location" as mentioned above by @褚阳光. Fortunately, in my case though, the message didn't show up, even when I turned it back on. In other words, the problem might be resolved by restarting "Use detected ADB location" :)

Wycoff

Answer 17

Try update your SDK Tools items, and then delete all currently created emulator and recreate again. it works for me

Livi

Worked for me too - thank you! Updating as mentioned in the above solutions did not help – Hail

Answer 18

This might sound normal but I was getting the same error but just updated it and it worked now without any error. I suggests anyone to try for updates first.

Idolatrize

Answer 19

If you are stuck after following each of the steps outlined in above, I will suggest you combine more than one answers. The answers of @Kuya and @褚阳光 worked for me. Try them out. I can explain more if the steps are yielding results for you.

Cora

Answer 20

This can also be an issue with hyper-v settings on Windows 10 pro. Because with this error I was facing BSOD - https://www.techclassy.com/fix-hypervisor-error-bsod/

Neurogenic

Answer 21

I faced the same issue, and I tried following things, which didn't work:

1. Deleting the existing AVD and creating a new one.

2. Uninstall latest-existing and older versions (if you have) of SDK-Tools and SDK-Build-Tools and installing new ones.

What worked for me was uninstalling and re-installing latest PLATFORM-TOOLS, where adb actually resides.

Deduce

It works for the first time only... Second time onward the same issue is there. – Deduce

Answer 22

I got this error and I tried all the possible solutions that I found on every site, nothing worked. I was working with flutter, and the command flutter doctor showed me that I need to accept a few agreements I did that and ADB started to work
So conclusion: If nothing works, install flutter, run flutter doctor, execute the commands that flutter doctor suggests to you. This should solve your problem
the command was: flutter doctor --android-licenses

Bierman

Answer 23

A reboot worked for me on my mac and reinstalling SDK BuildTools.

Hello

Answer 24

I followed the answer, but the magic final step was deleting the existing virtual environment and creating a new one.

Heelpiece