adb-reverse

Set up reverse port forwarding from device to host

TLDR

Reverse forward device port to local port

$ adb reverse tcp:[8080] tcp:[8080]

List all reverse forwards

$ adb reverse --list

Remove a specific reverse forward

$ adb reverse --remove tcp:[8080]

Remove all reverse forwards

$ adb reverse --remove-all

SYNOPSIS

adb reverse [--no-rebind] remote local
adb reverse --list | --remove remote | --remove-all

adb reverse sets up reverse port forwarding from the Android device to your computer. This allows apps on the device to connect to services running on your development machine as if they were running locally on the device.
This is commonly used for connecting React Native apps to the Metro bundler, or allowing device apps to access local development servers.

PARAMETERS

tcp:port

TCP port number

localabstract:name

Unix domain socket in abstract namespace

--no-rebind

Fail if remote port is already forwarded

--list

List all active reverse forwards

--remove remote

Remove specific reverse forward rule

--remove-all

Remove all reverse forward rules

CAVEATS

Reverse forwarding is available on Android 5.0+ only. The feature requires the adb server to maintain the connection. Reverse forwards are lost when the device disconnects or adb server restarts.

HISTORY

adb reverse was added in Android 5.0 Lollipop (2014) to support development workflows where device apps need to connect to services on the development machine.