avdmanager

List all available Android Virtual Device targets

$ avdmanager list target

$ avdmanager list device

$ avdmanager list avd

$ avdmanager create avd -n [avd_name] -k "[system_image]" -d "[device_id]"

$ avdmanager create avd -n [avd_name] -k "system-images;android-[34];google_apis;x86_64" -d "pixel_6"

$ avdmanager delete avd -n [avd_name]

$ avdmanager move avd -n [old_name] -r [new_name]

avdmanager command [options]

avdmanager is the Android SDK command-line tool for creating and managing Android Virtual Devices (AVDs). AVDs are emulator configurations that define the hardware profile and system image for Android emulator instances.
Each AVD specifies a device type (phone, tablet, TV, wear), Android API level, system image (with or without Google APIs/Play Store), and hardware characteristics like screen size, RAM, and storage. These configurations are used by the Android emulator to simulate various Android devices.
The tool works alongside sdkmanager for downloading system images and emulator for running the virtual devices. AVDs are stored in ~/.android/avd/ by default.

list target

List available Android targets for AVD creation.

List available device definitions (phone, tablet, TV).

List all created Android Virtual Devices.

Create a new Android Virtual Device.

Delete an existing AVD.

Move or rename an AVD.

Name for the AVD.

System image package path.

Device definition to use.

Size of SD card (e.g., 512M).

Custom location for AVD files.

Force creation, overwriting existing AVD.

Creating an AVD requires the corresponding system image to be installed via sdkmanager first. Hardware acceleration (KVM on Linux, HAXM on macOS/Windows) is strongly recommended for acceptable emulator performance. AVDs for different architectures (arm64, x86_64) are not interchangeable.

avdmanager was introduced in Android SDK Tools version 25.3 (2017) as a replacement for the android command's AVD management functionality. It is part of Google's effort to provide focused, standalone command-line tools for Android development. The tool is distributed as part of the Android SDK command-line tools package.

sdkmanager(1), emulator(1), adb(1)