/scrcpy

Display and control your Android device

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scrcpy (v1.17)

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This application provides display and control of Android devices connected on USB (or over TCP/IP). It does not require any root access. It works on GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS.

screenshot

It focuses on:

  • lightness (native, displays only the device screen)
  • performance (30~60fps)
  • quality (1920×1080 or above)
  • low latency (35~70ms)
  • low startup time (~1 second to display the first image)
  • non-intrusiveness (nothing is left installed on the device)

Requirements

The Android device requires at least API 21 (Android 5.0).

Make sure you enabled adb debugging on your device(s).

On some devices, you also need to enable an additional option to control it using keyboard and mouse.

Get the app

Packaging status

Linux

On Debian (testing and sid for now) and Ubuntu (20.04):

apt install scrcpy

A Snap package is available: scrcpy.

For Fedora, a COPR package is available: scrcpy.

For Arch Linux, an AUR package is available: scrcpy.

For Gentoo, an Ebuild is available: scrcpy/.

You could also build the app manually (don't worry, it's not that hard).

Windows

For Windows, for simplicity, a prebuilt archive with all the dependencies (including adb) is available:

It is also available in Chocolatey:

choco install scrcpy
choco install adb    # if you don't have it yet

And in Scoop:

scoop install scrcpy
scoop install adb    # if you don't have it yet

You can also build the app manually.

macOS

The application is available in Homebrew. Just install it:

brew install scrcpy

You need adb, accessible from your PATH. If you don't have it yet:

# Homebrew >= 2.6.0
brew install --cask android-platform-tools

# Homebrew < 2.6.0
brew cask install android-platform-tools

You can also build the app manually.

Run

Plug an Android device, and execute:

scrcpy

It accepts command-line arguments, listed by:

scrcpy --help

Features

Capture configuration

Reduce size

Sometimes, it is useful to mirror an Android device at a lower definition to increase performance.

To limit both the width and height to some value (e.g. 1024):

scrcpy --max-size 1024
scrcpy -m 1024  # short version

The other dimension is computed to that the device aspect ratio is preserved. That way, a device in 1920×1080 will be mirrored at 1024×576.

Change bit-rate

The default bit-rate is 8 Mbps. To change the video bitrate (e.g. to 2 Mbps):

scrcpy --bit-rate 2M
scrcpy -b 2M  # short version

Limit frame rate

The capture frame rate can be limited:

scrcpy --max-fps 15

This is officially supported since Android 10, but may work on earlier versions.

Crop

The device screen may be cropped to mirror only part of the screen.

This is useful for example to mirror only one eye of the Oculus Go:

scrcpy --crop 1224:1440:0:0   # 1224x1440 at offset (0,0)

If --max-size is also specified, resizing is applied after cropping.

Lock video orientation

To lock the orientation of the mirroring:

scrcpy --lock-video-orientation 0   # natural orientation
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation 1   # 90° counterclockwise
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation 2   # 180°
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation 3   # 90° clockwise

This affects recording orientation.

The window may also be rotated independently.

Encoder

Some devices have more than one encoder, and some of them may cause issues or crash. It is possible to select a different encoder:

scrcpy --encoder OMX.qcom.video.encoder.avc

To list the available encoders, you could pass an invalid encoder name, the error will give the available encoders:

scrcpy --encoder _

Recording

It is possible to record the screen while mirroring:

scrcpy --record file.mp4
scrcpy -r file.mkv

To disable mirroring while recording:

scrcpy --no-display --record file.mp4
scrcpy -Nr file.mkv
# interrupt recording with Ctrl+C

"Skipped frames" are recorded, even if they are not displayed in real time (for performance reasons). Frames are timestamped on the device, so packet delay variation does not impact the recorded file.

Connection

Wireless

Scrcpy uses adb to communicate with the device, and adb can connect to a device over TCP/IP:

  1. Connect the device to the same Wi-Fi as your computer.

  2. Get your device IP address, in Settings → About phone → Status, or by executing this command:

    adb shell ip route | awk '{print $9}'

  3. Enable adb over TCP/IP on your device: adb tcpip 5555.

  4. Unplug your device.

  5. Connect to your device: adb connect DEVICE_IP:5555 (replace DEVICE_IP).

  6. Run scrcpy as usual.

It may be useful to decrease the bit-rate and the definition:

scrcpy --bit-rate 2M --max-size 800
scrcpy -b2M -m800  # short version

Multi-devices

If several devices are listed in adb devices, you must specify the serial:

scrcpy --serial 0123456789abcdef
scrcpy -s 0123456789abcdef  # short version

If the device is connected over TCP/IP:

scrcpy --serial 192.168.0.1:5555
scrcpy -s 192.168.0.1:5555  # short version

You can start several instances of scrcpy for several devices.

Autostart on device connection

You could use AutoAdb:

autoadb scrcpy -s '{}'

SSH tunnel

To connect to a remote device, it is possible to connect a local adb client to a remote adb server (provided they use the same version of the adb protocol):

adb kill-server    # kill the local adb server on 5037
ssh -CN -L5037:localhost:5037 -R27183:localhost:27183 your_remote_computer
# keep this open

From another terminal:

scrcpy

To avoid enabling remote port forwarding, you could force a forward connection instead (notice the -L instead of -R):

adb kill-server    # kill the local adb server on 5037
ssh -CN -L5037:localhost:5037 -L27183:localhost:27183 your_remote_computer
# keep this open

From another terminal:

scrcpy --force-adb-forward

Like for wireless connections, it may be useful to reduce quality:

scrcpy -b2M -m800 --max-fps 15

Window configuration

Title

By default, the window title is the device model. It can be changed:

scrcpy --window-title 'My device'

Position and size

The initial window position and size may be specified:

scrcpy --window-x 100 --window-y 100 --window-width 800 --window-height 600

Borderless

To disable window decorations:

scrcpy --window-borderless

Always on top

To keep the scrcpy window always on top:

scrcpy --always-on-top

Fullscreen

The app may be started directly in fullscreen:

scrcpy --fullscreen
scrcpy -f  # short version

Fullscreen can then be toggled dynamically with MOD+f.

Rotation

The window may be rotated:

scrcpy --rotation 1

Possibles values are:

  • 0: no rotation
  • 1: 90 degrees counterclockwise
  • 2: 180 degrees
  • 3: 90 degrees clockwise

The rotation can also be changed dynamically with MOD+← (left) and MOD+→ (right).

Note that scrcpy manages 3 different rotations:

  • MOD+r requests the device to switch between portrait and landscape (the current running app may refuse, if it does support the requested orientation).
  • --lock-video-orientation changes the mirroring orientation (the orientation of the video sent from the device to the computer). This affects the recording.
  • --rotation (or MOD+←/MOD+→) rotates only the window content. This affects only the display, not the recording.

Other mirroring options

Read-only

To disable controls (everything which can interact with the device: input keys, mouse events, drag&drop files):

scrcpy --no-control
scrcpy -n

Display

If several displays are available, it is possible to select the display to mirror:

scrcpy --display 1

The list of display ids can be retrieved by:

adb shell dumpsys display   # search "mDisplayId=" in the output

The secondary display may only be controlled if the device runs at least Android 10 (otherwise it is mirrored in read-only).

Stay awake

To prevent the device to sleep after some delay when the device is plugged in:

scrcpy --stay-awake
scrcpy -w

The initial state is restored when scrcpy is closed.

Turn screen off

It is possible to turn the device screen off while mirroring on start with a command-line option:

scrcpy --turn-screen-off
scrcpy -S

Or by pressing MOD+o at any time.

To turn it back on, press MOD+Shift+o.

On Android, the POWER button always turns the screen on. For convenience, if POWER is sent via scrcpy (via right-click or MOD+p), it will force to turn the screen off after a small delay (on a best effort basis). The physical POWER button will still cause the screen to be turned on.

It can also be useful to prevent the device from sleeping:

scrcpy --turn-screen-off --stay-awake
scrcpy -Sw

Render expired frames

By default, to minimize latency, scrcpy always renders the last decoded frame available, and drops any previous one.

To force the rendering of all frames (at a cost of a possible increased latency), use:

scrcpy --render-expired-frames

Show touches

For presentations, it may be useful to show physical touches (on the physical device).

Android provides this feature in Developers options.

Scrcpy provides an option to enable this feature on start and restore the initial value on exit:

scrcpy --show-touches
scrcpy -t

Note that it only shows physical touches (with the finger on the device).

Disable screensaver

By default, scrcpy does not prevent the screensaver to run on the computer.

To disable it:

scrcpy --disable-screensaver

Input control

Rotate device screen

Press MOD+r to switch between portrait and landscape modes.

Note that it rotates only if the application in foreground supports the requested orientation.

Copy-paste

Any time the Android clipboard changes, it is automatically synchronized to the computer clipboard.

Any Ctrl shortcut is forwarded to the device. In particular:

  • Ctrl+c typically copies
  • Ctrl+x typically cuts
  • Ctrl+v typically pastes (after computer-to-device clipboard synchronization)

This typically works as you expect.

The actual behavior depends on the active application though. For example, Termux sends SIGINT on Ctrl+c instead, and K-9 Mail composes a new message.

To copy, cut and paste in such cases (but only supported on Android >= 7):

  • MOD+c injects COPY
  • MOD+x injects CUT
  • MOD+v injects PASTE (after computer-to-device clipboard synchronization)

In addition, MOD+Shift+v allows to inject the computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events. This is useful when the component does not accept text pasting (for example in Termux), but it can break non-ASCII content.

WARNING: Pasting the computer clipboard to the device (either via Ctrl+v or MOD+v) copies the content into the device clipboard. As a consequence, any Android application could read its content. You should avoid to paste sensitive content (like passwords) that way.

Some devices do not behave as expected when setting the device clipboard programmatically. An option --legacy-paste is provided to change the behavior of Ctrl+v and MOD+v so that they also inject the computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events (the same way as MOD+Shift+v).

Pinch-to-zoom

To simulate "pinch-to-zoom": Ctrl+click-and-move.

More precisely, hold Ctrl while pressing the left-click button. Until the left-click button is released, all mouse movements scale and rotate the content (if supported by the app) relative to the center of the screen.

Concretely, scrcpy generates additional touch events from a "virtual finger" at a location inverted through the center of the screen.

Text injection preference

There are two kinds of events generated when typing text:

  • key events, signaling that a key is pressed or released;
  • text events, signaling that a text has been entered.

By default, letters are injected using key events, so that the keyboard behaves as expected in games (typically for WASD keys).

But this may cause issues. If you encounter such a problem, you can avoid it by:

scrcpy --prefer-text

(but this will break keyboard behavior in games)

Key repeat

By default, holding a key down generates repeated key events. This can cause performance problems in some games, where these events are useless anyway.

To avoid forwarding repeated key events:

scrcpy --no-key-repeat

Right-click and middle-click

By default, right-click triggers BACK (or POWER on) and middle-click triggers HOME. To disable these shortcuts and forward the clicks to the device instead:

scrcpy --forward-all-clicks

File drop

Install APK

To install an APK, drag & drop an APK file (ending with .apk) to the scrcpy window.

There is no visual feedback, a log is printed to the console.

Push file to device

To push a file to /sdcard/ on the device, drag & drop a (non-APK) file to the scrcpy window.

There is no visual feedback, a log is printed to the console.

The target directory can be changed on start:

scrcpy --push-target /sdcard/foo/bar/

Audio forwarding

Audio is not forwarded by scrcpy. Use sndcpy.

Also see issue #14.

Shortcuts

In the following list, MOD is the shortcut modifier. By default, it's (left) Alt or (left) Super.

It can be changed using --shortcut-mod. Possible keys are lctrl, rctrl, lalt, ralt, lsuper and rsuper. For example:

# use RCtrl for shortcuts
scrcpy --shortcut-mod=rctrl

# use either LCtrl+LAlt or LSuper for shortcuts
scrcpy --shortcut-mod=lctrl+lalt,lsuper

Super is typically the Windows or Cmd key.

Action Shortcut
Switch fullscreen mode MOD+f
Rotate display left MOD+← (left)
Rotate display right MOD+→ (right)
Resize window to 1:1 (pixel-perfect) MOD+g
Resize window to remove black borders MOD+w | Double-click¹
Click on HOME MOD+h | Middle-click
Click on BACK MOD+b | Right-click²
Click on APP_SWITCH MOD+s
Click on MENU (unlock screen) MOD+m
Click on VOLUME_UP MOD+↑ (up)
Click on VOLUME_DOWN MOD+↓ (down)
Click on POWER MOD+p
Power on Right-click²
Turn device screen off (keep mirroring) MOD+o
Turn device screen on MOD+Shift+o
Rotate device screen MOD+r
Expand notification panel MOD+n
Collapse notification panel MOD+Shift+n
Copy to clipboard³ MOD+c
Cut to clipboard³ MOD+x
Synchronize clipboards and paste³ MOD+v
Inject computer clipboard text MOD+Shift+v
Enable/disable FPS counter (on stdout) MOD+i
Pinch-to-zoom Ctrl+click-and-move

¹Double-click on black borders to remove them.
²Right-click turns the screen on if it was off, presses BACK otherwise.
³Only on Android >= 7.

All Ctrl+key shortcuts are forwarded to the device, so they are handled by the active application.

Custom paths

To use a specific adb binary, configure its path in the environment variable ADB:

ADB=/path/to/adb scrcpy

To override the path of the scrcpy-server file, configure its path in SCRCPY_SERVER_PATH.

Why scrcpy?

A colleague challenged me to find a name as unpronounceable as gnirehtet.

strcpy copies a string; scrcpy copies a screen.

How to build?

See BUILD.

Common issues

See the FAQ.

Developers

Read the developers page.

Licence

Copyright (C) 2018 Genymobile
Copyright (C) 2018-2021 Romain Vimont

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.

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