How to Send Mock SMS to Android Emulator Using ADB: Complete Testing Guide
When building Android apps that handle SMS — OTP verification, message parsing, two-factor authentication flows — testing on a physical device means you're dependent on actually receiving messages, which slows things down. The Android emulator solves this cleanly: ADB lets you inject mock SMS messages directly into a running emulator, so you can test your SMS handling logic without a SIM card or a real number.
This guide walks through setting up an emulator if you don't have one, starting it, and sending SMS messages via ADB.
Setting Up an Emulator
If you already have an emulator configured, skip ahead to the next section.
Install Android Studio from developer.android.com. During setup, make sure the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager component is selected.
Create a virtual device:
- Open Android Studio and go to Tools > Device Manager
- Click Create Device
- Choose a hardware profile — Pixel 5 or Pixel 6 work well for most testing
- Select a system image (Android 13 or 14 recommended) and download it if it's not already available
- Adjust RAM and storage if needed, then click Finish
Starting the Emulator
From Android Studio:
Open Device Manager and click the play button next to your emulator. Wait for it to fully boot before proceeding.
From the command line:
List your available emulators:
<Android SDK path>/emulator/emulator -list-avds
Start one by name:
<Android SDK path>/emulator/emulator -avd Pixel_5_API_33
Replace Pixel_5_API_33 with the name from your AVD list.
Verify the emulator is running:
adb devices
You should see output like:
List of devices attached
emulator-5554 device
If the status shows offline instead of device, wait a few more seconds for the emulator to finish booting.
Sending a Mock SMS
Once the emulator is running, sending a test SMS is a single command:
adb emu sms send <phone_number> "<message>"
For example:
adb emu sms send 5551234567 "Your OTP is 849201"
The phone number can be any string — it doesn't need to be a real or valid number. The message can be anything, including structured formats your app might parse.
Verify it arrived:
Open the Messages app on the emulator. The SMS should appear immediately from the number you specified.
If You Have Multiple Devices Connected
If adb devices shows more than one device or emulator, target a specific one with the -s flag:
adb -s emulator-5554 emu sms send 5551234567 "Your OTP is 849201"
Use the exact device ID from the adb devices output.
Useful ADB Commands for Emulator Testing
List connected devices:
adb devices
Open a shell on the emulator:
adb shell
Install an APK:
adb install path/to/your-app.apk
Uninstall an app:
adb uninstall com.your.package.name
Clear app data (reset app state):
adb shell pm clear com.your.package.name
Restart ADB if devices aren't showing:
adb kill-server
adb start-server
Troubleshooting
"emulator: command not found"
The emulator binary isn't in your PATH. Either add <Android SDK>/emulator/ to your PATH, or use the full path to the binary each time.
Emulator not appearing in adb devices
Make sure the emulator has fully booted — the home screen should be visible. If it still doesn't appear, restart the ADB server with adb kill-server followed by adb start-server.
SMS not appearing in the Messages app
Some system images handle SMS simulation better than others. If you're on an older image, try updating to a more recent Android version. Also check that the Messages app is set as the default SMS app on the emulator.
Summary
Start the emulator, confirm it's listed with adb devices, then run adb emu sms send <number> "<message>". The SMS appears in the emulator's Messages app immediately. This works for any SMS content — OTPs, structured messages, conversation threads — and makes SMS-related feature testing significantly faster than relying on real messages.
