ADB Driver and Windows 8.1

I had the following problem:
I had a Android phone without drivers, and it could not be recognized by the Windows 8.1. Neither as phone, neither as USB storage device.

I searched Device manager.
I opened Device manager, I right click on Android Phone->Android Composite Interface.
I selected "Update Driver Software"
I choose "Browse My Computer for Driver Software"
Then I choose "Let me pick from a list of devices"
I selected "USB Composite Device"

A new USB device is added to the list, and I can connect to my phone using adb and Android SDK.

Also I can use the phone as storage device.
Good luck


There is lots of stuff on this topic, each slightly different. Like many users I spent hours trying them and got nowhere. In the end, this is what worked for me - I.e. installed the driver on windows 8.1

In my extras/google/usb_driver is a file android_winusb.inf

I double clicked on this and it "ran" and installed the driver.

I can't explain why this worked.


UPDATE: Post with images ➤ English Version | Versión en Español


If Windows fails to enumerate the device which is reported in Device Manager as error code 43:

  • Install this Compatibility update from Windows.
  • If you already have this update but you get this error, restart your PC (unfortunately, it happened to me, I tried everything until I thought what if I restart...).

If the device is listed in Device Manager as Other devices -> Android but reports an error code 28:

  • Google USB Driver didn't work for me. You could try your corresponding OEM USB Drivers, but in my case my device is not listed there.
  • So, install the latest Samsung drivers: SAMSUNG USB Driver v1.7.23.0
  • Restart the computer (very important)
  • Go to Device Manager, find the Android device, and select Update Driver Software.
  • Select Browse my computer for driver software
  • Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
  • Select ADB Interface from the list
  • Select SAMSUNG Android ADB Interface (this is a signed driver). If you get a warning, select Yes to continue.
  • Done!

By doing this I was able to use my tablet for development under Windows 8.1.

Note: This solution uses Samsung drivers but works for other devices.

Post with images => English Version | Versión en Español


Use the awesome "Universal ADB (Android Debug Bridge) Driver for Windows": https://plus.google.com/103583939320326217147/posts/BQ5iYJEaaEH https://github.com/koush/UniversalAdbDriver

  • Windows 8 compatible
  • comes signed, so does not require you to turn off windows driver signature checks

Tested under Win8.1.1 x64.