adb pull says it pulled all of the files from my Android phone into my Windows PC but in reality it didn't

Question

So I am using adb to copy all of my Android files to my Windows PC with this command: adb pull -a /mnt/sdcard C:\backup



And when it's done it says all x amount of files have been pulled, I can confirm that the number of pulled files matches the amount of files that reside inside the folder of my Android storage but when I check how many files are actually in the C:\backup folder, I see about 200 missing or in other words adb skipped about 200 files and did not copy them over to my C:\backup folder.



I understand that this could be due to path limit or due to some files containing characters in their filenames that Windows' NTFS file system just doesn't allow.



How can I see what files are actually being skipped? Is there a switch in adb or some trick?


— computationalprince | Sources

Answer

Just pulling all files via adb to a WIndows computer has multiple problems:




  1. Android/Linux allows multiple files in one directory that just differ in their case.

  2. The file-system on Linux allow characters in file- and directory names that are disallowed on Windows

  3. Some file-names are completely disallowed on Windows which are just regular file-names on Linux/Android

  4. There is a path limit as you have already mention that may cause trouble



Hence the best solution to create a full backup of the sd-card is to pack all files into one tar archive as all file-system limitation of Windows can bypassed using this method.



Via adb you create a full backup of the sd-card using the following command:



adb exec-out "cd /storage/emulated/0 && tar c * -" > sdcard.tar


This command creates the tar archive on the device and directly streams the data of the tar archive through adb to your PC and saves it there as sdcard.tar.


— Robert | Sources

Q & A

Opening .memo files from Samsung default memo app
Able to open existing files, but cannot download any new ones (e.g., pictures from Chrome or camera app)
Why doesn't my Android 7.0 smartphone have Ambient display?
Add external calendar to Google Calendar
Share location between iOS and Android..?
Samsung FRP lock - Android 5.1 have access to Settings
Network Support Explained
""Unfortunately Google (or other app) has stopped error.
I cannot remove Administrator Rights from any app
Treble: How do I check if it is enabled on my device?
Why can't the touch layer on the screen can't be replaced?
Android Playstore speed problem on Stock Android phone
Default volume key control LineageOS
Is there any way to recover data from 2nd SD partition?
Is it possible to install the Android browser and email app if they weren't built-in?
Enabling USB Debugging on locked (FRP) android phone
How can I keep my clock widget work in background?
How to disable autostart of an app on LineageOS 14?
Same app paid for twice due to some error on Google Play Store, no receipt of failed transaction, but money deducted
Keep flashlight on while in camera

Topics

2D Engines   3D Engines   9-Patch   Action Bars   Activities   ADB   Advertisements   Analytics   Animations   ANR   AOP   API   APK   APT   Architecture   Audio   Autocomplete   Background Processing   Backward Compatibility   Badges   Bar Codes   Benchmarking   Bitmaps   Bluetooth   Blur Effects   Bread Crumbs   BRMS   Browser Extensions   Build Systems   Bundles   Buttons   Caching   Camera   Canvas   Cards   Carousels   Changelog   Checkboxes   Cloud Storages   Color Analysis   Color Pickers   Colors   Comet/Push   Compass Sensors   Conferences   Content Providers   Continuous Integration   Crash Reports   Credit Cards   Credits   CSV   Curl/Flip   Data Binding   Data Generators   Data Structures   Database   Database Browsers   Date &   Debugging   Decompilers   Deep Links   Dependency Injections   Design   Design Patterns   Dex   Dialogs   Distributed Computing   Distribution Platforms   Download Managers   Drawables   Emoji   Emulators   EPUB   Equalizers &   Event Buses   Exception Handling   Face Recognition   Feedback &   File System   File/Directory   Fingerprint   Floating Action   Fonts   Forms   Fragments   FRP   FSM   Functional Programming   Gamepads   Games   Geocaching   Gestures   GIF   Glow Pad   Gradle Plugins   Graphics   Grid Views   Highlighting   HTML   HTTP Mocking   Icons   IDE   IDE Plugins   Image Croppers   Image Loaders   Image Pickers   Image Processing   Image Views   Instrumentation   Intents   Job Schedulers   JSON   Keyboard   Kotlin   Layouts   Library Demos   List View   List Views   Localization   Location   Lock Patterns   Logcat   Logging   Mails   Maps   Markdown   Mathematics   Maven Plugins   MBaaS   Media   Menus   Messaging   MIME   Mobile Web   Native Image   Navigation   NDK   Networking   NFC   NoSQL   Number Pickers   OAuth   Object Mocking   OCR Engines   OpenGL   ORM   Other Pickers   Parallax List   Parcelables   Particle Systems   Password Inputs   PDF   Permissions   Physics Engines   Platforms   Plugin Frameworks   Preferences   Progress Indicators   ProGuard   Properties   Protocol Buffer   Pull To   Purchases   Push/Pull   QR Codes   Quick Return   Radio Buttons   Range Bars   Ratings   Recycler Views   Resources   REST   Ripple Effects   RSS   Screenshots   Scripting   Scroll Views   SDK   Search Inputs   Security   Sensors   Services   Showcase Views   Signatures   Sliding Panels   Snackbars   SOAP   Social Networks   Spannable   Spinners   Splash Screens   SSH   Static Analysis   Status Bars   Styling   SVG   System   Tags   Task Managers   TDD &   Template Engines   Testing   Testing Tools   Text Formatting   Text Views   Text Watchers   Text-to   Toasts   Toolkits For   Tools   Tooltips   Trainings   TV   Twitter   Updaters   USB   User Stories   Utils   Validation   Video   View Adapters   View Pagers   Views   Watch Face   Wearable Data   Wearables   Weather   Web Tools   Web Views   WebRTC   WebSockets   Wheel Widgets   Wi-Fi   Widgets   Windows   Wizards   XML   XMPP   YAML   ZIP Codes