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Android TV ADB says unauthorized: check the TV approval prompt

“unauthorized” in adb devices means the connection reached the TV, but the TV hasn’t approved your computer. You can’t force that from the computer: Android requires someone at the TV to accept a dialog showing your computer’s key fingerprint. Almost every fix is about getting that dialog to appear and be accepted.

By TV Remotely · Updated · Sources and testing policy

Read the state next to the address

  • device: connected and authorized.
  • unauthorized: the TV is waiting for, or has refused, approval.
  • offline: the connection exists but isn’t responding; reconnect it.
  • no permissions or failed to connect: a different problem (USB permissions, wrong port, no route to the TV).

Get the dialog to appear

  1. Run adb kill-server, then adb connect TV_IP:5555 (or the port from the TV’s Wireless debugging screen) and watch the TV screen.

    An Allow debugging prompt shows the computer’s key fingerprint.

    If no prompt appears, go to the next step.

  2. On the TV go to Developer options and select Revoke USB debugging authorizations, then reconnect.

    The TV forgets old keys and asks again.

    On Fire TV, use the ADB debugging toggle in Developer options; turn it off and on.

  3. Tick Always allow from this computer and choose Allow.

    adb devices now shows the TV as device.

    If you can’t see or accept the prompt, stop here. Nothing run from the computer can approve it.

If it still doesn’t work: update platform-tools (old adb versions fail newer authentication), make sure only one adb server is running (close Android Studio or another tool that has its own), and try a different USB or network path. A wrong IP, or a second TV with a similar address, is a common cause; confirm the address on the TV.

Unauthorized isn’t offline

For offline, try adb disconnect, then adb connect again, or adb reconnect offline. Don’t treat the two states as the same: unauthorized needs the TV to approve; offline needs the connection to be re-established.

When you finish: close debugging and revoke the computer

Turning debugging off afterwards is the step most guides skip. An open network debugging port lets anything on your network that can reach it try to connect, and a computer you once approved stays approved until you revoke it. Record what you changed first; the debugging connection is only the door, not the record of what you did through it.

  1. Save a plain-text log of the TV model, firmware version, every package or setting you changed and the command that undoes each one.

    You have a recovery record that doesn’t need debugging.

    If something is broken, fix it before closing the only working path; see the post-customization recovery guide.

  2. Run adb disconnect, then adb kill-server on the computer.

    The computer drops the connection.

    This alone doesn’t close anything on the TV; continue.

  3. On the TV, turn off Wireless debugging (or Network/USB debugging, or ADB debugging on Fire TV) in Developer options.

    The TV stops accepting that debugging connection.

    Menu names differ between Google TV, Android TV and Fire OS; use the one you used to enable it.

  4. Select Revoke USB debugging authorizations, or Forget under Wireless debugging paired devices, and consider turning Developer options off entirely.

    The computer must be approved again before it can connect.

    If your TV offers no revocation, a factory reset removes it, but only as a last resort.

adb connect TV_IP:5555    # should now fail (connection refused)
adb devices            # should no longer list the TV

A connection failure is the evidence you want; a stale entry in adb devices proves nothing, so compare it with the TV’s own setting. Open network adb on port 5555 has been abused by botnets that scan for it, mostly on devices exposed to the internet. A TV behind a home router is unlikely to be reachable that way unless you forward the port, so never forward 5555.

Related guidance

Sources for these instructions