Use Open-Source Scrcpy To Control Android Via Windows & macOS

At present, there are dozens of apps that offer to mirror Android phones to PC and Mac, but the fact of the matter is that only a handful of them are actually good at it. From occasional stutters to high latency and obtrusive advertisements, there are some probable hurdles. Not to forget that screen mirroring Android to PC or Mac is nothing but a nightmare, even with the popular screen mirroring apps.

And, oh, did I mention many software programs don’t even allow users to control Android from their computer without paying for the “pro” version? That is why, in this article, I will talk about an open-source app for Android screen mirroring. Let’s dive in.

Best Android Screen Mirroring Tool — Scrcpy

Scrcpy is an open-source free Android screen mirroring tool that enables users to control Android on PC and Mac (via USB and wirelessly), without even installing any application.

The tool is supported by Windows 10, macOS, and Linux. The biggest feature of Scrcpy is its low latency rate of 35 and 70ms, making its performance on par with Vysor — one of the most popular apps to mirror Android.

But unlike Vysor’s freemium model, Scrcpy is completely free, including all the necessary features such as sharing files, changing the resolution, recording screen, clicking screenshots, and much more. Since Scrcpy doesn’t involve installing an application, it is also one of the safest mirror apps for Android.

However, there is a small catch with Scrcpy. Users with no technical knowledge of the command line will likely face difficulties in installing the screen mirroring app.

To make it easy for you, here I have explained how users can view and control Android phones on their PC via Scrcpy.

How to mirror Android screen to PC via USB?

For macOS

1. Enable the USB debugging settings in the Developer options in your Android device.
2. Go to Spotlight on your Mac and open Terminal.
   
3. Install Homebrew by entering this command (it might take 10-15 minutes).
   
4. Now, enter the command “brew cask install android-platform-tools” for installing Android ADB tools.
   
5. To install Scrcpy, enter the command “brew install scrcpy” and wait for the installation to complete.
   
6. Now, plug in your Android device using the USB cable.
7. Allow USB Debugging confirmation on your phone.
8. Enter the command “scrcpy” in the Terminal.
   

For Windows 10

Before running Scrcpy on your Windows 10 PC, users will have to download and install the Android ADB tool.

1. Download the Scrcpy latest package and extract the zip file.
2. Enable the USB debugging settings in the Developer options on your Android device.
3. Connect the device to your PC via USB cable.
4. Allow USB Debugging confirmation on your phone.
5. Run the application “Scrcpy”

Linux users can find steps to install the Android mirroring tool on Scrcpy’s Github page.

How to mirror Android screen to PC wirelessly?

In order to cast your Android screen on a PC wirelessly, follow the previous steps and install Scrcpy, then simply enable wireless connection on ADB. Also, make sure your PC and Android device are on the same wireless network.

1. Connect your device to your PC and allow USB debugging confirmation.
2. Enter the command “adb devices” to confirm the connection.
3. Now enter the command “adb tcpip 5555” to enable WiFi Debug mode.
   
4. Remove the USB cable.
5. Enter the command “adb connect <device IP address>”
   You can locate your Android device’s IP address in Settings — About phone — IP address.
   
6. Enter the command “scrcpy”

These steps are applicable to both Windows and macOS. In order to disable the wireless connection, simply enter the command “adb usb.”

What more can you do with Scrcpy?

As long as you have correctly installed Scrcpy, you can do all the things that you’d expect from Android screen mirroring. You just need to enter the appropriate command. Here is the list of a few Scrcpy commands –

• To enter Full Screen – “scrcpy — f”
• To record Screen “scrcpy — record file.mp4” or “scrcpy -r file.mkv”
• Reduce the resolution to increase speed “scrcpy -m 1024”

Apart from this, users can easily transfer files to an Android device by simply dragging the specific file to the Scrcpy window. Users can also install Android APK files right from the PC using this method.

Another cool feature of Scrcpy is that users can copy and paste text from Android to PC and vice-versa using the basic Copy-paste shortcuts.

Last but not least, below are several keyboard shortcuts that enable you to control Android from your PC.

Action	Shortcut	Shortcut (MacOS)
Switch fullscreen mode	Ctrl+f	Cmd+f
Resize window to 1:1 (pixel-perfect)	Ctrl+g	Cmd+g
Resize window to remove black borders	Ctrl+x | Double-click¹	Cmd+x | Double-click¹
Click on HOME	Ctrl+h | Middle-click	Ctrl+h | Middle-click
Click on BACK	Ctrl+b | Right-click²	Cmd+b | Right-click²
Click on APP_SWITCH	Ctrl+s	Cmd+s
Click on MENU	Ctrl+m	Ctrl+m
Click on VOLUME_UP	Ctrl+↑ (up)	Cmd+↑ (up)
Click on VOLUME_DOWN	Ctrl+↓ (down)	Cmd+↓ (down)
Click on POWER	Ctrl+p	Cmd+p
Power on	Right-click²	Right-click²
Turn device screen off (keep mirroring)	Ctrl+o	Cmd+o
Rotate device screen	Ctrl+r	Cmd+r
Expand notification panel	Ctrl+n	Cmd+n
Collapse notification panel	Ctrl+Shift+n	Cmd+Shift+n
Copy device clipboard to computer	Ctrl+c	Cmd+c
Paste computer clipboard to device	Ctrl+v	Cmd+v
Copy computer clipboard to device	Ctrl+Shift+v	Cmd+Shift+v
Enable/disable FPS counter (on stdout)	Ctrl+i	Cmd+i

Finally, that wraps up everything you need to know about Scrcpy and its usage. Those who are looking for the best apps to sync files between Android and Mac can check out this list.

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