Send device commands

Last updated May 4th, 2026

You can send device commands to an enrolled device to control it remotely, such as locking its screen. Depending on your use case, you can also send device commands to an entire group, instead of a single device. See Perform group actions to learn more.

To send device commands, go to the Devices page and select a device. Then click ACTIONS > Perform action on device to see a list of all available device commands.

You can add your most used actions to the FAVORITES tab for easy access. Just click the icon beside any action to save it to FAVORITES.

The Perform action on device dialog.

You must go to the Knox Manage original console to send commands to devices that are not fully managed Android devices. For more information on how-to switch back to the original console, see Enable the new console.

Device

Device command Description Supported system
Lock device

Locks the device. You can enter a reason for locking the device and a phone number to contact when the device is lost. The information you provide when sending a lock device command shows on the screen of the locked device. The following characters aren't supported in the lock screen message: \, ", [, and ].

Android 11 and higher

Unlock device

Unlocks a locked device. Alternatively, you can share the unlock code with the device user, who can enter it on the device's screen and unlock it. The unlock code can be found by clicking a device name > SECURITY > DEVICE AND SCREEN LOCK.

You can use the Clear Screen Lock device command to remove the password from a device that's locked due to the device user entering an incorrect password too many times or forgetting the password.

Android 11 and higher

Lock screen Locks the device screen. If the device's screen is password-locked, then the user needs to enter the password to access the device again.

Android 11 and higher

Clear screen lock

Clears the password, PIN, or pattern lock, including biometric lock methods, and resets the lock on the device.

The Clear Screen Lock device command is not supported for password policies set through the Knox Service Plugin.

Android 11 and higher

Reset SD card

Initializes the external SD card of the device.

For devices with the External SD Card policy is set to Disallowed in the profile, you can't reset the SD card using the device command, because the policy takes a higher priority than the device command.

Android 11 and higher

Play alarm sound Sounds an alarm on the device until the device user takes action. On a non-kiosk device, the alarm is accompanied by a push notification from the Knox Manage agent. On a kiosk, it's accompanied by a popup. The alarm sounds regardless of the device's mute and vibration settings.

Android 11 and higher

Push notification Pushes and applies the latest profile and app information to the device.

Android 11 and higher

Turn off device

Turns off the device.

Android 11 and higher

Reboot device Reboots the device.

Android 11 and higher

Factory reset

Performs a factory reset on the device and changes the device status to Unenrolled.

Initialize SD Card when factory reset — Select to initialize the SD card during the factory reset.

Deactivate Factory Reset Protection — This option is only available when the profile is applied with the Factory Reset Protection policy or when you send the command to multiple devices. Click the check box to perform a factory reset without the Factory Reset Protection policy.

Android 11 and higher

App

Device command Description Supported system
Run app

Runs an app on the device.

The app installation allowlist and blocklist policies take precedence over this command. If an app is explicitly allowed, then this command can't uninstall it.

Android 11 and higher

Uninstall app

Deletes an app from the device.

The app installation allowlist and blocklist policies take precedence over this command. If an app is explicitly allowed, then this command can't uninstall it.

Android 11 and higher

Sync installed app list Synchronizes the device's app list.

Android 11 and higher

Delete app data Delete an app's data from the device.

Android 11 and higher

Play Integrity (SafetyNet Attestation) Initiates an integrity check of the device, which evaluates the integrity of the hardware and software on the device. The specifics of the evaluation depend on the device's Android version. The result of the evaluation can be found in the device details.

Android 11 and higher

Register Managed Google Play Account

Assigns the Managed Google Play Account associated with your tenant to the device.

Use this command if the Managed Google Play Account wasn't registered on the device during enrollment.

Android 11 and higher

Knox Manage

Device command Description Supported system
Push profile

Sends all currently-assigned profiles to the device.

Android 11 and higher

Update Knox Manage agent

Updates the Knox Manage agent on the device to the latest version version, if available.

The agent information registered on the Knox Manage server is sent to the device. The device then selects the appropriate agent to request installation files from.

Android 11 and higher

Lock Knox Manage agent

Locks the Knox Manage agent.

When the agent is locked, the device user must enter the agent's password that was configured during enrollment.

Android 11 and higher

Unlock Knox Manage agent Unlocks the Knox Manage agent.

Android 11 and higher

Reset Push Token

Creates and registers a new Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token for the Knox Manage agent on the device.

Use this command in scenarios where the device can't receive push notifications, which typically occurs when the token changed on the Knox Manage server and the device was unable to sync it.

Android 11 and higher

Sync device information Updates the inventory and app information on the device.

Android 11 and higher

User and Profile

Device command Description Supported system
Exit Kiosk mode Exits Kiosk mode without unenrolling the device. You can find the status of the kiosk in the device details sliding panel.

Android 11 and higher

Update user information Updates the device user information, such as the user activation status/username/user settings (Knox Browser website URL information, bookmark information) and license information.

If the user is signed out from the enrolled device, you can send this device command to enable the user to sign in to Knox Manage automatically.

Android 11 and higher

Mobile network

Device command Description Supported system
Reset Data Usage

Resets the device's inventory information for all network and Wi-Fi traffic.

Android 11 and higher

Reset number of alls Resets the number of calls and number of missed calls from the Android device's inventory information.

Android 11 and higher

Lock SIM pin

Places a lock on the SIM card's PIN to prevent the use of the SIM card on another device.

To lock a SIM PIN, enter the current SIM PIN and then enter a new PIN. If the locked SIM card is registered to another device, the device is locked and the user must enter the new PIN to unlock it.

Android 11 and higher

Unlock SIM pin

Removes the lock placed on a SIM card's PIN.

To unlock a SIM PIN, enter the current PIN that was applied through Knox Manage, and then enter the initial (default) SIM PIN. You can find the current PIN on the Device Details page > Network tab > SIM PIN Applied by Knox Manage.

Android 11 and higher

Activate eSIM cellular plan

Activates an eSIM for the device. You must enter the Activation code.

Android 11 and higher

Deactivate eSIM cellular plan

Deactivates the eSIM for the device. To use mobile data on the device after deactivating the eSIM, you must activate another SIM.

Android 11 and higher

Certificate

Device command Description Supported system
Delete a user certificate Select and delete a User type certificate installed by an administrator.

Android 11 and higher

Delete admin-installed certificate Delete all the certificates installed by an administrator.

Android 11 and higher

Delete a CA certificate Select and delete a Root type certificate installed by Knox Manage.

Android 11 and higher

Diagnostics

Device command Description Supported system
Collect bug report

Collect the device's bug report, also known as dumpstate logs.

You can view the bug report by selecting the device and clicking ACTIONS > View device log on the Devices page.

Android 11 and higher

Collect audit log Collects inventory and app information on the device.

Android 11 and higher

Collect device diagnostics log Gathers the log data from the device.

Android 11 and higher

Collect diagnosis information

Gathers the device log to diagnose the cause of a device lock.

Personally identifiable or sensitive information is masked.

Android 11 and higher

Check for Compromised OS Detects if the device OS is compromised.

Android 11 and higher

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