{"id":36062,"date":"2021-11-20T19:56:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T19:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/article\/how-to-uninstall-system-apps-without-root-in-android\/"},"modified":"2024-03-04T15:27:34","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T15:27:34","slug":"uninstall-android-system-apps","status":"publish","type":"kb","link":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/article\/uninstall-android-system-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Uninstall System Apps Without Root in Android"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you buy a new Android<\/a> device, whether it’s a handheld<\/a> or smartphone, chances are it comes with plenty of preinstalled bloatware. While you can uninstall those third-party bloatware apps, some of the apps are installed as system apps and cannot be removed. This is especially true for the whole suite of Google apps. If you are not a fan of Google Play Music or Google Duo, sorry, you can\u2019t remove them from your device. To get rid of system apps, you have to root your phone. The bad thing is, that it is not easy to root your device, and you will void your warranty by doing so. In addition, rooting your phone also prevents you from using certain apps like Internet Banking and Google Pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few ways to remove bloatware\/system apps without root in Android<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uninstall\/Disable the bloatware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the third-party bloatware, most of them can be easily uninstalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. On your Android phone, go to \u201cSettings -> Manage Applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Find the app that you want to remove and tap on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. If there is an \u201cUninstall\u201d button, tap it to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

4. If you see a \u201cDisable\u201d button instead of an Uninstall button, this means that the apps cannot be uninstalled but can be disabled.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cDisabled\u201d means that the app becomes dormant, won\u2019t show up in your application list and won\u2019t be recognized as an installed app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tap on the Disable button to disable the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Open \u201cHidden Settings for MIUI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Go to \u201cManage applications\u201d and find the application you want to disable.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

3. Tap on the \u201cDisable\u201d button.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Uninstall system apps using adb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Adb is a powerful tool for you to debug your phone. It also comes with commands for you to manage app packages (in this case, uninstall packages).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. To use adb, you need to install adb on your desktop computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Linux, you can just install \u201candroid-tools\u201d from your Software Center or package manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Windows, follow the instructions here<\/a> to install adb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Next, you need to enable \u201cDeveloper Options<\/a>\u201d on your phone. Once enabled, go into the Developer Option, scroll down the list and enable \u201cUSB debugging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

3. Connect your phone to the desktop via USB. When prompted, change the \u201ccharge only\u201d mode to \u201cfile transfer (MTP)\u201d mode.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

4. In Windows<\/a>, navigate to the adb directory and launch the command prompt in that folder. For Linux, just open the Terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type the following command to start adb and verify that the phone is connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

adb devices<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
If you see an entry listed under the \u201cList of devices\u201d section, then your device is connected.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
5. Start the adb shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
adb shell<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
6. List all the packages installed in the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pm list packages<\/pre>\n\n\n
\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The list will be very long. You can use grep<\/code> to narrow down the list. For example, to only show Google packages, use the command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pm list package |<\/strong> grep<\/strong> 'google'<\/pre>\n\n\n
\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
7. Find the name of the app you want to uninstall. The name is the entry after Package:<\/code>. For example, the package name for the Google Contact app is com.google.android.contacts<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
If you have trouble identifying the package name, simply go to Google Play Store on your browser and search for the app. Check the URL for the package name.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
8. Type the following command to uninstall the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pm uninstall -k --user 0 package-name<\/pre>\n\n\n
\n
\"Android<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
You should see the word \u201cSuccess\u201d if the uninstallation is successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The --user<\/code> flag in the above command is important because it tells the system to uninstall the app for the current user only (and 0<\/code> is the default\/main user of the phone). There is no way you can uninstall the app from all users unless you root the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a word of warning, uninstalling system apps have the potential to break the system, so only uninstall the apps that you are sure of. Apps like Gmail, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, etc., are safe to uninstall but don\u2019t ever remove the Google Play Store or any of the files associated with it. If the phone becomes unstable after you uninstall a particular app, either reinstall back from the Google Play Store or factory reset your phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Depending on your phone manufacturer, some phones come with only a few bloatware, and the system apps can be disabled easily while others are full of third-party apps that you cannot remove or disable at all. The instructions above will allow you to get rid of those bloatware system apps from your Android<\/a> phone, without having to root your phone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you buy a new Android device, whether it’s a handheld or smartphone, chances are it comes with plenty of preinstalled bloatware. While you can uninstall those third-party bloatware apps, some of the apps are installed as system apps and cannot be removed. This is especially true for the whole suite of Google apps. If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"kbtopic":[422,394],"kbtag":[1581,1108,814],"class_list":{"0":"post-36062","1":"kb","2":"type-kb","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"kbtopic-android","7":"kbtopic-windows-en-gb","8":"kbtag-android-en-gb","9":"kbtag-how-to-2-en-gb","10":"kbtag-software-en-gb"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/36062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/36062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kbtopic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kbtopic?post=36062"},{"taxonomy":"kbtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kbtag?post=36062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}