9 Ways To Uninstall Apps On Android That Won’t Uninstall

How to Uninstall Apps on Android That Won't Uninstall

Do you have problems installing new apps on your Android device? Bloatware may be removed in two ways: by disabling it or by totally uninstalling it.

While the former is the ideal option for eliminating programs that are no longer functional or are incompatible with your device, eradicating bloatware is dangerous.

You might wind up deleting vital data, causing difficulties later on.

To begin, locate the app on your phone. The Uninstall button will be disabled. If you can’t locate it, go to your device’s system settings and choose the “Device Admin Apps” option.

You can find the applications on your phone that have administrator privileges here. Before you may uninstall them, you must first remove these rights.

If you are unable to remove the program, you can try downloading it again from your smartphone. To do so, touch the program icon and pick “More details” and “Uninstall.”

It should be noted that it will not work if the program is a system or preloaded app. Uninstall apps on android that won’t uninstall through your phone’s app management.

Reason for Uninstalling the Pre-Loaded Apps on Android

One of the primary reasons for removing pre-installed applications from your Android phone is that they use so many resources and storage space on your smartphone.

Another cause might be that some of the pre-loaded programs are completely worthless, and you never use them.

What is a mobile application/ app?

Mobile apps are nothing more than computer programs that were originally designed to aid productivity, such as maintaining a contact database. And the rest was history.

Apps were gradually developed for entertainment (games), tracking one’s location (location-based services), and various other purposes. 

Apps are typically obtained by downloading them from application distribution platforms such as Google Play, App Store (iOS), Samsung Galaxy Store, and so on. Many apps are also pre-installed.

But the amount of storage on our gadgets is constrained in several ways. Without a doubt, the programs you use frequently take up memory. And when the storage is nearly complete, it has several negative effects, such as: 

  • We cannot download or save some crucial information since there is not enough room. Our mobile device becomes unresponsive.
  • It hangs.
  • We are unable to upgrade the currently accessible applications, among other problems.

How To uninstall apps on android that won’t uninstall?

New applications can damage your phone’s speed and battery life and take up important memory space.

Although removing preloaded applications from your Android device might be difficult—from social media apps to those that promise to free up the storage or conserve RAM—it is impossible. 

Remove Apps

Whether or whether you have rooted your Android handset determines this. In most circumstances, it is impossible to remove preloaded software. However, you can stop them.

  1. Uninstall an App through the Google Play Store
  2. Uninstall an App through the App drawer or Main Screen
  3. Disable the Unwanted Application from Settings
  4. Get Administrator Privileges for Removing the Apps
  5. Use ADB Commands to Remove Apps
  6. Deleting Folders
  7. Uninstalling updates
  8. Uninstalling updates
  9. Through rooting

Let us discuss each solution one by one:

Solution 1: Uninstall an App through the Google Play Store

You might check the Google Play store to see if you can delete the program there before attempting any other way. For this technique, adhere to these procedures.

  • Launch Google Play.
Tap on the three horizontal lines
  • In the top-left corner of the screen, tap the three horizontal lines or the hamburger icon.
  • Navigate to ‘My apps and games.’
My apps and games
  • Now, tap on the ‘Installed’ option to see all the installed programs.
tap on the ‘Installed‘ tab
  • Launch the app you wish to delete.
  • Finally, press the ‘Uninstall’ button to uninstall the program from your phone.
press the 'Uninstall' button

Solution 2: Uninstall an App through the App drawer or Main Screen

Here’s another approach for removing apps that the phone won’t let you uninstall. This is one of the simplest techniques for removing an app from an Android smartphone.

  • Navigate to your phone’s Home screen or App drawer.
  • Find the App you wish to delete.
  • Hold down or long-press the App to view the options for uninstalling or disabling the app.
Uninstall an App through the App drawer
  • Finally, tap Uninstall to uninstall the program.

Solution 3: Disable the Unwanted Application from Settings

Unwanted apps on your phone can be disabled. However, you will see a disabling warning that if you deactivate any app, it may disrupt the operation of other applications. However, this is not the case and will not affect your phone usage.

Furthermore, disabling the app implies that other apps will no longer run in the background and will not be launched automatically. 

As a result, if you can’t delete an app, you may disable it to preserve battery life, and the program won’t take up extra space by gathering cache. For this procedure, follow these instructions.

  • Open the Settings app on your phone.
  • Depending on your phone, select ‘Apps’ or ‘Apps and Notifications.’
Disable the Unwanted Application from Settings
  • Open the ‘Manage Apps’ page now.
Disable the Unwanted Application from Settings
  • Open the app you wish to uninstall from your phone. If you can’t locate the app in a large list of apps, use the search box at the top to input the program name you’re looking for.
  • Finally, hit ‘Disable’ to turn off the program.

So this is one approach you may use to uninstall programs that the phone won’t let you delete.

Solution 4: Get Administrator Privileges for Removing the Apps

Some apps require specific administrator permissions to install or uninstall from your phone. App lock, antivirus, and other programs that may lock/unlock your phone typically require administrator access.

As a result, you may need to withdraw the administrator access to uninstall the applications that your phone won’t allow you to delete.

  • Open the Settings app on your phone.
  • Navigate to the ‘Security’ or ‘Passwords and security section of settings. This option may differ across phones.
Passwords & security
  • Find the ‘Authorization and Revocation’ or ‘Device Administrators’ tab.
Authorization and Revocation
  • Finally, find the program for which you wish to withdraw administrator privileges and deactivate the option next to it.
Get Administrator Privileges for Removing the Apps
  • A pop-up window will open; click ‘Revoke.’ This will provide administrator capabilities; you can delete the pre-installed applications from your phone.
Revoke

Solution 5: Use ADB Commands to Remove Apps

If none of the previous ways work for you, you may manually remove applications from your phone by running ADB instructions in the command prompt. For this procedure, follow these instructions.

  • The first step is to install your device’s USB drivers. You can use OEM USB drivers and install the ones compatible with your system.
  • Now, download the ADB zip file corresponding to your operating system, whether Windows, Linux, or MAC.
  • Extract the zip file to a convenient location on your system.
  • Navigate to the ‘About phone section of Phone Settings.
  • Tap on the ‘Build number’ 7 times in the About phone section to enable the Developer choices. This choice, however, may differ from phone to phone. In our scenario, we are touching the MIUI version 7 times to unlock the developer options.
Use ADB Commands to Remove Apps
  • You must enable debugging once you enable the Developer settings.
  • Open your Phone Settings to enable debugging.
  • Navigate to Additional Settings.
 Additional Settings
  • Select Developer options.
Developer options
  • Scroll down and switch on the USB debugging toggle.
USB debugging
  • Now, connect your gadget to the computer. Make sure to select the ‘File transfer’ mode.
  • Open the Command prompt in the ADB folder where you extracted the ADB zip file. If you are a Windows user, you may pick the ‘Open Powershell window here’ option by holding Shift and right-clicking on the folder.
  • A command window will emerge, in which you must type the command adb devices, and your device’s code name will be displayed in the following line.
command window
  • Rerun the ADB devices command, and you’re good to go if you see your device serial number.
  • Now type and press Enter the following command: adb shell
  • Enter “pm list packages.” The list of installed apps on your phone will be shown when you do this. Therefore, you may use the ‘grep’ program to reduce the list and save time. For instance, you may run the command pm list packages | grep ‘google’ to locate packages for Google.
  • Once you’ve found the program, you can quickly remove it by copying the app’s name after the package. Package: com.google.android.contacts, for example, requires you to copy the name after the term ‘package.’
  • Finally, you must use the following command to remove the app from your phone: pm uninstall –k- user 0 <package name>

We recognize that this approach is a little difficult, but it works well when you don’t know how to delete resistant Android apps from your phone.

Solution 6: Deleting Folders

You may have spotted some leftover folders in your file management program when attempting to find out how to uninstall an app entirely. This is another manual method for entirely uninstalling applications from Android.

You may use a file management program or link your smartphone to a computer. In most circumstances, the software that comes pre-installed on your Android device works properly.

File Manager is my default application. Use whichever app you use, and search for the name of the app you wish to uninstall. Even one particular word can help.

One of the simplest methods for removing apps from Android and all traces is to uninstall the app as normal from Settings and then use your PC to erase the remaining files from your phone.

  • Use a USB cord to connect your gadget to your computer.
Deleting Folders
  • On the screen, select “Other USB Options.” Alternatively, access the notification tray by dragging from the top and selecting “USB charging.”
File transfer / Android Auto
  • Make “File transfer” the default billing option. It may say “File transfer / Android Auto,” depending on your Android version.
  • If you connect your device frequently to access files, pick “Always” to confirm your choice or “Just once” to limit access to this one time.
  • Use your computer to view the contents on your Android smartphone and eliminate unnecessary folders and files. As the name of your smartphone, your Android device appears.
Files

Make certain that you only remove folders and files you no longer require. Some data may be recycled, but others are permanently deleted.

Solution 7: Disable the pre-installed applications

We receive our new phone or tablet with pre-installed programs. The important thing to remember here is that we cannot remove these programs even if we wish to. As a result, we have another option for such programs. 

As a result, such apps can be disabled. They will no longer take up any memory and will disappear from the home screen as a result. You only need to activate them whenever you wish to retrieve them. 

They will not be downloaded because they are already legal. You may utilize them simply by enabling them.

The instructions for deactivating the applications are as follows:

  • Navigate to settings on your device (phone/tablet) by using the icon on the home screen or the status bar.
  • Look for Apps or Manage Applications based on the device.
  • Then, look for the programs you wish to deactivate.
  • Tap each app one by one and then click Disable. To disable the app, you will be prompted for confirmation. When you confirm it, the app is turned off.
Disable the pre-installed applications
Disable

Solution 8: Uninstalling updates

When we press them on the home screen and seek the ‘Uninstall’ option, a few pre-installed apps do not get deleted. Such programs must first delete updates.

The following are the measures to take:

  • The first two steps are the same as before, i.e., navigate to Apps or Manage Applications in Settings.
  • Tap the app you want to remove. The ‘disable’ option is disabled in this case.
  • Click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
App info
  • Uninstall updates will be available here. Finally, give the uninstallation confirmation.
Uninstall updates

Solution 9: Through rooting

The procedures for removing an app from a rooted smartphone are as follows:

  • To begin, get root access on your Android smartphone. The rooting procedure varies depending on the Android device.
  • Then launch the Titanium Backup software from the PlayStore. This app can deactivate any app on your rooted phone.
  • Then, launch the app and allow Superuser access. It is not truly rooted if the device does not have Superuser access.
  • You should now see the Backup/Restore button at the top of the screen. So, could you give it a tap?
  • Swipe left to right to see the backup properties tab after searching for the program you wish to delete.
  • Click the “Backup!” button, followed by the “Un-install!” button.
  • After reading the warning, click Yes, and you’re done.

Conclusion

This article addressed another very basic but critical question: how to uninstall/delete applications. We began with a basic and brief introduction to mobile applications and then listed some consequences of accessing apps on our devices. 

Then we went through how to remove programs that refuse to uninstall. We came across two methods here: disabling applications and uninstalling updates. 

Following that, we discussed different methods, one of which was to erase pre-installed applications without rooting, and the other was to delete pre-installed apps with rooting.

We hope this advice was useful and that you were able to delete stubborn apps on your Android phone. We’ve discussed various methods that most Android users use to remove apps that their phones won’t let them delete. You may now effortlessly uninstall an undesired app from your Android phone.

FAQs

How Do I Delete Apps From My Samsung Android?

If you want to delete an app from your Samsung Android phone, find its icon and long-press on it. Tap the uninstall option if it appears on the icon. This strategy is not always viable for system apps on your smartphone, such as Facebook, Google Maps, or Twitter. 
If you have a Samsung smartphone that supports Android, you can always disable it from the system settings. After that, navigate to the Settings menu and locate the program you wish to delete.

How Do I Uninstall Inbuilt Apps?

You might wonder how to uninstall the built-in apps on your Android phone. The good news is that you can get rid of them easily. Apps may be uninstalled via the main Settings app. 
If you can’t identify the program’s package name, download the free Software Inspector app from the Google Play store. Then, select “Manage installed programs under your phone’s settings.” You’ll see that all of the default applications have been removed.

What Is Bloatware In Android?

You may have noticed that your gadget is slowing down, and its battery life is dwindling. You may ask what is causing this and how to get it off your smartphone. Uninstalling any bloatware loaded on your device is one of the first steps. 
This software is often included with the operating system. However, some firms may sell their versions of the operating system. Bloatware can potentially degrade device performance by loading it with advertisements and wasting memory. Furthermore, bloatware may constitute a security issue.

Meet the Author

Abdul Rahim has been working in Information Technology for over two decades. Learn how Abdul got his start as a Tech Blogger , and why he decided to start this Software blog. If you want to send Abdul a quick message, then visit his contact page here.