You don’t have to suffer from apps that you don’t care about: you can delete all of them from your Android. Even if they are not allowed because they are system apps.

Every mobile phone that parades through the store comes with a series of pre-installed applications. Some brands include more of these apps and others less, this is what is known as “bloatware” or filler programs , software that is not always easy to uninstall. Although not impossible: Android allows you to delete any application , whatever it is. With its risks.

Google Pixels tend to come pretty much clean, as do Motorolas, for example. Xiaomi and Samsung tend to include a stack of their own apps, far more than brands like OPPO or Vivo. And this is not a bad thing, quite the contrary: software means value . Therefore, the more apps the phone has, the more value it brings to the user. The problem is that nobody uses everything that comes with the smartphone.

They are 4 different ways one can delete any app on Android

Not one, not two, not three: you can remove any app from your phone using four different methods. From the phone’s interface, the simplest, to using ROOT access , which is much more complex and dangerous. Depending on whether it is a system app or installed by you (from Google Play or as an APK ), you will need one method or another. And the good news is that, in any case, you do not need to root the phone to delete any app . Whatever the app.

As we said, there are four basic ways to delete the software on your Android. They are:

1. Remove an installed application using the delete menus.
2. Disable or freeze the application.
3. Erase software using ADB commands.
4. Use ROOT to kill any app.

3 and 4 are suitable for any app, whether system or self-installed; 1 allows you to delete software you’ve downloaded from the Google Play Store or installed as an APK, and 2 is somewhere between the two above: it makes installed and system apps disappear from the phone . However, they are not technically deleted, as they still take up space on the device.

Let’s go step by step and according to what you need: delete the applications that you installed yourself or all those that the manufacturer of your Android has preinstalled. And here we must introduce an important warning: if you delete system applications, your phone may stop working . We are not responsible for what happens to the phone, act only if you know that the app to be deleted is safe.

How to delete apps using the delete button

If you long-press on any icon on your phone, you will see a floating menu appear. Among the options in this menu you can find the option to delete or an “X”: when you press the button, the app is deleted, always after asking for confirmation. Although, since direct deletion is not always available, we will use the universal way: press on the “i” for information.

• All you have to do is to long press on the particular app you want to delete. On the desktop or in the app drawer, it doesn’t matter.
• Click on the “i” icon for information.
• The app’s settings menu will open. There will be an “Uninstall” button or something similar. Click on it and accept.

How to freeze or disable applications

This option is very useful if you have pre-installed apps that you don’t use: they often allow you to freeze them, completely stop working and make them disappear from the list of active apps . It’s like deleting them, although you won’t be able to recover the space they take up on your phone. You will, however, avoid them consuming battery and mobile data.

To disable or freeze applications, simply follow this process:

• Go to your Android settings.

• Find the “Apps” section and then go to “See all apps.” As is often the case with Android, the text and menu changes depending on the device and manufacturer.

• Tap on the three dot menu and select “Show system apps.” Same thing: the menus vary from one phone to another.

• Scroll through the list of apps and select the ones you want to remove.
• If you leave them disabled you will see that button appear. It may also appear as “Disable” or “Freeze”.

• Additionally, you will most likely need to hit “Stop.” Freezing an app does not always stop it from running.

How to delete any application. Whatever it is: with ADB

We’re entering delicate territory, as ADB is a very powerful weapon. And with collateral damage: if you delete an essential system app for your Android, it may stop working. And the only solution may be to erase the entire phone , including your data and photos. Keep that in mind.

Deleting a system app can cause your phone to stop working. And the only solution would be to format it, with the loss of all your data.

With the warning out of the way, let’s look at everything you need for the process:

• Go to system settings, enter your phone information, locate software data and tap ten times on the build number: you will have activated developer options .

• Go to the new developer menu and locate “USB Debugging”. Enable it.
• This is the time to install the Android Platform Tools on your computer and get the ADB working. You can download them from this link for Mac and from here for Linux . If you have a Windows computer you can download an executable with everything you need .

• Unzip the Platform-Tools folder or install the Windows package.

• Open a terminal window (type CMD in the Windows search box or search for the app among all the system tools on Mac and Linux) and go to the folder you unzipped, “Platform-Tools.”

• Connect your Android to your computer via USB with the screen on and accept the use from the computer with the RSA key that appears.

• Now it’s time to fight with the commands. If you have a Windows computer, use the instructions exactly as we have detailed them. If you use a macOS or Linux, you must put a “./” in front of each ADB instruction (without the quotes).

• Go to the terminal window and type

• If a device appears connected, you can continue with the process. Otherwise, disconnect your Android and reconnect it. Repeat the previous step until you detect the phone.

• Writes

• You will see all the apps installed on your phone listed with their package name. Now all you have to do is to find the exact app you want to remove and type

• You need to change “package-name” to the ID of the app you want to remove. Once you have accepted, the app will be gone from your phone.

• Repeat the process for each app you want to remove, but always be careful what you delete: your phone may not work properly if you remove an essential app or service.

• You need to change “package-name” to the ID of the app you want to remove. Once you accept, the app will be gone from your phone.

• Repeat the process for each app you want to remove, but always be careful what you delete: your phone may not work properly if you remove an essential app or service .

A very useful way to know the exact name of a package is to use the Package Name Viewer application (you can download it from Google Play ). You will have a list of all the apps on your phone and, when you click on any of them, Package Name Viewer will give you the name of the package. Write it at the end of the ADB instruction and that’s it.

How to remove any app if your phone is rooted

Delete Root System Apps

If the terrain before was delicate, the one we are going through now is swampy. Because rooting your phone means losing the phone’s warranty, it is something you should keep in mind. In addition, you will have to unlock the bootloader of your phone, which means you will lose all the content. If you did not already have administration access, our advice is that you do not root just to remove applications .

So you’ve already rooted your Android? Then you can completely remove any app. Any app. With its attendant risks: if you remove essential software, your Android will stop working .

Once you have the mobile rooted (our recommendation is Magisk ), do the following steps:

• All you have to do now Download the Application Manager app , it works great for what we are looking for.

• Open the manager and accept the root permission. Remember: this is a very sensitive permission, the app will be able to do anything on your phone . Based on our experience, it is trustworthy.

• Tap the funnel icon at the top right and add system apps to the selection.

• Locate the system app you want to permanently delete. For example, Google Chrome. Tap on it.

• Accept the uninstallation and Application Manager will delete it.

• Repeat the process for all the apps you want to remove.

With ROOT there is no app that can resist, it is the last method to consider if the other three do not convince you. Although we must reiterate the warning: do not root your Android just to delete reinstalled software . It is most likely better to keep it installed than to deal with the inconveniences of ROOT.

More space, greater fluidity and lower consumption. Getting rid of unused apps can be the solution to a phone that is already full to the brim, or that is already too slow, uses too much energy or consumes too much data. Because there are apps that don’t even let you stop them, so it is often best to remove them from the root.

If an app on your Android isn’t working as it should, it’s best to remove it. As long as removing it doesn’t cause your phone to malfunction.

With the methods above you can remove everything you don’t need from any Android, whatever it is. Keep in mind the security recommendations and get rid of all that bloatware. Your phone will thank you.