How to Uninstall Bloatware from Android Devices

uninstall bloatware android

Near about every OEM ships their devices with some preinstalled apps. This number usually varies- while the likes of Xiaomi, Oppo, mid-tier Samsung devices, and even OnePlus now come with a truckload of bloatware, others like Google only have a limited number. As far as the intention behind the same is concerned, well, it’s just from the profit maximization point of view, even though the OEM would like you to believe that it’s just for your ease of convenience.

This justification doesn’t make any sense whatsoever because if a user wants an app, they could easily install it from the Play Store in a matter of few seconds, there is no need to forcefully offer them the same. Moreover, in most cases, these apps are the least useful ones that you would hardly ever interact with across your daily usage of your device. So can’t we just simply uninstall them from our device?

Well, not exactly. This is because most [if not all] of these apps are treated as a system app, hence there’s no option to bid them adieu from the Settings > Apps page. So what else could be done? Well, there does exist a nifty workaround through which you could uninstall bloatware from any Android device. And in this guide, we will list out the steps to do just that. Follow along.

Table of Contents

How to Uninstall Bloatware from Android Devices

First off, we will set up the working environment after which, the steps to disable and uninstall bloatware apps will be listed out. Likewise, we will also make you aware of the instructions to re-enable and reinstall these bloatware, if required.

STEP 1: Find App’s Package Name

Get hold of the app’s package name that you wish to uninstall from your device.
For that, open the app in the Play Store and refer to the value after id= in the URL.
```
Example: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.katana
```
You could also take the help of the App Package Viewer 2.0 app to get this job done.

STEP 2: Open ADB Shell

To begin with, download and extract Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC.
Then enable USB Debugging and connect your device to your PC via USB cable.
Open Command Prompt inside platform-tools and type in the below command:
```
adb shell
```

STEP 3A: Disable Bloatware Apps on Android

Use the below command syntax to disable a bloatware app from your Android device.
```
pm disable-user --user 0 <package name>
```
For instance, to disable Facebook, the aforementioned command will transform to:
```
pm disable-user --user 0 com.facebook.katana
```

STEP 3B: Uninstall Bloatware Apps But Keep Data

In this method, the bloatware app will be removed from your device but its data will be preserved.
So the next time you install the app, it will start from the last left point using that preserved data.
With that said, use the below command syntax to give this tweak a try and check out the results:
```
pm uninstall -k --user 0 <package name>
```
For instance, to uninstall Facebook but preserve its data, the command will be:
```
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.facebook.katana
```

STEP 3C: Uninstall Bloatware and Delete Data

If you want to uninstall the bloatware app from your Android device and at the same time, delete its data as well, then use the below command syntax:
```
pm uninstall --user 0 <package name>
```
Let’s suppose, you wish to uninstall Facebook and delete its data as well, then the command will become:
```
pm uninstall --user 0 com.facebook.katana
```

STEP 3D: How to Re-Enable Disabled Apps

Use the below syntax to re-enable a disabled bloatware app on your device:
```
pm enable -–user 0 <package name>
```
To re-enable Facebook, the command will be:
```
pm enable -–user 0 com.facebook.katana
```

STEP 3E: How to Reinstall Uninstalled Bloatware Apps

Use the below command to reinstall an uninstalled bloatware app:
```
cmd package install-existing <package name>
```
For example, to reinstall Facebook, the command will transform to:
```
cmd package install-existing com.facebook.katana
```

That’s it. These were the steps to uninstall bloatware apps on an Android and hence debloat it. Feel free to drop in your queries, if any, regarding the aforementioned instructions in the comments section.

How to Uninstall Bloatware from Android Devices