How to Uninstall Apps on Android: 7 Steps

Is your phone starting to get a little sluggish? Too many apps installed can bring your phone’s speed to a crawl. Follow this guide to remove those unused applications and free up some space on your device.
STEPS
METHOD 1 OF 2: UNINSTALLING THROUGH THE APPLICATION MANAGER

1

OPEN YOUR SETTINGS MENU. You can open this menu by pressing your device’s menu button and selecting Settings, or by tapping the Settings app in the application drawer. Scroll down to “Application manager”, typically located in the Device section.

2

FIND THE APPLICATION YOU WISH TO UNINSTALL. The Application manager is split into three sections: Downloaded, Running, and All. Browse for the app you want to uninstall and tap on it. You can sort by size or by name by pressing the Menu button.

3

SELECT THE APPLICATION. This will open the “App info” screen. From here you can stop the application from running, clear its stored data, or uninstall it. Select Uninstall to remove the app from your phone.
Not all apps can be uninstalled. If an app came preloaded on your phone, chances are it can only be disabled through this menu. To remove apps that came preinstalled, you will need to root your phone.
METHOD 2 OF 2: UNINSTALLING THROUGH ADB

1

ROOT YOUR PHONE. The process is different for every device, but essentially rooting your phone gives you access to system applications and developer tools. The only way you can remove programs that come preinstalled by a carrier is to root your phone first.

2

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE ANDROID SDK. The SDK (Software Developer Kit) runs on your computer. You can get the Android SDK directly from Google. This program will give you command line access to your device when it is connected to your computer.

3

CONNECT YOUR ROOTED PHONE TO YOUR COMPUTER. Turn on USB debugging mode for your device. To do this, open the Settings, then scroll down to the System section. Tap “Develop options” and slide the switch at the top to ON. Scroll down and check the box next to “USB debugging.”

4

FIND THE APP TO UNINSTALL. Open up ADB and enter the following commands:
adb shell
cd system/app
This will list all of the applications installed on your phone. Find the one that you want to remove and type:
rm appname.apk
reboot
This will uninstall the application and reboot the phone to complete the process.
WARNINGS
Be careful when uninstalling applications from the ADB terminal. If you remove applications necessary for your device’s operation, you may render the device inoperable. Always research the apps you are going to delete.
ARTICLE INFO
Categories: Android
Recent edits by: Maluniu, Tiagoroth, Bhättaräe Diväs
In other languages:
Español: Cómo desinstalar aplicaciones en Android Português: Como Como desinstalar Apps no Android
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