You want to get rid of annoying pre-installed apps on your smartphone? We’ll tell you how it works without root.
Apps and games that are already preinstalled on your Android smartphone (also known as bloatware) are not only annoying, but also consume a lot of storage space. It is usually not easy to remove them. Often such apps can only be deactivated and thus hide, but are still available in the system. Here’s an explanation of how to effectively turn off these bloatware and put it off forever without rooting for your phone.
Attention : The method described in the article not only removes unwanted software but also important system components! So be careful with the uninstall process and research if necessary, if certain software for your Android system is necessary.
How to remove preinstalled apps without root
Follow our step-by-step guide or watch the quick start guide .
Step 1:
First, download the software Minimal ADB and Fastboot to your PC. Be sure to take the latest version , otherwise problems may arise.
2nd step:
After downloading the .zip file, open the file location . Usually this is the folder “Downloads”. Now you have to extract the file by right-clicking on it and selecting it from the “Extract all …” list .
3rd step:
Then select a suitable file location . To make it easier for you in the next steps, select the C: drive and then click ” Extract “.
4th step:
Now pick up your smartphone . You must now enable the developer settings. To do this, open the smartphone settings , scroll down to “about phone” and open the “Software Information”.
5th step:
There, tap on “Build number” several times until the message “Developer mode has been activated” appears.
6th step:
Now look in the settings for “developer options” and open them. There you scroll down to “USB debugging” and activate the switch. Then connect your smartphone to your PC with a USB cable and allow access to phone data .
Also Read: How to Create a Mobile Hotspot with an Android Phone
7th step:
Switch back to your PC . There you have to open the command prompt of Windows. To do this, use the key combination [Windows] + [R] . Enter “cmd” in the new window and press [Enter] .
8th step:
Now enter the file path of the just downloaded and unzipped file. Since you saved the file to the C: drive , your input should be: cd C: \ Minimal ADB and Fastboot . Then press [Enter] .
9th step:
You are now in the previously downloaded folder. Now enter the following to start the Android Debug Bridge (ADB): “adb”
10th step:
You will now see a variety of commands that you should not worry about. Enter the “adb devices” command to verify that your smartphone is connected to AMD. In that case, you should see a message on your mobile phone that you confirm with “OK”. If you enter the “adb devices” command again, you should see the device number with the status “device”. This means that the mobile phone is connected and ready for use.
11th step:
Now enter the command “adb shell” to enter the interactive shell.
12th step:
If you enter the command “pm list packages”, you will see all installed packages. These include not only Android-visible apps, but also system components that must not be deleted under any circumstances! Hang -3 to the command, so “pm list packages -3” will only see third-party apps . You do not accidentally delete important system apps, such as the calendar, that works with and is needed for other apps.
13th step:
To uninstall an app , enter the command “pm uninstall -k –user 0” followed by the name of the application . For example, pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.weheartit to uninstall the app “WeHeartIt”.
14th step:
After successfully removing the app you should see the message “Success”.
quick start Guide
- Download the latest version of Minimal ADB and Fastboot software to your computer.
- After downloading, open the file location , usually “Downloads”, and unpack the file. To do this, right-click on it and select ” Extract All … “.
- For file storage, select the C: drive to make it easy for you later . Then click on “Extract”.
- Now take your smartphone and open the settings . Scroll down to “Phone Info” and then select “Software Information”.
- Tap on “Build number” several times until the message “Developer mode has been activated” appears.
- Then look in the settings for “developer options” and open them. There you scroll to “USB debugging” and activate it. Then connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable and allow access to phone data .
- Now go back to your PC and open the Windows Command Prompt by pressing [Windows] + [R] and entering ” cmd “.
- Now enter the file path of the previously downloaded file. If you have saved them as described in C :, your input should look like this: cd C: \ Minimal AMD and Fastboot .
- Then enter the “adb” command to start the Android Debug Bridge.
- You see several commands that you can ignore. Verify that your smartphone with AMD connected , is by the command “amd devices enter”. You should then see a message on your smartphone that you confirm with “Ok”. If you enter “amd devices” again , the device number with the status ” device ” should appear. Your device is connected and ready to use.
- To enter the interactive shell, enter “amd shell”.
- The pm list packages command displays all installed packages. Enter the pm list packages -3 command to see only third-party apps . So you are on the safe side and do not unintentionally uninstall important system apps, such as the calendar needed for other apps.
- Now uninstall an app with the command ” pm uninstall -k –user 0 ” followed by the name of the app , eg pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.weheartit .
- If the app has been successfully uninstalled, you will receive the message ” Success “.