2022-10-16
Over the lifetime of a mobile gadget many different applications are installed. Some of them are system applications, others are downloaded by user, some others are spreading like viruses and getting into operating system: they become uninstallable and bring not benefit but harm.
This tutorial will tell you how to uninstall applications which are theoretically uninstallable. In practice many of them are easily uninstalled.
Contents :
Why some applications are not uninstalled
The Android developers have provided different possibilities to the user regarding the applications. Some of them can only be run, others can be modified or deleted. Some, however, can only be started, others can only be modified and deleted. This is done to prevent harmful actions to the mobile OS.
The main reason why an application cannot be uninstalled on Android is due to the following reasons:
- the user does not have appropriate rights;
- the application is included to the system list;
- a virus has restricted access to the application disguised as a system application;
- the application contains a built-in lock for the functions responsible for its removal;
- after uninstalling the application another one is loaded by a tool existing in the OS.
There may be several reasons, in addition they often combine with each other and it becomes even more troublesome to get rid of an unfortunate utility.
But in the majority of cases you can handle this issue yourself. In this review, we will find out how to uninstall an uninstallable application. But first let us understand why we should do this.
Why uninstall an application
The only reason is that they interfere with the normal operation of your device. And these can manifest themselves in different ways:
- The gadget is slow to respond to user commands.
- Memory becomes full because unnecessary programs are running in the background.
- Advertising messages are displayed that cannot be eliminated except by removing the source program.
Uninstalling all the malware allows you to restore the device functionality without being distracted by unnecessary information.
How to remove an unrecoverable viral application
Malware has the ability to infiltrate the device firmware. Therefore their removal by root access may result in the gadget malfunctioning or being completely unusable.
Any methods discussed above will be inefficient in this case.
1: The best way would be to install Malwarebytes antivirus.
Sometimes more drastic action must be used:
2. To reset the system to factory installations.
3. To update the firmware: Find the section "Software Update" on the device, find the latest version.
4. Reinstall the OS by downloading it from the official developer's website. You will need to use the firmware updater from your PC.
Uninstall from the safe mode
Safe mode may be useful to solve different system problems. Particularly you can use it to quickly uninstall an application which you would not normally uninstall during normal operation of your Android.
- Log in to the safe mode.
- Go to Settings > Applications.
- Select an application by clicking on the line with its name.
- Click the Uninstall button.
- Confirm your action.
Other Uninstallable Applications
Lenovo, Philips, Sony, Xiaomi
In most Android devices it is very easy to remove "embedded" applications: Hold the finger on an icon until the "Uninstall" or the trash icon appears, then drag the icon to the trash and confirm the action.
ASUS, LG, Samsung
In the other mobiles this operation may not work. Here you should click on the Settings Menu (the three dots on the top right of the screen), select the "Remove/uninstall application" option and indicate the application to be removed.
Samsung Galaxy S8 - S20
The latest Samsung Galaxy S8 models have an innovated way of removing applications: you may hold your finger on the application icon to activate the context menu, where you select the "Remove" option.
Uninstalling applications with root access
If the above described standard uninstallation procedures provided by the system itself do not obtain the desired results, other methods may be used. Use these methods can be divided into two groups: with and without root access.
The presence of root access greatly simplifies the uninstall procedure for uninstalling applications which cannot be removed. Titanium Backup Manager is designed for these cases. It can handle any application even if it is not uninstalled.
The procedure is as follows:
- Load and open Titanium Backup with root rights.
- Go to the main menu and find the "Backups" item. It contains a list of utilities available on the device. The red ones are the system ones, the white ones are the user loaded ones and the yellow and green ones are the ones you should not touch.
- Select and click on the program you want to uninstall. A window with suggested actions opens.
- You can click on "Delete" right away but it is better to make a backup first. If needed, you can easily restore it from Titanium Backup
- Wait until the operation completes, close Titanium and check that the utility is not uninstalling.
This method seems to be the easiest and most convenient way of answering the question how to uninstall an application that will not uninstall. One disadvantage is that the free version of the manager is somewhat limited in functionality, therefore it is recommended to consult the Pro version.
Removal of administrative programs in Android
Such applications need more rights to function, but within the limits of the user rights. In other words the root rights are not necessary for their removal. Utilities such as, among others, GPS tracking and remote locking.
To get rid of an unwanted program you should:
- Go to the gadget settings;
- Find the "Security" (or other security settings) and then the "Device administrators";
- unmark the program to be deleted as the administrator.
Now the administrative utility is removed without difficulty in the usual way.
How to remove system applications without root: ADB + App Inspector
This is the easiest of all listed but at the same time the most productive method to remove an unrecoverable application from the device OS without root access. To resort to it, you will need to download Android Debug Bridge on your PC and App Inspector on your smartphone. This is the main method to uninstall system android apps via pc.
The algorithm is as follows:
1. Connect the mobile to the PC and install the drivers if needed.
2. Check if the ADB archive is unpacked to the root of the system disk.
3. Invoke the "Command prompt" via "Start" and type cmd. Right click on the shortcut appearing and select "Run as administrator".
4. In the command line, type the command sequence:
cd c:/adb adb devices adb shell
4. Now open the App Inspector on the smartphone. Here you can see a list of all the utilities in the system, arranged alphabetically. Find and mark what is to be removed.
5. Mark the content of the line "Package Name" - you will need this information a bit later. 6. Refer once more to the PC command line where one would write: pm uninstall -k --user 0 * Package Name* Instead of * Package Name* specify the information to be memorized.
7. Check if the command is written correctly and confirm the action by hitting Enter.
