In this guide, you’ll learn how to remove bloatware from Android devices without root.
Unlike Android One devices which come with few apps, many other OEM devices like Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi among many other comes bloatware pre-installed and it even gets annoying when you can’t remove/uninstall this bloatware from your device.
But wait, let me quickly brief you about bloatware is and how you can identify them on your device.
What is Bloatware?
When you buy a new Android smartphone, other than the few necessary apps which are needed for your phone to work run properly, others are regarded as bloatware.
Why you’ll keep finding bloatware is because manufacturers actually make profits from it.
How? quite simple. App development companies pay manufacturers to put their apps in their devices as a means of gaining quick publicity of their app and also increase their user base.
While this is not actually a bad idea, it may sometimes feel like your device is being loaded with too many unnecessary apps.
I could remember when I bought my new device 4 months ago, it was loaded with multiple apps with the same ability and that I didn’t like.
Although Google Pixel devices allow users to disable bloatware, other OEMs makes it impossible for you to disable.
Too many bloatware consumes your device internal storage and even slows down your phone’s performance. However, you can completely remove bloatware from your device, but to this, you’ll need to void your device warranty by rooting your device.
There are many benefits of a rooted Android smartphone, but since we don’t want to void our warranty and still remove bloatware, we’ll be discussing how to debloat Android Stock ROM without root.
How to debloat Android Stock ROM without root
In this guide, I’ll be sharing two methods which you can use to debloat Android stock ROM without rooting. This way you can keep your warranty and still have a bloatware free device.
For both methods, we’ll be making use of a Windows PC.
First Method: Using Debloater
Debloater is a free PC app that lets you edit or cast off apps from your Android device. Simply follow the steps below to remove bloatware from your Android device.
Step 1. First off, you need to enable developer option on your device. You can do this by going to your phone’s Settings » About phone » build number (tap on build number 7-10 instances and your developer option get activated).
Step 2. Now you’ll find the developer option on your settings, tap on it, scroll until you find USB Debugging option and activate it on your device.
Step 3. Connect your device and select file transfer from the USB option. Once you’ve activated USB debugging, the tool will auto-detect your device, then you will get a message box on your PC screen as shown below. Click ok
Step 4. Now click on “Read Phone Packages” which is located on the top left corner of the tool, it will start loading all of the packages installed on your device.
Step 5. Now you will be shown the list of all applications it detects on your device as blocked & not blocked
Step 6. Now you want to tick the apps you don’t want running on your device and then click on “apply” button and this will block all pre-installed or useless apps from your device.
Just in case you want to undo the process, maybe you mistakenly ticked an app that was supposed to the running to keep the device functioning fine and the device is now unstable. You can easily connect your device back to your PC and deselect all if you’re not sure the app responsible for the problem caused after selecting them. That’s it! you are done, now all those apps will be removed from your device and your phone’s storage will be free from them.
Second Method: Using ADB (Android Debug Bridge)
If you tried the above method and it’s not working for you, then you might want to remove your device bloatware using ADB commands.
I actually recommend this method because I find it really convenient typing command line instructions.????
Now, let’s see how to debloat Android Stock ROM using ADB.
Prerequisites:
- USB drivers for your device (It should automatically install once you connect your device to your pc). Just in case it’s not installing, click here.
- Download and extract Minimal ADB and Fastboot tools.
- Download and install App Inspector or Link2SD from Google Play Store to know the exact name of the app you want to remove.
Steps to Remove Bloatware using ADB
For you to use ADB on your device, USB debugging also has to be enabled. See the steps in the first method I discussed.
Make sure to change “Charge Only” mode to “File Transfer” mode when selecting the USB option.
Step 1. Launch minimal adb and fast boot if you created a desktop shortcut or simply go to the directory where you extracted the ADB files.
Hold the Shift key down and Right-click anywhere in the folder and select “Open Power Shell Window here” from the pop-up menu.
Step 2. Now that you have adb and fastboot running, key in the following command: “adb devices”
You’ll get a prompt on your Android screen to allow USB debug, click allow.
If connected properly, you should have something similar to my screenshot on your screen.
Step 3. Now, type the following command: “adb shell.” his would set your device as root directory so you can access the files directly.
Step 4. Now, launch App Inspector or Link2SD, anyone you downloaded. On your Android device and search for the exact name of the app package.
You’ll be using this app to identify the name of the app you want to uninstall.
Step 5. Now, that you’ve identified the app ID, enter the following in the command windows: “pm uninstall –k —user 0 “Package name, without quotes.” Then hit enter.
Note: The command is case sensitive, so use small letter where you see a small letter and use capital letter where you see a capital letter.
Also, do not disable any Android app you don’t know what it does, but you’re free to ask anything in the comment.
However, you should also know that performing a factory reset will recover all the bloatware which you have uninstalled through the above methods as the apps are stored in your device’s system; they’re just uninstalling for the current user, which is you.
Finally, some of you guys might be worrying if you will get your device bricked during an update after removing these apps. Well no, you can perform OTA update any day anytime. These methods are completely safe and won’t void any device warranty.
If this guide on how to remove bloatware on Android without rooting as helped you, please like and share. Cheers
