# Managing apps with ADB (and without root) 'define expected-reading 8 min 'define created 25 February 2023 'define edited 25 February 2023 [$pagenav] .contents .numbered 1. [url #installing Installing] 2. [url #opening-a-shell-and-connecting-to-your-device Opening a shell and connecting to your device] 3. [url #managing-applications Managing applications] 4. [url #what-to-remove What to remove] Often new phones, especially Samsung ones, come with a whole lot of bloatware, which usually cannot be uninstalled from within the phone. This could be circumvated by rooting your phone, essentially gaining full administrative control over the device, however this process can be somewhat involved and could [url https://www.xda-developers.com/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-3-unlock-bootloader-broken-camera/ cause issues]. A better solution is using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a developer tool with which you can more fluently control your device. Of course, you still won't get full control, but it is as close as it gets, without requiring any permanent and involved configurations. If you're having trouble, [url https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux/ XDA's article], as well as [url https://www.maketecheasier.com/uninstall-system-apps-without-root-android/ these] [url https://www.maketecheasier.com/get-started-with-android-debug-bridge-adb/ maketecheasier] [url https://www.maketecheasier.com/enable-developer-options-in-android-42/ articles] go into more detail and show pictures. ## Installing Windows: .numbered 1. Download the official platform tools from [url https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-windows.zip here] 2. Extract the files in a folder and navigate to it Linux (or MacOS): .bulleted - With your package manager, it should be called `[android-tools]`, `[android-tools-adb]` or `[android-platform-tools]` - Worst case scenario, download and extract it from [url https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-linux.zip here] for Linux, and [url https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip here] for MacOS. ## Opening a shell and connecting to your device ADB is very powerfull, so by default phones don't allow you to connect to the device with it. First, we'll allow such a connection: .numbered 1. Go to `[Settings/About phone]` (depending on your Android skin, this might be located in a slightly different place) 2. Tap "Build number" 7 times, until a message says you're done 3. Navigate to the Developer options, which is often in `[Settings/Developer options]`, but could also be inside the `[Settings/System]` menu 4. Enable the "USB debugging option" (if a popup appears, click OK) ADB is a command-line only tool, so first open a terminal inside the platform-tools directory: .bulleted - On Window, Right-click in the directory and press "Open PowerShell window here" or "Open command window here" or "Open in Terminal" (different OS versions show a different option) - On Linux (and MacOS), open a terminal window and `[cd]` to the platform-tools directory Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable, change the transfer mode to "File transfer" and in the terminal enter: ```shell adb devices On your phone you should get a poppup asking "Allow USB debugging?", press OK. You should get a "List of devices attached", and it should have one entry (a line below it, with some number and letters and then the word "device"). 'footnote interactive-shell You could just run every command like `[adb shell COMMAND]`, which wouldn't give you an interactive shell, so it is less convinient Now, we'll open a shell[$interactive-shell], a program with which to directly enter commands that the device understands: ```shell adb shell ## Managing applications There are 3 general commands that you would want to use: ```shell pm list packages Which prints the internal names of all applications that are installed on the device. All of the other commands use those names (without the leading "package:", if it exists) for referring to applications. ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 PACKAGE Where PACKAGE is an aforementioned application name. This command just uninstalls the app for the normal user, meaning it will be brought back on factory reset. ```shell pm disable --user 0 PACKAGE Disabled PACKAGE, so it wouldn't work but you wouldn't need to reinstall it (just enable it). Beware that, if it shows some sort of error (anything that isn't "Success"), you'll probably need to use `[disable-user]`, rather than just `[disable]`. After you're done, you can pretty much just unplug your device, but remember to =[turn back off the "USB debugging" option!]= ## What to remove This is a lost of commands, which remove a whole lot of arguably unnecessary apps. Use =[AT YOUR OWN RISK!]= Although they shouldn't, they might cause problems =[FOR WHICH I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE!]= :unordered - Facebook ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 package:com.facebook.services pm uninstall -k --user 0 package:com.facebook.katana pm uninstall -k --user 0 package:com.facebook.system pm uninstall -k --user 0 package:com.facebook.appmanager - Netflix ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.netflix.partner.activation pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.netflix.mediaclient - Microsoft apps ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.microsoft.skydrive pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.skype.raider pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.microsoft.office.excel pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.microsoft.office.word pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.microsoft.office.powerpoint - Google apps ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.gm pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.tachyon pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.music pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.docs pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.maps pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.chrome pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.photos pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.vr.vrcore pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.youtube pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.videos pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.talk pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.books pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.magazines pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.apps.plus - Windows 10 Phone comanion ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.microsoft.appmanager - AR Emoji ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.aremoji - Bixby ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.agent pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.es.globalaction pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixbyvision.framework pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.plmsync pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.voiceinput pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.systemui.bixby pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.settings.bixby pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.systemui.bixby2 pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.service pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.routines pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.visionintelligence pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.spage - Samsung Pass/Pay ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.samsungpassautofill pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.authfw pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.samsungpass pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.spay pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.spayfw - Samsung Kids ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.kidsinstaller pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.camera.sticker.facearavatar.preload - Samsung Game Launcher ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gamehome pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.enhance.gameservice pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gametools pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gos - Galaxy Friends ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.mateagent - Samsung Smartthings ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.easysetup pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.beaconmanager pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.oneconnect - Carmode ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.drivelink.stub - Stickers ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.android.mimage.avatarstickers - Samsung Global Goals ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.sree - Samsung Members ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.voc - Samsung LED cover ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.ledbackcover pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.android.cover.ledcover - Samsung TV ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.android.app.withtv - Knox ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.knox.securefolder pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.knox.vpn.proxyhandler pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.knox.keychain pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.enterprise.knox.cloudmdm.smdms pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.knox.analytics.uploader pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.enterprise.knox.attestation pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.knox.containercore - Samsung DEX ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.android.desktopmode.uiservice pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.desktopsystemui pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.android.app.desktoplauncher - Samsung Browser ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sec.android.app.sbrowser pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.sbrowseredge - Samsung Email ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.email.provider pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.wsomacp - Samsung Smartthings ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.easysetup pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.beaconmanager pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.oneconnect - Gear VR ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.hmt.vrsvc pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.app.vrsetupwizardstub pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.hmt.vrshell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.vr.vrcore - Printings ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.bips pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.printservice.recommendation pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.printspooler - Upday news ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 de.axelspringer.yana.zeropage - Verizon ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.vcast.mediamanager pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.vmmhux pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.vzw.hss.myverizon pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.asurion.android.verizon.vms pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.motricity.verizon.ssodownloadable pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.vzw.hs.android.modlite pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.vvm pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.vznavigator.[You_Model_Here] - T-mobile ```shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.mobitv.client.tmobiletvhd pm uninstall -k --user 0 us.com.dt.iq.appsource.tmobile \n More information on available package commands can be shown with `[pm help]`. You can learn more about the adb tool from [url https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb developer.android.com].