Remove any app from your phone

3-minute read
android • linux

Every app can be uninstalled, you just need to do it via CLI.

  1. Enable ‘Developer options’ on your phone
  2. Install adb via the android-tools package:
sudo pacman -S android-tools

  1. Plug in the USB cable between phone and computer, you will have to accept the debugging authorization on your phone.

  2. Start the shell:

adb shell
  1. List packages:
pm list packages

  1. Copy the list and filter it to only contain the packages you want to remove.

  2. You can remove a package by adding it’s ID to the end of this command:

pm uninstall --user 0 -k
  1. Save a list of all the commands you’ve executed, you will need to re-run it after every phone update.

Find package ID Link to heading

Some apps have weird ids, and it’s hard to find this information. There are a few things you can do:

  1. Search for the app in the Play Store, press Share, you will see the ID in the URL.
  2. Search for the app on your phone, find it’s version, then search for that in the output of the dumpsys command in the adb shell:
dumpsys 2&>/dev/null | grep -A10 -B10

DO NOT RUN THIS! Link to heading

This is a list of all the rubbish I’ve removed from my phone. DO NOT RUN IT! It’s not intended for your use… It’s for me to re-run after every update. If you run this without first installing replacement apps, you will suffer!

Click to toggle! 
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.android.bookmarkprovider
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.android.chrome
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.diotek.sec.lookup.dictionary
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.dsi.ant.plugins.antplus
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.dsi.ant.sample.acquirechannels
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.dsi.ant.server
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.dsi.ant.service.socket
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.apps.photos
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.apps.tachyon
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.as
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.gm
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.music
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.projection.gearhead
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.tts
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.android.videos
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.google.ar.core
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.microsoft.appmanager
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.osp.app.signin
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.app.notes
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.app.tips
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.ardrawing
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.aremoji
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.arzone
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.authfw
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.dynamiclock
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.forest
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.hmt.vrsvc
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.honeyboard
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.mdx
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.mdx.kit
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.mobileservice
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.samsungpositioning
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.service.peoplestripe
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.svoiceime
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.themecenter
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.themestore
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.samsung.android.visionarapps
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.app.desktoplauncher
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.app.dexonpc
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.app.myfiles
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.daemonapp
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.desktopmode.uiservice
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.gallery3d
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.android.inputmethod
pm uninstall --user 0 -k com.sec.spp.push