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I am trying to uninstall CM Security. It's a device admin, so I go to Settings, Security, then Device Administrators, and try to uncheck the box next to CM Security, then a screen comes up listing the privileges the app has. The options are Cancel and Deactivate. When I click Deactivate, the button depresses, but it does nothing. I can click it as much as I want, and nothing happens. How can I deactivate a device admin when this problem occurs?

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    Are you rooted? You could try forcibly removing it with Titanium Backup or similar.
    – Matthew Read
    Sep 8, 2015 at 22:40
  • Not rooted. I'm just wondering what might cause this.
    – Daniel
    Sep 8, 2015 at 23:29

2 Answers 2

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Try booting your device into safe mode.

You can do this by holding the power button until the shutdown menu appears, and then hold the "Power off" option until your device asks to boot into safe mode. There will be a watermark on your screen when you boot into safe mode to show you it worked.

When you boot into safe mode, only system apps are allowed to run. You should be able to deactivate the device admin from there, because no app can prevent the process from running.

Warning: all non-Google sync accounts are reset when you boot into safe mode (no idea why). This means you might need to enter your dropbox/onedrive/other account credentials.

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  • OK - I actually found an option to do this from within the security app. Apparently it is common for security apps to prevent the user from discontinuing admin access.
    – Daniel
    Sep 12, 2015 at 19:57
  • I guess that's kind of logical, you don't want your advanced device protection app to be deactivated with a single tick.
    – gertmenkel
    Sep 12, 2015 at 20:00
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There may have been a change to the app in the last four years that allows this: On my Android phone, I went to Settings, Security, Phone Administrators. Button Savior was listed as a screen lock with a checked box on the right. I touched the check box and the listing disappeared. I was then able to go to Apps, Uninstall/Disable Apps and press the Button Savior app to uninstall it.

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