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Is there any other way apart from rooting the device to remove preinstalled apps?

If it's relevant, the Android version is 4.4 Kitkat.

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  • Depends on the app. Some apps can simply be uninstalled (usually bloat apps like Amazon and such). Other can only e deactivated or simply require a rooted device.
    – GiantTree
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 15:59
  • I can't update pre-loaded apps also.Is there a work around for these?
    – NeoWelkin
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 16:03
  • Nope, either disable them, or root & remove.. No other way out..
    – Gokul NC
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 16:06
  • You could flash a different ROM.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 16:52
  • Possible duplicate of Uninstall apps locked by phone vendor
    – brasofilo
    Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 15:59

6 Answers 6

Reset to default
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There are two kinds of preinstalled apps, system apps and preset user apps.

User apps, even if they are preinstalled, can be removed normally. However, they will come back at every factory reset or settings reset.

For system apps, it's a little bit complex.
TL;DR In general we say you can't. Actually, yes you can, but the method is even more complex than rooting, so it's highly impractical. Yet you really can, though.

First of all, generally speaking, you can't remove system apps without root. System apps are installed in /system, which you can't mount as read-write without root normally. Thus you can't remove them.
However, as is mentioned above, as long as you can mount /system in read-write access, you can remove system apps. By far the easiest approach is to flash a cusrom recovery (this is more complex than rooting). With the custom recovery, you can modify every corner in your device, /system included, but beware of potential damage. In the recovery you can mount /system as r-w and then delete unwanted system apps. The real conplexity is that in most cases you must do this in an ADB shell, or deal with the not-so-friendly UI of TWRP.
Furthermore, I haven't yet learned that someone is flashing a custom recovery without rooting his phone. Only ones who want to maximize control over their devices gets custom recoveries, and rooting, in this case, is more basic than a recovery.

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    Here's a use case : there are several apps that refuse to work if the phone is rooted. Some of them are completely impossible to fool. One of my biggest uses for root are to remove pre-installed system apps that I don't use.
    – Milind R
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 12:31
  • Also, my phone was unlocked using a manufacturer-supplied tool. So I have an unlocked bootloader, but not root.
    – Milind R
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 14:48
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As far as I know there is no way to remove google apps without rooting your android device but you can simply disable them. Go to Settings>Application Manager then select the app and Disable it.

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If you are mentioned about apps install on /data/app, you may directly remove them.

If you are talking about apps on /system/app, there is no way you can uninstall them. Instead of delete them, I think you should disable them on app manager under setting.

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You can also disable the apps which you dont want to use
Go to Setting> Application manager> Downloaded Now select the application which you want to disable You can enable them when you needs that apps it does not shows icon on the menu

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STEP 1

Press the Android's back button as many times as necessary to return to the main menu.

STEP 2

Tap the "Menu" button.

STEP 3

Tap "Settings" and then tap "Applications."

STEP 4

Select the "Manage Applications" option.

STEP 5

Scroll through the list of applications until you come across the YouTube app.

STEP 6

Tap the YouTube app and then select the small "Uninstall" button. Click "OK" to confirm that you would like to remove the app from your Android.

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    Preinstalled Apps can't be removed by just uninstalling them. That just removes their updates.
    – Dan Brown
    Commented Nov 28, 2016 at 11:33
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You can reset your device and then all apps are removed.

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    Sorry, but that is not true for nearly all phones.
    – GiantTree
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 16:43
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    Pre-installed apps are almost always part of the ROM (system apps) and are completely untouched by a factory reset. On some devices, they may even be actively restored by the bootloader if you've removed them manually.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 16:46

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