How to Uninstall or Disable Preinstalled (Bloatware) Apps on Android

New Android phones often ship with apps you never asked for. Here’s how to remove the ones you can and silence the ones you can’t.

Why: Apps you installed yourself can be fully uninstalled. But many preinstalled system apps can’t be deleted — the manufacturer or carrier baked them in. For those, the next-best option is to disable them, which hides them from your app list and stops them running.

Whether a given app can be disabled (and the exact menu wording) depends on your manufacturer. The steps below follow Google’s generic Android/Pixel docs; Samsung One UI is noted where it differs.

Fix 1: Uninstall an app you installed

For apps you added yourself, removal is straightforward.

1. Open the Google Play Store app.
2. Tap your profile icon (top right) > Manage apps & device > Manage.
3. Tap the app you want to remove, then tap Uninstall.

Or, on the home screen, touch and hold the app’s icon and tap Uninstall (Samsung: drag it to Uninstall at the top). If you paid for an app, you can reinstall it later for free.

Fix 2: Disable a preinstalled app you can’t delete

If there’s no Uninstall option, the app is a system app — disable it instead.

1. Open Settings > Apps (or Apps & notifications > See all apps).
2. Tap the app you want to silence.
3. Tap Disable (Samsung: Turn off), then confirm.

Disabling hides the app from your app list and stops it running and sending notifications. You can re-enable it anytime from Settings > Apps (look under disabled/turned-off apps). Note that some core system apps can’t be disabled at all — if there’s no Disable button, that app is required.

Fix 3: Let Android auto-clean apps you rarely use

Rather than hunting down each one, you can let Android trim apps you’ve stopped using.

1. Open Settings > Apps.
2. Look for Unused apps (Android 13 and later) to see apps you haven’t opened in a while.
3. For an individual app, open it and turn on Pause app activity if unused under Unused app settings — Android then frees its temporary files, revokes its permissions, and stops it running in the background.

FAQ

Does disabling free up storage? It frees the storage used by the app’s updates (it reverts to the factory version) and stops it using background resources, but the base system app still occupies some space since it can’t be deleted.

Will disabling break my phone? No — if Android lets you disable an app, it’s safe to turn off. Truly essential apps don’t offer a Disable option.

Can I get a disabled app back? Yes. Go to Settings > Apps, find the disabled app, and tap Enable (Samsung: Turn on).

Sources: Android Help — Delete or disable apps on Android, Google Play Help — Disable apps that came with your Android device