How to delete apps on Android

Modern devices ship with more storage than ever before, which makes it all too easy to load them up with apps and never worry too much about removing them.

If your priority is reclaiming storage space then deleting apps is a great space to start, but for more tips, check out our full guide to clearing space and getting more storage on Android.

If you’re trying to get rid of an app that you worry includes a virus, make sure you also read our guide to removing an Android virus, as deleting the app may only be the beginning.

Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to delete apps on the best Android phones or the best Android tablets, as well as other related tasks, like disabling apps, removing apps from your Google Play library, and deleting app shortcuts.

How to delete apps on Android phones or tablets

Uninstall apps via Settings

Android comes in lots of different flavours, but this method of deleting apps is guaranteed to work on absolutely any Android device. It also lets you see a full list of all your apps along the way too, so it’s a great approach if you’re on a digital spring clean:

1. Go to your device’s ‘Settings’ app.
2. Tap on ‘Apps & Notifications’ or ‘Apps’ depending on your device. You may also need to tap on ‘All Apps’.
3. Scroll through the list of installed apps and tap the one you want to delete.
4. Tap ‘Uninstall’ and confirm your choice.

If you don’t see an ‘Uninstall’ option, then that means you’re likely looking at a system app that you’re not able to remove entirely from your Android phone or tablet.

Uninstall apps from the home screen

If you’re trying to uninstall a specific app, it may be quicker to do it straight from its home screen shortcut:

1. Find the app icon on your home screen.
2. Press and hold the app icon.
3. Drag the icon to the ‘Uninstall’ option that appears at the top or side of the screen.
4. Confirm the uninstallation.

Note that you may see a ‘Remove’ option instead of, or as well as, ‘Uninstall’. This will only remove the app icon from the home screen, not delete it.

You can verify this by opening the app drawer and finding the app shortcut staring back at you.

Uninstall apps from the app drawer

If your Android phone or tablet won’t let you uninstall apps from the home screen, it will definitely let you do it from the app drawer – the collection of all your apps that’s usually accessible by swiping up from the centre of your home screen:

1. Swipe up or tap the app drawer icon to see all installed apps.
2. Press and hold the app icon you want to delete.
3. Drag it to the ‘Uninstall’ area that appears. You might also see an ‘Uninstall’ option pop up right above the app icon when you long-press it, this varies by Android version.
4. Confirm the uninstallation.

As with method one, some apps won’t offer an uninstall option here – these are system apps that unfortunately cannot be installed.

Uninstall apps via Google Play Store

The final way to uninstall apps from your Android phone or tablet is to reverse the installation procedure via Google Play Store:

1. Launch the Google Play Store app.
2. Browse to the app you want to uninstall.
3. Tap on ‘Uninstall’ if it’s an app that you’re able to remove.

This is the best approach if you’re uninstalling an app that’s stopped working, but want to reinstall it afterwards, as you’ll already be on the right page to do so.

How to disable or hide apps you can’t uninstall

Some system apps can’t be uninstalled using the above methods – you simply won’t see the ‘Uninstall’ option appear, no matter what you do.

This is pretty common for essential apps like your phone’s camera or messaging apps, but can even extend to things like the calendar and calculator.

However, you can disable or hide apps you can’t uninstall. Follow our article on how to hide apps on Android to see the full step-by-step guide.

How to remove apps from your Google Play library

Even once an app has been deleted from your device, you’ll still find it in the Google Play Store in the ‘Library’ tab of the ‘My apps & games’ section.

This doesn’t mean that the app is actually installed on any of your devices – it simply means it’s still linked to your account, which is obviously important if it’s a paid app that you might want to install again in the future.

If you know that you won’t want to use the app again and want to tidy up this library too, simply:

1. Launch the Google Play Store app.
2. Tap the profile icon in the top right corner and select ‘Manage apps and device’.
3. Go to the ‘Manage’ tab to see all apps you’ve ever installed.
4. Check the app you want to remove from the list.
5. Confirm the removal.

Removing apps from your Google Play library can help declutter the list of apps you’ve installed in the past. You can always find them again by searching the Play Store as normal.

How to remove app shortcuts

Occasionally an app shortcut on the home screen will misbehave and become unresponsive, and when this happens you don’t really want to delete the app but just the shortcut itself.

As mentioned above, you can do this using the same approach we mentioned in the second method above:

1. Find the app shortcut on your home screen.
2. Press and hold the shortcut.
3. Drag the shortcut to the ‘Remove’ or trash can icon that appears.
4. Release the shortcut. This removes the shortcut without uninstalling the app.

You can then replace the shortcut by finding the app in the app drawer, and tapping and holding it to copy it to the home screen. If the app or shortcut is still causing problems, you should uninstall and reinstall the app from the Google Play Store.