Guide · Updated September 2026
How do I remove the preinstalled apps from my Android TV?
Settings removes some of them; the rest need the box's debugging connection. The safe way is to disable, not uninstall: pm disable-user keeps the app and its data on the box, frees it from running, and pm enable brings it back exactly as it was. TV Box Tools has a guided Debloat task that does this with a safety gate — it refuses the packages that brick home screens — and the same job can be done by hand with two ADB commands. One honest note up front: the Google Play edition of our tool ships without Debloat on purpose; use the desktop, web or sideload build for this page.
What Settings alone can do
Settings › Apps › See all apps uninstalls the apps that were installed normally and lets you disable a few more. The preinstalled rows that annoy people — the sponsored apps, the shopping app you never opened — usually offer no Uninstall button at all. That is where the debugging connection comes in.
The guided way: the Debloat task
- Turn on debugging, connect the toolSame ten-minute setup as every task here: Developer options › debugging, then the desktop app, the web app with a USB cable, or the sideload Android app.
- Pick what to disableThe tool lists the box's apps. Everything it does goes through its command gate: disables are shown before they run, and packages whose loss would leave the TV without a working home screen are refused outright.
- Change your mind any timeDisabled, not uninstalled: the app and its data stay on the box. Re-enable from the same list, or with one pm enable command.
By hand, if you prefer ADB
You do not need this — the Debloat task runs the same commands for you, automatically, behind its gate.
See the exact commands — TV Box Tools runs them for you, automatically
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <package>adb shell pm enable <package>Do not disable the stock launcher as part of a debloat sweep — on some TVs that ends in a black screen on HOME. Changing the launcher is its own job with its own safety net, on its own pages here.
The other tools people use — honestly
ADB AppControl is a well-known Windows program for exactly this, and Universal Android Debloater is a respected free option; both do the job from a PC. Ours differs in three ways that matter to us: every command passes a safety gate that refuses the dangerous ones, disables are the default instead of uninstalls, and the same tool runs from a phone, the TV itself, Chrome or a computer — so you are not tied to Windows. Use whichever fits; the ADB commands above are what all of them run underneath.
Questions
Is debloating safe? Can I brick the TV?
Disabling per-user is the safe form: nothing is deleted and pm enable undoes it. The one classic self-inflicted wound is disabling the home screen with nothing to replace it — the restore guide covers even that, and the tool's gate refuses it in the first place.
Why does the Google Play edition of TV Box Tools not have Debloat?
Our own rule: a copy installed from Google Play installs nothing and switches nothing off. Debloat, APK install and backup live in the desktop, web and sideload builds, which say exactly what they do.
Will the disabled apps come back after a system update?
Sometimes — a firmware update can re-enable preinstalled apps. Run the task again; it is a minute the second time.
Debloat with a safety gate
Free · Open source · Disable, not uninstall — everything comes back
Download TV Launcher Manageror on the TV, with the Downloader app — code2123033
