If you have an Android device, such as a mobile phone, tablet or laptop PC, and have installed apps on it, you may of course wish to remove some of those apps if you decide you no longer want them. To uninstall Android apps, you have two broad options. If you bought or downloaded your apps through the official Google Play store (formerly Android Market), you can uninstall them through the Google Play app on your phone or device. As an alternative, you can uninstall Android apps through a section in your device settings, accessed through the main menu.
In this article we will run through the basics of uninstalling Android apps using both techniques. This can include apps that you installed on the device yourself as well as applications that were already installed when you started using it. However, be careful when removing apps that were already on your device when you got it, as some of them may be providing functionality that other apps rely on and that you are in fact using even though you are not aware of it. In general, it's best only to uninstall apps that you installed yourself.
Uninstall through the Market/ Google Play
For free apps and paid apps after the refund period has elapsed:
In March 2012 the Android Market became Google Play, but the process of uninstalling apps remains the same.
If you installed the apps you want to remove through Google Play, you can uninstall them using the Google Play app as well. To do so, open the Google Play app on your phone or other device, then browse to "My Apps", which you should see when you press the menu button on your device. Once you are in the My Apps section, you should see a list of the apps you have downloaded through Google Play. Locate the ones you want to remove by browsing through the list, using the search function if you have a lot of apps and can't find the ones you are looking for at first glance. You should see the search button near the top of the screen.
Your apps are normally listed in sections, with apps for which there are currently updates available appearing at the top, so you may need to scroll down past these to find the applications you want to uninstall. When you find an app you want to remove, select it from the list and your device will present you with the listing for that app. You should see an "Uninstall" button near the top of the screen, so select it. You will be prompted to confirm you want to uninstall the app, so if you are sure, press OK. While the app is being uninstalled you will see a notification in the Google Play screen. When the app has been successfully uninstalled, the Google Play screen will return to its normal state.
For paid apps before the end of the refund period:
If you are uninstalling apps you paid for, you will only receive a refund if you uninstall the app within 15 minutes of purchasing it. After that time you are no longer entitled to a refund. If you are uninstalling an Android app and are still within the refund period, you will see a "Refund" button in the Google Play page for the app, so select it. After the 15 minute refund window you will simply see the "Uninstall" button.
Note:
If you are outwith the refund period but are unsatisfied with an app, you do have the option of contacting the developer, as the Google Play listings include contact details. You have no guarantee of getting a refund after the 15 minutes elapse, but if an app is faulty in some way you may be able to get the developer to agree to a refund.
Uninstall through the Device Settings
You can uninstall any application installed on your device through your device settings menu, regardless of whether the app was installed through Google Play or not. To use this option, open your main device menu and select "Settings". Choose "Applications", then "Manage applications" or just "Manage" depending on your system version. You should see a tabbed display letting you filter apps that have been downloaded, are installed on the SD card, are currently running, or simply all installed apps. Choose an option and scroll through the list until you find the app you want to remove.
You will see the "Application info" screen for the app, which lists information about the application data and where it is stored. You should see an "Uninstall" button near the top, so choose this. You will be prompted to confirm that you want to go ahead and uninstall the app, so choose OK, if you are sure. You will see a notification while the app is being uninstalled and confirmation when the uninstall is complete.
Additional Options and Considerations
These are the two basic options you have if you want to uninstall Android apps. You may find that, depending on your device or Android platform software version, the titles you see may vary slightly from the steps above, but they should be broadly similar.
If you decide after uninstalling an app that you do want it after all, you can of course download and install it again, providing it is still available. If you have installed applications from sources other than the official Google Play store, you can use the Settings/ Manage applications technique to uninstall these. Whatever download route you took basically involved the application APK file being downloaded onto your device and the app being installed from it, so the uninstallation process should not be any more problematic.
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