How to Remove Bloatware from Your Samsung Galaxy S20 and Improve Battery Life

Do you find that your Galaxy S20 has more apps than you’ll ever use? Or that your battery life could be better. Many Samsung devices come with pre-installed apps, also known as bloatware, which can take up space on your phone and run in the background, often without you knowing.

If you’re an advanced user removing this bloatware is an easy way to make your device clutter free. This guide will walk you through removing unnecessary apps using ADB (Android Debug Bridge). Just a heads up: this isn’t a beginner’s task. Now, let’s dive in!

Step 1: Set Up ADB (Android Debug Bridge)

You’ll need to set up ADB on your computer and enable USB debugging on your device.

1. Download the Android SDK Platform-Tools from Google’s official page here.
2. Unpack the Platform-Tools using software like 7-Zip (Windows) or Peazip (Linux), and remember the directory where it’s saved.
3. Enable USB Debugging:
   • Open Settings > About phone and tap Build number seven times to enable Developer Options.
   • Go back to Settings and find Developer options at the bottom, then toggle USB Debugging on.

Step 2: Launch ADB and Connect Your Device

1. Open a Command Prompt or Terminal:
   • On Windows 10, you can hold the Shift key and right-click in the folder where you saved ADB to open a Command Prompt/PowerShell or Terminal window.
2. Connect your Galaxy S20 to your computer via USB.
3. Verify the Connection:
   • In your command prompt, type adb devices and press Enter.
   • Watch your phone screen for a prompt to allow USB debugging. Click Allow.

Step 3: List Installed Apps

Now it’s time to see which apps are on your device so you can choose what to remove.

• To get a list of all apps installed, enter: adb shell pm list packages

• For a list of system apps only, type: adb shell pm list packages -s
• To list Samsung-specific apps: adb shell pm list packages | grep 'samsung'

Now you have the package names of all apps, so you know exactly what’s installed and can decide what to keep or remove.

Step 4: Remove Bloatware

Ready to start removing bloatware? Here’s how to do it.

1. Enter the ADB Shell: adb shell

2. Uninstall an App:

   • Use this command format to uninstall an app: pm uninstall -k --user 0 [Package Name]
   • For example, if you want to remove Samsung’s game launcher: pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gametools
     Note: If you uninstall the wrong app, you can reinstall it by typing: cmd package install-existing [Package Name]

Important: Avoid removing critical system packages, such as Google Mobile Services (GMS). If you accidentally uninstall GMS or an essential app, you can reinstall it with commands like:  cmd package install-existing com.google.android.gms

Step 5: Common Apps You Can Safely Remove

Here’s a list of Samsung and Google apps that are generally safe to remove:

pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.samsungpass
pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.spayfw
pm uninstall --user 0 com.sec.android.app.samsungapps
pm uninstall --user 0 com.facebook.appmanager
pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup
pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.videos
pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.aremoji
pm uninstall --user 0 com.samsung.android.themecenter
pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.chrome
pm uninstall --user 0 com.netflix.mediaclient

Wrap-Up

After removing unnecessary apps, you should notice improvements in battery life and maybe even some extra storage space!

And hey, with all those apps gone, your Galaxy S20 will feel as light as it did on day one. Or who knows, maybe even lighter…