back to top
Menu
How To

How to Uninstall Device Admin App on Android: A Comprehensive Guide

By Sandeep Gautam
Follow Us
placeholder text

Topics

The majority of the organizations and the various businesses out there employ device admin apps as a means of managing and providing security to devices that most of the employees use for work purposes. These apps grant your device almost total control over your Android device in addition to important features for IT management, like monitoring and enforcing policies. At times, however, you will need to uninstall these apps for some reasons such as if you are no longer with the organization, or for instance, if you would like to have your device under your control again. The entire comprehensive guide will enable you to remove a device admin app from your Android device using several various methods, which are the most effective.

What Are Device Admin Apps and Why Are They Installed?

Device admins play a huge role in implementing security-related devices, and they are sometimes used as such by the IT departments. Devices are screened by apps to make sure they do what they are supposed to do.

  1. Link directly to data stored in corporate accounts.
  2. Collect data about how many apps were used.
  3. Get devices locked, change lost passwords or delete data from a distance.

The benefits of these functionalities cannot be ruled out. The course of action to be taken with the Device Administrator Apps Uninstallation

Method 1: Utilizing the settings panel

The simplest/commonest way to uninstall the device administrator app is via the Android settings. Get know about to turn off the app from here.

  1. Launch the settings menu of your device
  2. Go into Security & Privacy
  3. Scroll down and hit More Security Settings or Device Admin Apps (the name may differ on app as per your Andriod version).
  4. Apps with device admin permission Tap on the toggle next to the app you want to delete or Uninstall.
  5. If not, go ahead and press Deactivate after tapping the app’s name.
  6. Once deactivated, please follow Settings → Apps → All Apps.
  7. Find the device admin app, tap it and choose Uninstall.
  8. Confirm the action by tapping OK in the pop-up window.

This method works well for most users but may not be possible if the app is set to prevent deactivation by the admin.

Method 2: Uninstall via ADB Commands

Look if the app settings menu method doesn’t work or if the Deactivate option’s greyed out, USB Debug Bridge (ADB) commands can be used to remove the device admin app. On the contrary, this is more complex and technical, though, yet it provides working ways for doing away with admin maps. Here are the steps you need to complete:

  1. Enable Developer Options on your device by opening settings>> About phone>> Press Build Number a few times.
  2. Return to Settings > System and go into Developer Options.
  3. Turn on USB Debugging.
  4. First, plug your Android device into your PC via a USB cable.
  5. Now head to your PC and download the Android SDK Platform Tools.
  6. From within the platform tools folder, open a command prompt or terminal window.
  7. Ask the following to reduce the admin status for that app
   adb shell dpm remove-active-admin app-package-name/.yourAdminReceiver
  1. Once the admin rights are removed, uninstall the app using:
   adb uninstall app-package-name

Make sure to replace app-package-name it with the exact package name of the app (you can find this under Settings > Apps > [App Name]).

In cases where this command fails, you can try an alternative:

   adb shell dpm remove-active-admin app-package-name/MyDeviceAdminReceiver

Method 3: Factory Reset

If neither the settings nor ADB methods work, a factory reset might be your last resort. The factory reset will remove everything from the device, even the apps and their configurations. This is a more drastic measure, but it is sometimes the only solution for stubborn device admin apps.

  • Back up all of your important data, like contacts, photos, and other personal files.
  • Navigate to Settings > System > Reset Options to continue.
  • Click on the Erase All Data (Factory Reset) option and you need to wait for the device to show the confirmation message. Then click Erase All Data button to confirm the wipe all data process.
  • Erase all data will start the phone afresh. The factory reset process will start electrically and to protect your data back which takes time. This way your device will restart and get reloaded. Your device will be admin app free but all the data will be deleted.

Please do not be hasty; conduct a complete analysis and consider the method as a last resort because the effect cannot be reverted.

Troubleshooting: Fixing the “Exception Occurred While Executing ‘remove-active-admin’” Error

In the midst of employing ADB commands to do away with a device administering app, it’s probable that you’ll confront a notification similar to the following:

Exception occurred while executing 'remove-active-admin':
java.lang.SecurityException: Attempt to remove non-test admin

This error message is indicative of receiving an app query that is not the admin-free variety, implying that the standard ADB removal mechanisms might not even be in-play. Therefore, you might feel like you should try something of the following:

  • Make sure that the device is turned off and then execute the ADB way all over again.
  • Specify another ADB command as given above, targeting the receiver you want.
  • If everything else fails, just factory reset as shown in the previous section.

This problem often occurs when dealing with device admin apps that have been installed by somea company or organization, so ensure you’ve consulted with the relevant authorities before proceeding.

Conclusion

Android device admin apps are vital for ensuring proper security is maintained on devices, particularly in corporate scenarios. But, eventually when it is time to uninstall them, they refuse to budge. No matter if you use the settings menu, ADB commands or factory reset, it is very important to pay attention to steps so you do not break any function in your device. In case you run into any issues, refer to these steps and they should help you sort things out.

And with the pedestrian mobile apps in control, you can uninstall just about any device admin app on your Android, leaving you as free to roam the grounds of full access while keeping your device administrator-less.