Top 3 Effective Ways to Remove Unused Android Apps

The Google Play Store has a lot of apps and there are plenty more that are free to use. This is the reason why many Android users, including me, have a lot of apps installed on our devices.

That’s really not a problem since most devices, even the budget ones, come with 32GB or more of internal storage, leaving a lot of room for users.

But the real problem arises when you have a vast number of unused apps and there is no plausible reason to keep them on your phone anymore. So, how do you identify and remove them?

Unfortunately, Android has no direct way of doing so. However, there are easy workarounds for this problem.

In this post we will talk about three effective ways, using which you can remove unused Android apps from your phone. But first, let us know why this is an issue.

Why are Unused Apps Such a Big Problem

There are a lot of good reasons as to why someone would want to remove unused apps. First and the most obvious one is that even if you are not using such apps regularly, they still are sitting on your device, eating some part of your storage.

Secondly, they do update from time-to-time. As and when a developer pushes an update for an app, your system will download and install it, regardless of the fact that you use it or not.

Third and the most important reason is that similar to the apps we use on regular basis, some unused apps also have services linked to them.

These services keep running in the background and result in the further consumption of valuable hardware resources. All this could slow your phone down considerably.

Let aside all three, only one of these reasons is good enough for me to remove unused Android apps from my phone. If you also think alike, the solution is simpler than you might expect.

How to Remove Unused Android Apps

While Android has a very detailed app manager, it sadly doesn’t show when a particular app was last used on your device. Without knowing that important information, it’s impossible to differentiate between the apps to keep and the ones to delete.

However, we have zeroed in on certain ways that you can use to know when an app was last used on your Android device and, in turn, delete them.

1. Find and Delete Unused Apps Using Google Play Store App

The Google Play Store is the go-to solution when it comes to app downloads on any Android phone. This same app has a neat solution to deal with unused apps as well. Follow these steps to find and remove unused Android apps from your phone.

Step 1: Open the Google Play Store app and navigate to the menu located at the top-left corner of the screen. It is denoted by three bars or the hamburger icon.

From the pop-up, select My apps & games and then navigate to the INSTALLED tab.

Step 2: On this page, sort all the installed apps by Last used. This way, the least used app will come on top of the list. Now, you’ll be able to see which app has not been used for a long time.

Step 3: Select the app you wish to uninstall. The following screen will take you to the app page on the Google Play Store, select UNINSTALL to remove it from your phone.

2. Find and Delete Unused Apps Using Developer Options

Developer options is a goldmine of hidden features for Android. If used correctly, it can be of great help. Here, we will be making use of a relatively lesser-known feature called Inactive apps.

Any Android app that has not been used for more than 4 weeks is automatically made inactive by the Android system and, hence, you can identify and remove them from your phone. Here’s how.

Step 1: From the device Settings, locate and tap on the Developer options tab. On the following screen, scroll down and locate the Inactive apps tab. Once there, tap on it and proceed to the next step.

Step 2: On this page, you will see all the apps that you have installed on your phone. If you haven’t used some apps for more than 4 weeks, they will show as Inactive. Now you know which apps you are not using and you can remove them.

Step 3: Select the app that you wish to uninstall from your phone. The following screen will give you a lot of information about that app and the Uninstall button, tap on that to remove the app.

3. Find and Delete Unused Apps Using Google Files Go

Google’s Files Go is a handy little tool for Android. It allows users to share files over Wi-Fi Direct and also helps in periodic maintenance of your phone by helping in removing unused apps and unwanted files.

Here’s how you can use Files Go to remove unwanted Android apps from your phone.

Step 1: Download and install Files Go app from the Google Play Store. Once you’ve installed it, open the app and the home screen should show you the unused apps tab.

Step 2: Open the unused apps tab and select the app or apps that you wish to uninstall or remove from your phone. To do so, select the app from the list and tap on the UNINSTALL button at the bottom of the screen.

Keep It Zen

Access to free apps does not necessarily mean that you should keep them installed on your phone. If needed, these apps can be easily and quickly installed from the Google Play store.

By doing so, you will keep your device running light and, in turn, you’ll get better performance and a much better battery life as well.