Owners of smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco often face intrusive software that can not simply be taken and removed by standard means of the system. System applications take up precious space in memory, consume processor resources and even in the background can slow down the MIUI or HyperOS interface. Many users mistakenly believe that deep cleaning of the device necessarily requires obtaining root rights, which entails a loss of warranty and the risk of turning the phone into a “brick”.
Fortunately, the architecture of the Android operating system allows you to manage packages at a deeper level through a debugging bridge known as the “Space Bridge”. ADB (Android Debug Bridge: This tool allows you to force system components to be disabled or removed for the current user without affecting the system partition or disrupting the integrity of the firmware. In this article, we will discuss in detail the safe methods of cleaning your smartphone from digital garbage, using only a computer and a computer. USB-cable.
Before you start taking action, you need to understand the difference between routinely deleting and hiding a packet. When you “delete” a system application via ADB, it technically stays in /system, but becomes invisible and inaccessible to your user account. This is a key security point: if you crash or need to return functionality, you can always restore the remote application simply by following the reinstall command or resetting your phone settings. This approach minimizes risks and allows you to experiment with the device configuration without fatal consequences.
Preparing a smartphone and computer to work with ADB
The first step to successfully removing system components is to properly configure the interaction environment between the PC and the mobile device. You will need a computer running Windows, macOS or Linux, and a good one. USB-A cable that can transmit data, not just charge the battery, but activate the hidden menu of the developer on the smartphone, which is hidden from the eyes of the average user by default.
To enable Developer Mode, go to Settings → About Phone and find the MIUI Version (or OS Version). You need to quickly click on this item 7-10 times in a row until the screen pops up with a notification "You became a developer." Then a new section "Additional" or "Developers" will appear in the main settings menu, where you need to find and enable the Debugging on USB.
When you connect your phone to your computer for the first time, you'll see a request on your device screen to confirm debugging from that computer. Make sure you tick "Always Allow from this computer" and press "OK" or the computer won't be able to send commands to the device. Without this confirmation, all further manipulations will be impossible, since the Android security protocol will block external access.
- 📱 Download and install current drivers ADB for your operating system from the official Google website or verified sources.
- 🔌 Use original or quality certified cable to avoid connection problems.
- 💻 Check that your computer has the necessary libraries installed if you are running a Windows environment.
- 🔋 Make sure that the battery charge of the smartphone is at least 40-50% before the start of the procedure.
⚠️ Warning: Never turn off the cable while executing commands on the command line. Interrupting communication at the time of writing or deleting system packets can lead to script execution errors, although the risk of damaging the phone is minimal, since the changes apply to the user profile.
☑️ Readiness to remove applications
Installation and configuration of platform tools
To do this, we'll need a set of tools, officially called Platform Tools, which is a basic package from Google that contains adb and fastboot executables, which you can download exclusively from Google Developer to ensure that you don't have any malicious code and are compatible with the latest versions of Android, and you need to unpack it into a convenient folder, such as the root of the C:/platform-tools drive on Windows.
To be able to run commands from any directory without writing the full path every time, it is recommended to add a path to the tool folder to the operating system environment variables. In Windows, this is done through System Properties → Environment Variables, where the path to the utilities folder is added in the Path line. An alternative, simpler way for one-time procedures is to open the command line or PowerShell directly in the tool folder by slamming the Shift and right-clicking on the empty space.
There are also third-party graphics shells, such as Szaki’s Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools, which make it much easier for those who don’t want to mess with console commands. These programs automatically find the connected device and provide a list of system applications with the option to delete them in one click. However, using console commands gives more control and understanding of what exactly happens in the system, so we’ll look at both approaches.
Where to download Safe ADB?
Search for system package identifiers
Before you delete anything, you need to know exactly the name of the package you are planning to eliminate. Unlike the usual applications that we see on the menu as "Calculator" or "Music", system processes have technical names like com.android.calculator2 or com.miui.analytics. Deleting the wrong package can lead to unstable interface operation or loss of important functions, so identification is a critical step.
The most reliable way to know the exact name is to use the adb shell pm list packages command in the terminal. This command will display a list of all packages installed. To find a particular application, you can use a filter, for example, adb shell pm list packages | grep miui to find all the components of the MIUI shell. If you use Windows without a Unix utility, the command will look like adb list shell pm packages, and the result will have to be manually scrolled or copied to a text editor.
There are also specialty apps from the Google Play store, such as App Inspector or Package Name Viewer, that can be installed directly on the phone, and they display the technical name of any app installed in a user-friendly interface, which is especially useful for beginners, as it allows you to visually match the app icon with its system ID, minimizing the risk of error.
| Title of the annex | Package Name (Package Name) | Security of removal | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIUI Analytics | com.miui.analytics | Safe. | Collection of usage statistics |
| GetApps (Mi Store) | com.xiaomi.mipicks | Safe. | Xiaomi App Store |
| MIUI Daemon | com.miui.daemon | Safe. | Data collection for developers |
| System UI | com.android.systemui | Dangerous. | Interface, status bar, notifications |
| Security | com.miui.securitycenter | Not recommended | Waste control, permits, battery |
Deletion through the command line (ADB Commands)
The most controlled way is to use direct commands in the terminal. After connecting the device and checking the communication with the adb device command (which should display the serial number of the device), you can proceed to delete. The command to remove the application for the current user is as follows: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <name packet>. The -k flag stores the cache and application data, which is sometimes useful, but when you completely remove the system debris does not play a critical role, since the application will no longer run.
It's important to understand that the --user 0 prefix indicates the primary user of the device, which means that the app is only removed from your profile, not from the system partition completely. If you suddenly decide to do a full Factory Reset, the applications that are deleted will return, because they are not physically gone from the phone's memory, which ensures that you can always roll back the changes.
To remove, for example, the standard Mi Browser browser, the command will look like this:
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.browserAfter you type in the command and click Enter, you should receive a message Success. If the application is removed successfully, its icon will disappear from the desktop, and it will no longer appear in the list of installed programs. [DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR]), Check the correctness of writing the name of the package and the availability of rights to execute the command.
⚠️ Be very careful with packages that contain the words “framework”, “provider”, “security” or “system” in the name. Removing key components, such as com.android.providers.downloads or com.google.android.gms, may result in other applications being disabled or account access being lost altogether.
💡
Using the --user 0 flag makes deletion reversible: the app is hidden for you, but remains in the system in case of resetting.
Using Xiaomi ADB Tools graphical slits
For those who are uncomfortable with the black screen of the console, there are excellent graphical interfaces. One of the most popular and proven tools is Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools (Szaki developer), which automatically determines the model of your smartphone, the version of Android and offers a list of applications, sorted by category (System, Google, Xiaomi, Bloatware).
The program interface allows you to select unnecessary components, such as advertising, analytics, duplicate browsers or stores, in a couple of clicks, and click the Uninstall button. ADB-In addition, such utilities often have a built-in knowledge base that warns you if you try to remove a critical system component, which adds an additional layer of security for inexperienced users.
Another advantage of graphics utilities is the ability to manage other system parameters, such as changing the region, deleting the Mi Account or unlocking the bootloader (although the latter requires additional conditions). However, it is worth remembering that third-party software requires access to your device, so you should only download such programs from official developer pages on GitHub or trusted forums (for example, 4PDA or XDA Developers).
- 🛠️ Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools: Powerful combine for deep cleaning and tuning.
- 📱 Universal Android Debloater: Cross-platform utility with open source.
- 🧹 ADB AppControl: Convenient program for Windows with Russian interface.
Recovery of Remote System Components
Situations are different: after removing the system application, the phone began to behave strangely, the alarm clock stopped working or there were problems with synchronization. Since we did not physically erase files, but only hid them for the user, the recovery process is quite simple and does not require flashing. <packet>.
This command forces the package system manager to re-register the application for the current user, returning all the rights and icons to the menu. For example, if you deleted the standard com.android.calendar calendar and realized that the widgets stopped working, just type a restore command into the terminal, and the functionality will be returned instantly without rebooting.
If you delete a lot of apps and don’t remember their names, or if the phone is unstable, the easiest and most reliable way to get it back to normal is to perform a full reset. Since the changes were made only to the user 0 profile, the reset will return the device to a factory state in which all system applications will be active again and installed by default.
💡
Save a list of deleted packets in a text file before cleaning, which will help you quickly restore the desired components if necessary, without knowing which package was responsible for this or that function.