Owners of smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco often face a situation when after another automatic update, the program begins to work unstable, quickly consumes battery power or simply changes the usual interface to an uncomfortable one. Standard methods of uninstallation in Android do not always allow you to completely clean the system from imposed changes, especially if we are talking about the system components of the MIUI shell or HyperOS. Normal deletion often only hides the icon, leaving files in place.
Fortunately, the Android operating system provides quite flexible tools for managing packages, allowing you not only to disable, but also to forcibly remove the latest versions of software. In this material, we will discuss in detail all available methods: from standard menu settings to advanced methods using ADB (Android Debug Bridge).
Before you start taking action, you need to understand the difference between system and user applications. If you downloaded a game from the Play Market, removing it will not cause problems. However, interfering with system components such as System UI, Security or GetApps requires caution. Mistakes can lead to a cyclical reboot or loss of functionality of the device.
Staffing methods rollback through Android settings
The safest and first step to take is to use the built-in functionality of the system. Android allows you to roll back the application to the version that was installed in the factory. This action does not remove the program completely, but returns its source code, removing all received updates.
To do this, you need to go to the application management menu. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find a problem program (such as Music or Gallery) in the list and click on it. In the menu that opens, look for the Remove Updates button at the bottom of the screen or in the three-dot menu.
⚠️ Warning: After rolling back to the factory version, the application can again automatically update through the GetApps store or Google Play, if you do not turn off auto-update for a specific software.
This method is ideal for cases where a new update is simply “glutching” or consumes too much CPU resources, it does not require a connection to the computer and superuser rights. However, if the “Remove Updates” button is inactive (gray), then the current version is the base for your firmware, and it is impossible to roll back below the standard means.
It is also important to note that resetting an application version often results in a cleanup of its data, and all your settings, cache, and sometimes even saved inside the program will be deleted, so if there is important local information in the application that cannot be synced to the cloud, back up or export the data in advance.
💡
Before resetting the system application version, take screenshots of important settings, since after rollback all parameters will return to factory values.
Use of debugging mode via USB and ADB
When standard methods are powerless, the ADB tool comes to the rescue, a console utility from Google that allows you to control your device from your computer at a low level, and it can force you to remove updates even for applications that the system flags as undeleteable.
To start, activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7 times on the MIUI Version or OS Version field. Then, in the “Additional” or “Extended Settings” menu, turn on “Debugging over USB.” When you connect to your PC, confirm the debugging permission in the pop-up window on your smartphone screen.
Once you have installed the SDK Platform Tools drivers and platform on your computer, open the command line in the ADB folder. Enter the adb device command to check the connection. If the device is displayed with device status, you can proceed to uninstall.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 name packetHere, the packet name is the technical name of the application (e.g. com.miui.globalminusscreen). The --user 0 flag means that the application is removed for the current main user, but physically remains in the system partition, making it easy to restore it by factory reset.
How to find out the name of the application package?
Removal through system launchers and file managers
Some users prefer a GUI over a command line. For these cases, there are special management applications that work without root rights, using the same ADB mechanisms but in a user-friendly shell. One of the most popular solutions is the Universal Android Debloater app (for PCs) or mobile analogues like System App Remover (requires caution).
When using third-party managers on the smartphone itself (without a PC), it is often necessary to activate special permissions via wireless debugging or use the Safe Folder feature in some versions of MIUI. However, most effective graphics tools still require a connection to a computer to initially configure access rights.
The advantage of graphical gates is that they often have a database of "safe to remove" applications, which will tell you which packets you can touch and which you should not touch, so as not to turn the phone into a "brick", which reduces the risk of accidental removal of a critical system component, such as a phone book or input service.
However, even in graphical interfaces, it is worth guarding: always check the description of the package before it is deleted. If you are not sure what the com.android.se (Secure Element) component does, you better leave it alone. Deleting key system libraries can cause NFC, Bluetooth, or even a communication module to fail.
Specifics of working with system applications MIUI and HyperOS
Xiaomi shells have deep service integration. Removing an update from one application can affect the work of another. For example, rolling back the Explorer version can disrupt the memory cleanup function, and removing Security updates can cause antivirus and call filtering to malfunction.
The GetApps app (formerly the Mi App Store) is often the main culprit for intrusive updates, removing updates or completely uninstalling it via ADB is a frequent request from users, but in recent versions of HyperOS, this component has become even more deeply integrated, and its complete removal can cause errors when checking the license for other system applications.
Also worth mentioning is the Miui System Plugin, which often changes the behavior of the interface, notification curtains, and control center, and rolling back the component to an earlier version is a popular way to bring back the old design, but only if you know exactly what the versions are.
The table below shows the main system packages that users often try to modify and the risks associated with removing them:
| Package Name (Package Name) | Description | Risk of removal/rollback |
|---|---|---|
| com.miui.securitycenter | Security centre | High: permissions, memory cleanup, antivirus may stop working. |
| com.miui.gallery | gallery | Medium: Loss of photo editing functions, but data is usually saved. |
| com.android.chrome | Chrome browser | Low: You can safely remove or roll back by replacing it with another browser. |
| com.google.android.gms | Google services | Critical: Deleting will cause most Google apps to fail. |
| com.miui.weather2 | Weather. | Low: only affects weather widgets and lock screen performance. |
How to disable automatic application updates
To avoid the problem of “how to remove updates” in the future, it is advisable to set the system to prevent automatic downloads of new versions, which can be done both in app stores and in system settings.
In Google Play Market, click on your profile avatar, select Settings → Network → App Auto Update, and select Never. Similarly, in GetApps store, go to profile, click on the settings gear, and turn off App Auto Update. This will stop the new versions from loading in the background.
However, MIUI system components can be updated through a central system update service. To limit this, go to Settings → Advanced Settings → Privacy → Special Features → Data Access. You can find System Update or GetApps and deny them access to Wi-Fi and mobile network, which effectively isolates them from the Internet.
⚠️ Warning: Disabling network access for system services may result in no notifications for critical security updates. Use this method only if you understand the implications.
Another radical method is the use of firewalls (like NetGuard), which allow you to control the traffic of each application in detail, with which you can allow the application to work, but you can prohibit any network activity, which is guaranteed to prevent the update.
☑️ Checklist before removing system updates
Possible problems and solutions
The most common problem is the error “Installation failed” or “Delete failed” when you try to roll back, which can occur if the current version of the firmware requires a minimum version of the application (version dependency), in which case the system will not allow you to roll back below a certain threshold.
Another problem is that there are permanent pop-ups that require you to update your app, which is common with Google services and some Xiaomi system modules, and this is only solved by completely removing the package through the app. ADB flag-headed --user 0, As mentioned, this can affect the stability of the job.
If the phone started to restart in a bootloop after removing the updates, don’t panic. Since we haven’t removed the system partition completely, but only user data and updates, resetting to factory settings via Recovery Mode will return the device to its original state, as it was when you bought it.
Users may also encounter a situation where the application is removed, but its “tails” (residual files) take up space. To clean them, it is recommended to use the built-in “Cleanup” utility in the “Security” application or third-party disk space analyzers that find orphaned files.
💡
The most reliable way to avoid problems with updates is not to remove system components completely, but only to disable them or roll back to the factory version, leaving the possibility of recovery.