How to permanently remove YouTube from Xiaomi Mi 9T: from blackout to deep cleaning

Are you tired of the intrusive YouTube notifications on your Xiaomi Mi 9T, or want to free up precious megabytes of memory? com.google.android.youtube not only takes up space, but also consumes battery power in the background — even if you don't use it. In this article, we'll discuss 5 working methods to remove YouTube from your phone completely or at least turn it off forever.

It's important to understand that on the Mi 9T (as on other Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI firmware), YouTube is often embedded as a privileged app, which means that simply clicking "Delete" in the app menu won't work. But there are workarounds, from safely disabling to radically removing via ADB or unlocking the bootloader, and we'll look at options for users with different levels of training, from beginners to advanced.

Before you start, check your firmware version: go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version. Mi 9T (codename davinci) has the instructions for MIUI 12-14 and Android 10-12. If you have custom firmware (like LineageOS), the process may be different.

1. Method: Disable YouTube without deletion (without root)

The easiest and safest method is to deactivate the app through settings, which won't free up memory, but will stop background activity and notifications, and is suitable for users who want to temporarily freeze YouTube.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 🔍 In the search bar, type “YouTube” and select the application from the list.
• 🚫 Press "Disable" (the button may be gray). Confirm the action.
• ⚙️ Additional: Go to Notifications and turn off all alerts.

Once disabled, the YouTube icon will disappear from the home screen and the app will no longer be updated via Google Play, but its data will remain in the phone's memory. To return YouTube, just go back to the settings and click "Enable".

⚠️ Note: On some versions MIUI The "unplug" button can be blocked. In this case, try the method with ADB (Section 3) or removal of updates (section 2).

2. Method: Remove YouTube Updates (free up space)

If you don’t want to get rid of YouTube completely, but you need to make room, removing the updates will bring the app back to the factory version, saving up to 100-150 MB (the size depends on the current version of YouTube).

How to do this:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → YouTube.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select “Delete Updates”.
3. Confirm the action. The app will return to the version preinstalled in the firmware.

Then, block the automatic YouTube update on Google Play:

• 🛒 Open Play Store, find YouTube.
• 🔄 Click on three dots next to the “Update” button and uncheck the “Auto Update” box».

⚠️ Note: If YouTube stops running after you delete the updates, it's OK. The factory version may not be compatible with the current firmware. In this case, either update the app manually or use the methods in the following sections.

3. Method: Delete YouTube via ADB (without root)

For users willing to use the Android debugging bridge (ADB), this method allows you to delete YouTube for the current user without obtaining root permissions.The application will disappear from the system, but its files will remain in the firmware (they can be restored by the team).

What you need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows/Linux/macOS.
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 🛠️ Utilities. ADB and Fastboot (download from Android site).
• ⚙️ Included debugging by USB phone-on.

Step-by-step:

Turn on Developer Mode (7 times click on Build Number) in About Phone»)|Activate "Debugging by" USB» in “Developer settings»|Connect your phone to your PC and allow debugging|Check the connection with the adb device command-->

1. Connect the Mi 9T to your computer and type in the terminal: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.youtube
2. If the command didn't work, try the alternative: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.youtube
3. Reboot your phone. YouTube should disappear from the app menu.

To return YouTube, use the command:

adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.youtube

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If ADB Does not recognize the device, try reinstalling Xiaomi drivers or using another USB-On Windows, the Mi utility can help. PC Suite.

4. Method: Complete removal with root rights

If you're ready for drastic measures and your Mi 9T already has root access (like through Magisk), you can delete YouTube completely, including system files. This method is irreversible without flashing your phone.

Instructions for root users:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to /system/priv-app/PrebuiltGmsCore or find the YouTube folder in /system/app/ or /system/priv-app/.
3. Delete the folders: YouTube and com.google.android.youtube (names may vary depending on the firmware).
4. Clear the cache and data through Settings → Apps → YouTube (if the item is still available).
5. Reboot the phone.

An alternative method is to use Terminal Emulator with root rights and enter:

su


mount -o rw,remount /system




rm -rf /system/priv-app/PrebuiltGmsCore/YouTube*




rm -rf /system/app/YouTube*




reboot

⚠️ Warning: Removing system applications can lead to unstable work MIUI, Especially if YouTube is integrated into Google services. TWRP Or OrangeFox.

5. Method: Removal through Custom Recovery (TWRP)

If your Mi 9T has custom Recovery installed (like TWRP), you can delete YouTube without getting root, but with access to the system partition.

Step-by-step:

• 🔄 Reset the phone to mode TWRP (clamp down on power. + Loudness up).
• 📁 Go to Advanced. → File Manager.
• 🗑️ Find and delete folders: /system/priv-app/YouTube and /system/app/YouTube (if they exist).
• 🔄 Go back to the main menu and select Wipe. → Dalvik/ART Cache.
• 🔄 Reboot the phone.

If you have any errors after deleting, try flashing a Zip file with a YouTube uninstaller (such as Universal YouTube Debloter) available on the XDA Developers or 4PDA forums.

💡

TWRP removal is one of the most reliable ways, but it requires you to unlock the bootloader beforehand and install custom Recovery. Without these conditions, it won't work.

6.Alternatives: How to use YouTube without an app

If you have removed YouTube but sometimes want to watch videos, there are a few alternatives:

• 🌐 Web version: Open m.youtube.com in your browser (such as Chrome or Firefox). For convenience, add the site to the home screen via Add to the home screen».
• 📱 Third-party clients: Apps like NewPipe (no ad, with background play) or SkyTube (open source).
• 💾 Local playback: Download videos via Snaptube or TubeMate and watch without the internet.

Advantages of alternatives:

If you have chosen NewPipe, download it from the official website (newpipe.net), as Google Play does not have this app. To install it, you will need to allow installation from unknown sources (Settings → Applications → Special Access → Install unknown applications).

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing YouTube from Xiaomi Mi 9T