Remove Bixby Bloatware from Samsung Galaxy

[Guide] Remove Bixby from Samsung Phones via ADB

Please see https://github.com/darpandodiya/bixby-debloater#steps for steps.


This is a simple step-by-step guide to remove Bixby assistant from your Samsung Galaxy device. And unlike most other “fake” guides on internet which just ask you to disable the Bixby button, at the end of this, you’d really be able to get rid of Bixby related stuff.

I use Samsung Note 10+. While Samsung flagships are known for their build quality, looks, camera, display et cetera, Samsung is notorious for adding unnecessary bloatware on their phones. One of such bloatwares that comes pre-installed is their virtual assistant Bixby and its related services. Hell, they even added a physical button for the same in some Galaxy flagships.

I like Samsung’s mature software and features. I, however fail to understand the role of Bixby on my device. I never found any use of it. I rarely even use the Google Assistant so using Bixby is anyway a long shot.

My previous Software Engineering job involved working with Android development time to time. Working on a research project in past, I found one adb command to remove any app (system/user) from the device.

Btw, bloatware:

“Unwanted software included on a new computer or mobile device by the manufacturer.”


Update February 2020: Note 10 Plus

Tried this on my recent purchase of Note 10 Plus.

I can confirm the commands still work the same. Although I am glad that they got rid of the extra Bixby button in Note 10 Plus.


Update March 2019 : S10 Plus

To my surprise, this post is getting some attention from Google. People have been regularly visiting this post so I think it will be a good idea to update this post to add more information.

I’ve recently bought S10 Plus as well, so I will test this method on S10 too.

Test results: Pass. This method works.


Steps to remove Bixby from Samsung Galaxy phones

Please see https://github.com/darpandodiya/bixby-debloater#steps for steps. I’ve moved the steps to GitHub repo for longevity.


How it works

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.agent

Let’s break them down and understand what they are doing.


shell pm uninstall – package manager command to uninstall given package name

-k --user 0 – uninstall the app for current user/default user of the phone that is user 0.

com.samsung.android.bixby.agent – this is package name of the application

--user 0 – implies that the application is being uninstalled for the current user – not system wide. Root access it needed to do system wide un-installation.

  This could also mean that whenever you’ll upgrade or factory reset your device, the bloatware would kick in again. The advantage being even if you uninstall a system application using this method, you can still receive official OTA updates from your carrier or OEM.  

Bixby related packages

Below are the packages being uninstalled using the adb commands in the bat file.

com.samsung.android.bixby.agent
com.samsung.android.bixby.es.globalaction
com.samsung.android.bixbyvision.framework
com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup
com.samsung.android.bixby.plmsync
com.samsung.android.bixby.voiceinput
com.samsung.systemui.bixby
com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy

How did I list them down? Well, pretty simple, using another adb command

adb shell pm list packages | findstr "bixby"


Feedback please

Please let me know in comments if you face any issues. I will be happy to help.

Long live ADB and long dead Bixby. ๐Ÿ˜€


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Comments

146 responses to “[Guide] Remove Bixby from Samsung Phones via ADB”

  1.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thank you

  2. Eli Avatar
    Eli

    Hi Darpan. I’m using a mac, will it work for me to remove the bixby abomination, or is this just for windows? Thanks

  3. Chris Avatar

    Hi, Awesome work with this guide. I’ve been searching for ways to get rid of Bixby for days. This looks exactly what I need.
    I haven’t tried it yet but plan to run through it at the weekend.
    Just a thought, you could add a paypal donation link or a bitcoin donation address on here? If this works on my S10 5G I definitely would like to buy you a beer ;).
    Thank you again for the guide. I’ll let you know how I get on.

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Hi Chris! Thanks a lot for the nice gesture ๐Ÿ™‚

      Feel free to donate to someone in need. Please let me know if something doesn’t work out and I’ll be sure to update.

      1. Chris Avatar

        You are an absolute STAR!!! Thank you so much for this guide.
        I’ve just worked my way through the steps and have successfully removed bixby and all the facebook services from my Samsung S10 5G.
        I honestly can’t thank you enough. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and been considering rooting phone or trying a different OS but was worried about breaking it. This has allowed me to do exactly what I want without too drastic action ;). I seriously owe you a beer or two ๐Ÿ™‚
        Thank you again. ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚

        1. Darpan Avatar

          Cheers Chris! So glad it worked out for you.

  4. J Avatar
    J

    Thank you SO MUCH. I don’t care about remapping the Bixby button, I just wanted the app off my phone. Bixby voice will sometimes randomly start when listening to music and I couldn’t get to the Bixby settings without signing up through Samsung to “install” Bixby first. Fuck then and fuck that stupid app. You are a hero.

  5. JM Avatar
    JM

    I HATE SPYWARE. THAT’S ONE REASON I HATE BIXBY AND UNINSTALLED IT FOR MAIN USER … ME. IF I CAN’T TRUST IT, I WON’T USE IT. THAT’S A REASON I DON’T USE ANY DIGITAL ASSISTANTS. IF IT HAS ACCESS TO EVERYTHING ON MY PHONE, CONTACTS, LOCATION, PHONE, MEDIA, ETC AND I CAN’T TURN OFF THOSE PERMISSIONS, OR PERMANENTLY DISABLE OR UNINSTALL THE APP FROM GUI, IT’S SKETCH AND I’M GOING TO FIND AWAY TO DISABLE / UNINSTALL IT.
    It seems to work with or without the -k
    Samsung 10
    pm uninstall –user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy
    pm uninstall –user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.service
    pm uninstall –user 0 com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup
    pm uninstall –user 0 com.samsung.systemui.bixby2
    pm uninstall –user 0 com.samsung.android.app.settings.bixby
    pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.samsung.android.visionintelligence
    pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.samsung.android.app.routines

  6. ben Avatar
    ben

    VERY helpful!

    1. Patricia Avatar
      Patricia

      April 2022, Wowza, thanks for leaving your post and instructions available online on how to rid cellph from the bloatware bixby. I was considering rooting my phone because of this stupid app. I may still root the phone. I ran your commands in terminal window on linux computer with cellph cabled. then sudo apt install adb and then your commands. It took the bixby away. bye bye. Shared your website with a techy colleague. This is really cool that you found a way to rid bixby off of my cph. May use your commands substituting the name of other unwanted apps from my cph?

      1. Darpan Avatar

        Glad it helped Patricia! Sure you can use this for all unwanted apps.

  7. Mike Lovelace Avatar
    Mike Lovelace

    There were several that said not installed for 0.
    However, the whole thing worked like a charm!
    Bixby is gone and now maybe I can use my Google Assistant again.

    Thank You so much.

  8. Yo Avatar
    Yo

    Finally bixby is dead thanks. Problem is that the button doesnโ€™t work now and it doesnโ€™t seem that I can re-assign it.
    Itโ€™s impressive how much efforts Samsung puts against their users. Like I just want a custom button without having to give my phone number to you, why is it that hard?

    But even if I had to reprogram Android I would do it.

  9. Rami Avatar
    Rami

    Hello,
    I have S10 and adb can see it.
    But I get : Failure [not installed for 0] already in the first line.
    Please your help,
    Thanks, Rami

  10. MerkleGroot Avatar
    MerkleGroot

    This worked great on a Samsung Galaxy S21.
    Bixby is no longer assisting me by sending my every word to Samsung for marketing purposes.

    You should definitely make a GitHub repo with this script.

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Github is very good idea to keep this going long term! Thank you. I will do it over the weekend.

  11. marc Avatar
    marc

    Worked flawlessly! Many other guides that follow the same procedure but have a different syntax fail without exception. For example, you use the following:
    adb shell pm uninstall -k –user 0

    Other sites use this syntax:
    pm uninstall -k –user 0
    or
    pm uninstall_k_user

    It makes all the difference, just like a recipe calls for specific ingredients. Thank you for that.

  12. timdeygunt Avatar
    timdeygunt

    Thanks, helped as holy power ๐Ÿ˜€

  13. Michel Avatar
    Michel

    Uninstall all Bixby package but after that you cannot remap the button.
    Is there a way to remap button after uninstalling all bixby package on Samsung S10.

    1. yo Avatar
      yo

      You can do it with bxactions. (1) remove bixby with adb and (2) re-assign the button.
      Works on Android 10

      1. Michel Avatar
        Michel

        i have Android 11 and bixby remap apps by Jawomo doesn’t work.
        also try bxactions and niet.

    2. yo Avatar
      yo

      You can do it with bxactions.
      – (1) remove bixby with adb and
      – (2) re-assign the button with bxactions (Jawomo).
      Works on Android 10

  14. a50 Avatar
    a50

    is uninstalling via adb fully safe ,
    or is there any risk of virus.

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Yes it is safe. No risks.

  15. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    Any other processes we should delete while we’re at it? I got rid of these too ๐Ÿ˜‰

    package:com.facebook.services
    package:com.facebook.katana
    package:com.facebook.system
    package:com.facebook.appmanager

    What about smartthings? any other bloatware or unnecessary apps we can get rid of using this method?

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Oh sweet! Yeah this method should work to remove any installed package on your device.

  16. Vik Avatar
    Vik

    I’m having the same issue as Ian:

    A number of packages give โ€œFailure [not installed for 0]โ€ errors on a Samsung Galaxy A01. Yet, the packages are listed and the apps are still there; e.g., Samsung Internet, Voicemail, etc. On the A01 this is a big problem because apps can only be installed on the base 16GB memory and not on the 521GB SD card (?!?!?). I constantly have to delete and add apps.

  17. Ian Pilcher Avatar
    Ian Pilcher

    Not working for me on a Galaxy S9+ with Android 10 (OneUI 2.5). A number of packages give “Failure [not installed for 0]” errors, and the button still brings up the stupid app.

    Here are the Bixby packages that are still installed:

    $ adb shell pm list packages | grep bixby
    package:com.samsung.android.app.settings.bixby
    package:com.samsung.systemui.bixby2
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.service
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.agent
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy

    All of them give me the “Failure [not installed for 0]” error.

  18. bb Avatar
    bb

    I found Bixby routines refused to remove itself from my phone even though it said the file was gone from the shell.

    I tried to use
    adb shell pm list packages | findstr “bixby”
    to see if I had missed a command somehow (copy pasted the list) but it returned
    findstr: inaccessible or not found

    I tried to google for help but couldn’t find a solution. Would anyone be able to point out what’s gone wrong? Thanks ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Darpan Avatar

      findstr works for Windows OS.

      If you’re on Mac / Linux, please try using “grep” instead of “findstr”

  19.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    how would i do this with a linux pc

  20. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    A huge thank you! This was much easier to follow for a numbskull like me than another guide I tried to follow… and it worked! Awesome! Only one small issue I had was with routines, its essential all gone, but it does show up in search, but from what I can tell, that’s only because the options to open or wake Bixby with the side key are still there.

  21. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Thankyou so much. It works beautifully on 9+. I have been trying to mask (hide) bixby for several years but it accidently kept reappearing. I can’t tell you what a relief to such an annoying problem this is. No bixby on the side button, no bixby in the volume levels, no bixby in the app settings and most importantly, no bixby in my life. THANKYOU!!

  22. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Thank you for this helpful guide. I followed your instructions and everything went smoothly!

  23. Anon Avatar
    Anon

    I have a question and an answer for you.

    (Q) Why does the command adb shell pm list packages | findstr "bixby" return an error message for me (/system/bin/sh: findstr: inaccessible or not found)? When I try adb shell pm list packages | grep 'bixby' instead, it misses the three packages that lack the word “bixby” in the name…

    (A) On a recent post, you mentioned you don’t know how to remap the side key to make it work for something useful (like the power menu), but at least on Samsung Galaxy A51 there’s a very easy way to do so: “Settings” > “Advanced features” > “Side key”

  24. Jaime Avatar
    Jaime

    Too deep for me. I have an idea that maybe you can follow up on. Since I got this phone, went from a galaxy note 3 (had it for 7 years) to a samsung galaxy s20 fe, I have been dialing 911 from my pocket. So I disabled all security to avoid the call button on the lock screen. What if…..someone made it so that when you hit the emergency call button, instead of calling it brought up 3 live numbers being 019. You could then call 911 or operator. BTW, I posted this idea yesterday on my Amazon review of the phone.

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Oh this is surprising. I have used last 3 generation of Samsung phones and never faced this issue. Maybe this thread can be helpful to you? https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS8/comments/gp66a9/can_i_keep_my_lock_screen_but_remove_the/

  25. 1234 Avatar
    1234

    Thank you so much, I have just bought a Samsung A52 and can confirm this works :):):)

    Thankyou sir for the great easy to follow instructions.

    is there any way to remove the other annoying app Digital wellbeing.

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Glad it works for you.

      For the Digital Wellbeing – I haven’t tried it yet but if I have to give it a shot, I’d find the package name by
      adb shell pm list packages | findstr "wellbeing" or adb shell pm list packages | findstr "digital"

      and then uninstall using adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 the_package_name

  26. Gary Cooper Avatar
    Gary Cooper

    I’d be scared sh1tless poking around in the bowels of my phone!
    Would it be possible for you to write some sort of routine that can be downloaded and run locally?
    Or, even better, an app that allows the user to selectively remove all the other items of Bloatware?

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Hi Gary! I used to have a .bat file linked to run these commands automatically, but it got outdated hence I removed it from this post. Unfortunately, it won’t be possible for me to spend time on some easier way to get rid of Bixby. :/

  27. Spectronic Avatar
    Spectronic

    Thank you, thank you, thank you.
    This worked like a charm.

    May Bixby die a thousand deaths!

  28. spirou Avatar
    spirou

    Thanks so much this ass cancer wouldn’t stop popping up, made my phone unusable

  29. Kabledude Avatar
    Kabledude

    Thank you! Finally Im Bixby free….woohooo

  30. Juergen Avatar
    Juergen

    These are the best and easiest to follow instructions. Thank you very much! ๐Ÿ™‚

  31. Lingy Avatar
    Lingy

    Absolutely brilliant and easy to follow ๐Ÿ™‚

    Note 8 updated latest software now Bixby and pain free

    What a top share thank you

  32. Instant Regret Avatar
    Instant Regret

    For everyone who uninstalled and changed their mind (like me, because the Bixby button became useless and I now wanted Google Assistant on it: https://www.xda-developers.com/remap-bixby-button-google-assistant/ ), here are the commands to run to get the uninstalled apps back!

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.agent

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.es.globalaction

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixbyvision.framework

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.plmsync

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.voiceinput

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.systemui.bixby

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.app.settings.bixby

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.systemui.bixby2

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.bixby.service

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.app.routines

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.visionintelligence

    adb shell cmd package install-existing com.samsung.android.app.spage

    1. Darpan Avatar

      This is awesome! Thank you.

  33. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Thank you for the guide on deleting Bixby!

  34. mychael Avatar
    mychael

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I canโ€™t believe how easy that was, after trying for hours with so many other bad explanations and horrible instructions. THANK YOU!!!

  35. cr8n Avatar
    cr8n

    This is the best thing I have read all day! You, sir are my hero.

  36. Ed Burns Avatar
    Ed Burns

    Hi,
    Thanks for the guide – very useful!
    Do you know of any way I can now map the non-functioning Bixby button to something useful instead?! Seems a bit of a waste to just have it sat there…
    Thanks,
    Ed

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Sorry I am not aware of a good way to reassign the dead button.

      1. Michel Avatar
        Michel

        To use the Bixby button after uninstalling all .apk you will have to download a third party apps (Button Remapping) and reinstall Bixby voice apk.

  37. Bob Avatar
    Bob

    Love the thought of this hate bixby. Any chance i could get access to the bat file and command to run it?The rest of the directions i think i can follow . I am 70 and never learned the keyboard so i am very slow and unsure. Any help would be appreciated. I also have the S10+. Thanks,bob

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Hello,

      Sorry for the late reply.

      For the .bat file, here’s what you can do.

      1. Open Explorer, go to any folder, lets say Desktop
      2. Right click > New > Text document
      3. Name the file like “adb.bat”, Right click edit > open it in Notepad
      4. Select all commands from the Step 5 above (Select the commands and CTRL + C)
      5. Paste the copied commands to the Notepad (CTCL + V), Save the file (CTRL + S)
      6. Double click to run the file

  38. Harvz Avatar
    Harvz

    Thanks a lot on this! Still working in 2021!

  39. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Just a quick word of thanks for the ADB method of removal for that (swearword removed) Bixby assistant! (sic)

    Simple layout
    Easily understood instructions (with correct commands)
    Screenshots (always good means to communicate to the uninitiated like me)
    Links to 3rd party sites all working

    As you so rightly say “Tada” – as easy as falling of a log. Many thanks once again for your guidance / instruction on the removal (rather than merely disabling) of this particularly intrusive and offensive piece of “bloatware”

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Wow thank you so much for the kind words!

  40. Gary Avatar
    Gary

    This is an awesome step by step instructional to remove Bixby forever!
    I used it on the S10, Note 10 Plus and the A51โ€ฆ All worked perfectly! Thank you so much for this post!

  41. Eugene Avatar
    Eugene

    Thank you for creating this blog. Has this been tested on Samsung Galaxy Note 9 running Android 10 UI 2.5?

  42. Dennis Avatar
    Dennis

    Thank you!
    It worked perfectly fine! But about four commands didn’t worked or they didn’t uninstall anything because there was a failture. Anyway, now I have a cancer free phone! ^^

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Yeah it’s possible that those failed packages don’t exist on your phone.

  43. linkysys Avatar
    linkysys

    Followed these steps but there is still a โ€œGet to know Bixbyโ€ link in Settings->Tips & Help. Is there a com.android to remove this menu item?

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Hmm I think that might be hard-coded in the Tips & Help app. So cannot be removed

  44. cI0D3 Avatar
    cI0D3

    Thank you so much! I just tried it on my Tab5 and it worked like a charm!

  45. Osh Avatar
    Osh

    Mind to explain why you hate so much Bixby?
    Honestly, Bixby is sort of a just a new AI to Samsung. If people don’t send feedback, well, Bixby will be the same. I had no problem with Bixby. The more you are sending feedback to developers – the better will be Bixby. If you don’t have Samsung products at your home, then maybe Samsung phones are not for you with Bixby ๐Ÿ˜›
    Well I am glad you found out to remove your Bixby, but what will the guarantee say? ๐Ÿ˜› You have just root the phone.

    1. Darpan Avatar

      Haha fair point of view.

      About guarantee – this method doesn’t do anything hacky and I am confident it will not affect guarantee/warranty. This is not rooting – you’re using –user 0 which is yourself.

      The primary reason why I use Android phones is because I am able to customize it the way I want. I use Samsung as I feel they have best hardware that Android has to offer. I didn’t like Bixby, I uninstalled it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  46. Bryan B Avatar
    Bryan B

    YOu My Friend are a golden goose. YOu saved me so much hair and heart ache. bixby no lie had me at the point of insanity. I’d Drive and listen to my music app and bixby that MOFO would change the music level and song a skip till a ad would come on. Seriously this morning i was thinking of smashing my note 8 now im soo happy all cause of you!!!!! I WOULD LOVE TO BUY YOU A DRINK!!!!!!

  47. 1423 Avatar
    1423

    Is it save to uninstall google apps with this method ?

  48. Chungusman Avatar
    Chungusman

    Thank you so much for this. I finally got rid of this stupid bloatware!!

  49. Nyoms Avatar
    Nyoms

    Thx alotttt u save my life, it works smoothly

  50. Anon Avatar
    Anon

    worked like a charm, got a few package not found but used the search string listed at the bottom to search for bixby and it found nothing so nice and clean!

    a note replace findstr with grep and the command will work in linux just fine!

    i wonder what other packages are garbage and can be purged!! the list is huge

  51. Docheinstein Avatar
    Docheinstein

    Woow finally! And the bixby remapping with Button Mapper still works, thanks!
    (I’ve even done this without a computer, directly from Termux with adb support from https://github.com/MasterDevX/Termux-ADB

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Wow Termux is amazing, didn’t know about it before. Thanks for sharing!

  52. Peter Avatar
    Peter

    How would I do this with root, to remove it from the system?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      With root..I am sure there will be plenty of applications on Playstore which will offer nice UI to pick and remove individual packages.

  53. Bradley Avatar
    Bradley

    Hi Darpan

    Sweet, simple, effective and generous – Thank you very much!

  54. Jack Avatar
    Jack

    Bless your heart! Bixby permissions are insanity. For three of the lines I got “failure”. All other lines I got “success”. Bixby is now gone, gone, gone. Now I can love my Note 10 plus again. Thanks so much.

  55. Shimmy Weitzhandler Avatar
    Shimmy Weitzhandler

    WOW!
    Finally FU Bixby, finally finally!!!!

  56. Ron Avatar
    Ron

    Darpan,
    Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. After a year of frustration, I finally have Bixby GONE!!!!! Yeah!!!!!
    I’m not sure if it means anything, but when I ran the .bat file, it didn’t do anything to my phone except disconnect it from my computer. I re-connected it and typed in the commands and it seemed to work just fine. Although, about half of the commands came up with “Failure [not installed for 0]”
    Should I be concerned with that?
    Thank you again,
    Ron.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hi Ron! No need to worry about those failures. You’re all set. I am not keeping up with latest Bixby packages so some of them might be outdated and not found in current version.

      The bat file was hosted on my Google Drive and was mostly probably outdated. I removed its reference from this post now.

  57. Neill Addison Avatar
    Neill Addison

    Dear Friend,

    First of all, a big thank you for this information, I worked on all my Samsung Galaxy devices and meant I did not have to root or void Knox. So thank you.

    My question is, is there a command so that say for example, Excel is included as standard and cannot be uninstalled, I use occasionally so might install as an when I need it, I have this with various apps. Is there a way to convert locked applications to unlocked an able to keep or uninstall. That would be really helpful for my phone,

    Neill
    Home User – United Kingdom

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hi Neill, glad to hear it worked for you.

      Not sure about the Excel application usecase. Maybe you can use the same method as described here –
      adb pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.microsoft.office.excel

      And then whenever you want to install it back, you can install from Playstore.

  58. Amine Avatar
    Amine

    Hi
    I don’t have the same list of packages which contains “bixby”, do you think the procedure is still available ?

    list of packages :
    package:com.samsung.android.app.settings.bixby
    package:com.samsung.systemui.bixby2
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.service
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.agent
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.wakeup
    package:com.samsung.android.bixby.agent.dummy

    thank you for your help
    Regards

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hi. Maybe try this command to get latest list, adb shell pm list packages | findstr "bixby"

      The method should work I believe. The last time I tried was January 2020 on my Note 10+

  59. Rahul Avatar
    Rahul

    Great job! Easily accessible guide. Works like a charm. I’m curious to see how much of an effect it has on performance and battery life now that we don’t have bixby around.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Happy to help.

      I haven’t seen any noticeable battery life / performance improvements to be honest. Please let me know if you experience drastic improvements.

  60. Pierre Avatar
    Pierre

    I did all the previous steps, then :
    Run adb devices again and youโ€™ll see your device listed there.
    No device !
    Samsuns S9

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Maybe the Samsung device drivers aren’t installed on your PC or USB debugging might not be enabled on your phone.

  61. DC Avatar
    DC

    I got numerous errors reading “Failure [not installed for 0]” on the adb commands. I’m actually hesistant to see if the phone still has Bixby installed, because I don’t want it to fire up. L’il buggah was still sucking battery even after the activation changed to double press, and voice disabled as possible. I’m on an S9 with Android 10. Would there be a reason so many of the adb commands fail? Thank you.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Yes I think you can ignore the failing commands.

      My script is a bit outdated and it is possible that Samsung might have renamed / removed packages that we try to uninstall in the script. If every single command is failing then there could be a different issue.

  62. Tony Avatar
    Tony

    I have a Galaxy S9+ and used the script to remove Bixby in totality. I then found that I couldn’t use BxActions to reassign the Bixby button to another function. The solutions online appeared to involve resetting the phone to factory settings however I found that downloading and installing com.samsug.android.bixby.agent_v2.3.02.0-230200400_android-7.0.apk reenabled Bixby to the extent that I could then reassign the hardware button. I downloaded from androidapksfree.com

  63. Will Avatar
    Will

    Thank you so much. I accidentally gave Bixby all the permissions in an attempt to allow BXActions access to the button in order to activate Google Assistant on my Note 9. I was unable to reclaim my privacy from Samsung after the slip up. One thing that came up for me is that I had the phone plugged into the computer before activating USB Debugging. This did not work. In ABD it showed the device as unauthorized. When I set the debugging option and then pugged in the phone it picked up right away with the warnings/permission requests. Also, the batch file did not remove it all, I copied and pasted each line and was able to fully remove the bloatware. I could tell because in the App Permissions listing it was still showing Bixby and the related nonsense, until the line by line approach.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Thank you for the informative comment. The batch file may have been outdated by now, let me go ahead and update it.

  64. Gregor Avatar
    Gregor

    command prompt is telling me ‘abd’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. lol what did i do wrong haha?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hi Gregor, can you try with the command “adb”. “abd” looks like a typo. ๐Ÿ™‚

  65. Octavian Avatar
    Octavian

    Hi Darpan !

    Thanks a lot for your tutorial !
    I have a Samsung A70 and the things are a little bit different regarding Bixby. It seems that due to Samsung marketing policy, on all “A” models that Bixby can work, there is a menu option missing: “Voice unlock”.
    Without this option, Bixby cannot be called while the screen is locked.
    On all Samsung “S” models, the option “Voice unlock” is present and if it is activated, you can call Bixby to unlock phone, just as Captain Picard called his computer from the Enterprise ๐Ÿ™‚
    I called Samsung local support, but they were elusive and couldn’t tell me anything clear.

    So, I became angry and I decided to completely wipe Bixby.
    As on the Internet I found only generic procedures for inactivation, but not for total uninstallation, I searched deeper and so I found the page on your blog!
    Now Bixby is very dead, and so is the Facebook ๐Ÿ™‚
    I’m very happy with these killings ! :))

    Long live and prosper ADB commands !
    And for you, dear friend, please allow me to wish you a very Happy New Year, with good health and succes in everything you want!

    Best regards,
    Octavian

    P.S.> On my Samsung Galaxy A70, the following packages were not installed for Bixby ( ” Failure [not installed for 0] ” ) :

    samsung.android.bixby.es.globalaction
    com.samsung.android.bixby.plmsync
    com.samsung.android.bixby.voiceinput
    com.samsung.systemui.bixby

    In order to remove Facebook, I had to delete the following packages:

    com.facebook.katana
    com.facebook.system
    com.facebook.appmanager
    com.facebook.services
    The package “com.facebook.android” was not installed ( ” Failure [not installed for 0] ” ) .

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hi Octavian!

      Thanks a lot for the detailed comment. Interacting with Android devices with lots of adb commands was part of my Software Development job a while ago so I wrote this blog post. Super glad to learn that adb commands were helpful to you.

      Thanks to your additional comments about the Facebook, I was able to wipe out all Facebook related bloatware from my device as well.

      A delayed response to your comment, here’s wishing you a great year!

  66. James Avatar
    James

    So does anyone know where the signature checking is on the S9 Facebook embedded in system? I’ve uninstalled all apks I think are related to Facebook and oculus/gear VR, but I’m somehow getting a signature conflict when I try to install my modified version of the Facebook app?
    By the way this doesn’t occur on my S7 on Nougat firmware, but if I update to Oreo it does?
    So somewhere embedded deep within the device is a signature verification against anything that’s com.facebook.katana?

    Does anyone know how to print the app signature info for every single apk installed on the device? (Including all system apks?) Because other than that, I’m at a loss?
    I’m pretty much using my S7 now just to use 1 app, as I refuse to use any of the Facebook apps available because of how intrusive they are!
    Screw you Zuckerberg! I’ve inconveniently resorted to using the Samsung browser (with ad blocking) just to check Facebook because I’ve got no other choice other than my S7?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hi James,

      Quoting from other comment,

      “In order to remove Facebook, I had to delete the following packages:

      com.facebook.katana
      com.facebook.system
      com.facebook.appmanager
      com.facebook.services
      The package โ€œcom.facebook.androidโ€ was not installed ( โ€ Failure [not installed for 0] โ€ ) .”

  67. Ernesto Avatar
    Ernesto

    Thanks a lot.
    S9+, Bixby always popping up when accidentally hitting the button.
    It was a real pain in the neck.

    I’ve got only some
    Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_APK: Missing existing base package for null]
    but bixby seems away now.

    Again, thanks

  68. Yarin Avatar
    Yarin

    Works like a charm on my S9+, I feel like I just reclaimed my own device. Got tired to accidently pressing the Bixby button all the time. It’s a shame you have to do it that way, though. Samsung should allow to disable this shitty feature natively.

    Thank you for this helpful article!

  69. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    Please could you create a post to remove the build in Facebook app as well ?
    Thanks for this

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Sure, it should be easy.

      Follow above steps to setup ADB and run this command:

      adb shell pm list packages | findstr "facebook"

      It may turn up two packages for you,
      1. com.facebook.android – For the Facebook SDK
      2. com.facebook.katana – For Facebook App

      After that, try:

      adb shell pm uninstall -k โ€“user 0 com.facebook.android
      adb shell pm uninstall -k โ€“user 0 com.facebook.katana

      Hope this helps!

  70. Stephane Avatar
    Stephane

    Great article thank you!
    It looks like you missed a package though to remove Bixby Home

    To remove Bixby Home you need to run:
    adb shell pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.samsung.android.app.spage

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Oh thanks! I will edit this post and add it to the list of packages. [Done!]

  71. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    Great, that really helps :-)))

  72. Tim Mackey Avatar
    Tim Mackey

    i ran the batch file here and then installed bxActions and got the button working again to launch camera or google assistant etc. Thanks for a great article!

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Wow that’s awesome!

  73. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    after removing bixby, is there a way to make the button useful?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      I don’t think there’s a way to make it useful if you follow this method.

  74. Evan Ravitz Avatar

    Will this work for a Galaxy Note 9?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      It should work. I see no practical difference in the adb commands for both devices.

  75. Neal Avatar
    Neal

    Awesome!!

  76. George MIchaelson Avatar
    George MIchaelson

    Does it work on the S5e and like tablets?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Yeah, it should work.

  77. Jarod Avatar
    Jarod

    Hi Darpan

    You’re on the front page of hacker news or https://news.ycombinator.com/

    Congratulations. That is why this post is blowing up. Seems a lot of people hate Bixby.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Oh nice! Thanks for the heads up. ๐Ÿ™‚ Never expected that I’d be on front page some day.

  78. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Bixby Routines

    adb shell pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.samsung.android.app.routines

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Thanks! I update the post to add these packages.

      Edit: Done, updated.

  79. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Bixby vision (on s10 5g at least).

    adb shell pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.samsung.android.visionintelligence

  80. J Garell Avatar
    J Garell

    Hi Darpan. Thanks for a very useful article on removing Bixby from Samsung phones. Do you know if there’s a way to disable Bixby instead of uninstalling it via ADB like how Package Disabler Pro+ does it? This way, the Bixby may be re-enabled without a factory reset since some users may not be in a position to perform a factory reset.

    Thanks.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      I’m unaware of any way to do this. I will experiment with some adb commands over the weekend and update you. Thanks!

  81. David D Nordin Avatar
    David D Nordin

    Thanks Darpan
    I been trying to find the fix for this for a few days now. Bixby showed back up on my S8+ after I allowed the Android Pie upgrade in late March. I found a post you did on android.stackexchange.com that pointed me here. After going through the very well laid out steps. The Bixby button dose nothing again. Great, it is also gone from the apps. However Bixby home and Bixby Vision still remain in the apps. Home is not a problem because it can be turned off. And Bixby Vision seems to be tied only to the camera app.

    Thanks and good work !!!

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Glad it helped David!

  82. Leon Avatar
    Leon

    thank you very much.
    I just got a S9 and Bixby was really irritating.

  83. Souf Avatar

    Thank you! Finally i get rid of Bixby. But can i use the button for something else now?
    I tried Bxaction and try to enable full remapping. But i receive an error on my PC: please make sure usb debugging is enabled on your phone!
    Please install Samsung or adb USB drivers!

    Which I already have done…

    Anyone a solution?

  84. Thiago Avatar
    Thiago

    did all the process and after that bxactions stop working, what do i do? when bixby was activated bxactions worked now it doesnt, do you have any tutorial to remap bixby by adb or how to activate it again in bxactions?

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hey yeah, BxActions will indeed stop working after removing all packages.

      Factory reset will get back the removed packages. Also, a system update from Samsung will also reactivate all the packages.

  85. John Avatar
    John

    Worked great, but one question. When I mistakenly right swipe on the home screen, Bixby still rises like the Phoenix. I did restart the phone after the procedure, I was not expecting anything to still be around.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Oh! I wonder if this could be related to the Samsung launcher?

      Samsung’s default launcher maybe re-enabling all Bixby related stuff automatically on right swipe. That’s my guess. I use Nova launcher so haven’t seen this happen.

  86. Alpaca Avatar
    Alpaca

    I was looking for a tool to remove bloatware and espacially Bixby, after typing something like “remove bloatware and bixby” your page has been listed as second search result after tom’s guide. Yours was better documented and in much more accessible form. Works fine for samsung s9.

    Once again thanks you for your work.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Thanks a lot!

      I have recently bought S10 so I just updated the post with support for S10 Plus too. ๐Ÿ™‚ Also added refined steps and added a few screenshots for more clarity.

      Cheers!

  87. Alpaca Avatar
    Alpaca

    I am really thankful for this guide, thanks to you i finally got rid of bixby. It saved me a lot of time and nerves.

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Appreciate this!

      I should plan on updating this guide to make sure this works on S10 too.

      Just curious, how did you find this article?

  88. Marcel Avatar
    Marcel

    Hey guys,

    Did u use it on the S10? Because I hate Bixby and I was wondering if this works for the S10 too…

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hey Marcel,

      I have Samsung S10 Plus. I will try out this commands on my device and will let you know.

    2. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Just tried on my S10 Plus and it works without a hitch.

      Give it a try!

  89. Vasek Avatar
    Vasek

    Hi, thank you! I knew there is some easy and direct way to delete this Bixby shit ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Haha nice! Glad to hear this helped!

  90. Zach Avatar
    Zach

    Thank you so, so much, Darpan!! Now I have full remapping instead of limited remapping in bxActions and the undisableable Bixby 2.0 doesn’t appear and delay my programmed actions. Freaking lifesaver

    1. Darpan Dodiya Avatar

      Hey Zach!

      Happy to know that!

      Well, to be honest though, I am actually surprised someone found this article and tried out the steps. I never imagined anyone to see this post. I am more happy for that. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Mind sharing how did you end up on this article?

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