The fastest way to delete an app
Press and hold the app icon on your home screen until a menu appears. Tap Uninstall or the trash icon, then confirm. The app is gone. If you cannot find the app on your home screen, open the app drawer (the grid icon), find the app there, press and hold it, and choose Uninstall.
Some apps that came with your tablet — like Samsung Calendar or Samsung Notes — may not show an Uninstall button. Instead you will see Disable. Disabling removes the app from your home screen and app drawer but keeps it on the tablet. You can re-enable it later from Settings if you change your mind.
Apps you downloaded from the Google Play Store always have an Uninstall option. Apps that came pre-installed on your tablet sometimes do, and sometimes do not, depending on Samsung's decision for that particular app.
Key Takeaways
- Press and hold any app icon, then tap Uninstall to remove it completely from your tablet.
- If Uninstall does not appear, the app is built into your tablet and you can only disable it, which hides it but does not free up much storage.
- Disabling a pre-installed app can be reversed later through Settings if you want it back.
- Uninstalling apps you downloaded frees up storage space; disabling built-in apps frees up very little.
Deleting apps from the Google Play Store app
Open the Google Play Store app and tap your profile icon in the top right corner. Select Manage my apps and device, then tap the Manage tab. Scroll through the list of installed apps, tap the one you want to remove, and tap Uninstall.
This method works the same way as pressing and holding the icon, but it is useful if you want to see all your apps in one list and uninstall several at once without hunting for them on your home screen.
Uninstalling apps through Settings
Open Settings and go to Apps. You will see a list of all installed apps. Tap the app you want to remove, then tap Uninstall. Confirm when prompted.
This route shows you exactly how much storage space each app is using, which is helpful if you are trying to free up room on your tablet. You can also see when each app was last used and how much data it has stored.
In the same Apps menu, you can tap Show system to see pre-installed apps that do not normally appear in the list. These are the apps that usually only offer a Disable option rather than Uninstall.
What happens when you disable instead of uninstall
When you disable a pre-installed app, it stops showing up on your home screen and in your app drawer. You will not see notifications from it, and it will not run in the background. However, the app files remain on your tablet and take up storage space.
Disabling is reversible. If you change your mind, go back to Settings > Apps, find the app, and tap Enable. The app will reappear and work as before.
You cannot fully uninstall apps that Samsung considers essential to your tablet's operation — like Settings, Phone, or Messages. These will only show a Disable button, and disabling them is generally safe because your tablet will not let you disable anything that would break core functions.
Freeing up storage by removing apps and their data
When you uninstall an app, the app itself is removed, but sometimes leftover files remain on your tablet. To clean these up, go to Settings > Storage and tap Cached data, then confirm deletion. This removes temporary files from all apps.
If you want to remove data from a specific app before uninstalling it, go to Settings > Apps, tap the app, and select Storage. You will see options to clear the app's cache and clear all data. Clearing data removes login information, saved settings, and any files the app stored, so only do this if you are sure you will not need that information again.
Bulk deleting multiple apps at once
If you want to remove several apps quickly, the Google Play Store method is fastest. Open the Play Store, go to Manage my apps and device > Manage, and tap each app you want to remove. A checkmark will appear next to each one. Once you have selected all the apps you want to delete, tap Uninstall at the top, and they will all be removed in sequence.
Alternatively, you can press and hold one app icon on your home screen, then tap other app icons while still holding to select multiple apps at once. Once you have selected them all, tap Uninstall. This only works for apps on your home screen, not apps in your app drawer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will deleting an app remove my data from it?
Uninstalling removes the app but not always the data it stored. If you want to delete everything the app saved, go to Settings > Apps, tap the app, and choose Clear data before uninstalling. After you uninstall, the app can no longer access that data, but the files may remain on your tablet until you clear cached data from Settings > Storage.
Can I reinstall an app I deleted?
Yes. Open the Google Play Store, search for the app by name, and tap Install. Your tablet will read and install it again. Any data you cleared before uninstalling will not come back, but the app itself will work as if it were new.
What if an app will not uninstall?
Some apps are set as device administrators and will not uninstall until you remove that permission. Go to Settings > Security > Device admin apps, find the app, and tap it to remove the admin status. Then try uninstalling again from your home screen or the Play Store.
Does uninstalling apps speed up my tablet?
Uninstalling apps frees up storage space and removes background processes, which can help if your tablet is running low on storage. However, if your tablet is slow because of low memory while apps are running, uninstalling apps you do not use regularly will help more than disabling them.