How Do I Restore an Uninstalled System App on Android?

Deleted an app with ADB and want it back? Good news: when you remove a system app for your user, Android never touches the actual APK. It lives on a read-only partition, safe and untouched. Restoring is not a recovery operation. It is a one-line permission change. This guide shows you the command, how to list everything you have removed, and when a factory reset is the only real option.

TL;DR: Run adb shell cmd package install-existing followed by the package name. The app returns with its data intact.

What You Will Need

The same laptop and ADB setup you used to remove the app in the first place, as described in our distraction free Android guide. If you removed apps using someone else's tutorial, our Android SDK guide gets you set up from scratch.

Step 1: Connect and Confirm

adb devices

Step 2: Remember the Package Name

The command needs the package name, not the app's display name. If you have forgotten it, list every package on the device, including the ones you removed for your user:

adb shell pm list packages -u | grep -i youtube

The -u flag is the important part. Without it, removed apps stay invisible in the list. Swap the search term for whatever you removed.

Step 3: Restore the App

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

Substitute your own package name. The app reappears in your launcher immediately, no reboot needed. Here are the common ones:

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

# Chrome
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.android.chrome

# Play Store
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.android.vending

What About Non-System Apps?

This trick only works for apps that shipped with the phone. If you removed something you installed yourself, like Instagram, the APK is genuinely gone from the device. Reinstall it from the Play Store, or sideload the APK from a laptop if you removed the store too.

When Nothing Else Works: Factory Reset

If a package is stubbornly missing even with install-existing, or your device is in a state you cannot untangle, a factory reset restores every system app to factory condition. It also wipes your data, so back up what matters first. Ninety-nine percent of the time, though, you will never get this far.

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Related: our YouTube removal guide, Chrome removal guide, and Play Store removal guide all depend on this command, which is what makes them safe to try.