How to uninstall any OEM app on Windows Phone 8 or 8.1

You probably shouldn’t do this, but there’s a way to uninstall any OEM app on Windows Phone 8. If you follow these steps, you can uninstall apps like Glance, Storage Sense, Access Point, Display, and more. Still curious?

Head past the break to watch our how-to video.

Go to settings, then date + time.
Change the year to 2106 or later.
Press back and click any of the OEM settings at the bottom such as Nokia account, Storage Check, Touch, Audio, and more.
A message pops up about a problem with the app. Click uninstall.

That’s it! Don't forget to change back the time afterwards. We have tried this on our own Nokia Lumia Icon running Windows Phone 8.1 Preview for Developers. If you want to re-install the app, you’ll need SysApp Pusher. If you’ve never heard of it, SysApp Pusher allows you to check the Windows Phone Store for Nokia, HTC and Samsung software.

This bug or hidden feature was brought to our attention by Windows Blog Italia. It's good to know that we have this option if we ever need to remove OEM apps. Are you trying this? Which app are you uninstalling? Let us know in the comments!

Mark Guim is Video Editor at Windows Central. He switched to Windows because the MacBook Pro isn't Pro enough. You can follow him on Twitter at @markguim.

192 Comments

Nice trick it works :)
Don't know why I would need two storage check but I'm keeping them both.
Don't know about you guys but I think our settings page is too messy, clumsy, cluttered and uncategorized. It makes searching for stuff difficult since they keep changing positions when they are updated or new ones come. Too nyamaa-nyamaa!!
+1020
I feel bad for getting used to it.
Ditto. Everything on W and WP8 is alphabetized except settings. What the holy fuck MS? Things like this make no sense.
Time for a settings sense
Lmfao I like that one
+920
Accept that... And my vote too.. Need a group organization for that
Agreed
Just ask Cortana to open it.
Good one bro but most at times I really don't know the settings I want till I get there!
+1520
Totally agree
Are u a Ghanaian? That's a classic Ghanaian expression
Yeah brother...typical one...born and bred here. You? Cuz I'm curious you know it..lol
They should at least have a search bar for the settings list :)
Agreed heres hoping they bring over windows 8.1 setting page when the os merge completes.
Search is not there in Settings list. But you can search for any setting feature you are looking for directly using the Search button (Bing/Cortana).
You got me loling you this GH boy
Hahahha.....you one? Curious you guys understand it..lol
Agree with you on this.
Agree
"Too nyamaa-nyamaa" LOL! This guy must be a Nigerian.
No! I'm a Ghanaian :-)
thanks dude !
I just uninstalled feedback to nokia :P I find this app useless.
Lol...you sure its useless? Might have a hidden and secret function...mmmmmm.. scary right?
Good to see some representing Ghana out here lol. Posted via the WPC App for Android!
Hey....sup brother?
I just installed Feedback and Nokia account. There's a couple of others I don't use, but might find a use for in the future...
It sure as hell beats the Android one though. Helping my mom with her GS4 was a pain in the ass.
Why would you so that?
Why you no speak right?
Probably because the "s" is right next to the "d"?
y u now spaek rite
Gr8 b8 m8. I rel8, str8 appreci8, and congratul8. I r8 this b8 an 8/8. Plz no h8., I'm str8 ir8. Cre8 more, can't w8. We should convers8, I won't ber8, my number is 88888888, ask for N8. No calls l8 or out of st8. If on a d8, ask K8 to loc8. Even with a full pl8, I always have time to communic8 so don't hesit8.
LOL You made my day :P
I really h8 this guy
That'll fascin8 all, m8.
I don't mind ads on site (except popups) but i hate those enbeded on videos that lasts like 30sec and you can't skip after a few seconds.
Damn you swipe keyboard :-)
Why should it be illegal? It's your phone you could do what ever you want. Another question is if it effects warranty.
No one said it was illegal, just that "you shouldn't do that", meaning that uninstalling system app is not recommended.
Illegal???
no ! it's safe and you can re- back anytime
That's like saying, "Hey, I bought this meth the other day so it's mine now. I can do whatever I want with it." Or, "Hey, this is my new car I just bought so I can do whatever I want in it." It just doesn't work like that man so you can't just "do whatever you want with it." just because you "own" it.
Except its not because a phone isn't illegal and you don't need a license to operate one...
Terrible analogies, but yeah for your car you can change the seat covers, spray paint the whole car, graffiti it, hit it with a sledgehammer, rip out the stereo, modify the engine, add a big exhaust and ridiculous spoiler etc. It's yours so you can do what you want as long as it's still safe and road-worthy. You can modify your mobile if you want, uninstall every single app, or throw it off a bridge if you want. There's no phone police to give a damn :P
Well it makes sense if you look at it how I meant it and that is selling the drugs or taking/doing them in public or speeding in your car, driving stupid, etc. You picked out the parts that are obvious that you can do in/to your car lol ;) I was just trying to make a point anyways. Not that it matters much since there are indeed no "phone police" :)
And by the way, no one said it should be illegal anyway.
Are you hearing voices? Who said illegal?
What? Who said that???
Lol
If you do this while games like ice age village for example are loaded it can screwup the timed events in game & apparently the Engadget app lol
Can I get rid of ugly games hub? No? Yeah, still not excited :P
Agree! MS has screwed up all Xbox things on WP ever since the dev prev update. I wish there was a way to get the old games hub back as there is for the music hub...
Finally, a way to remove storage check! Edit- hmm that went fast, are we sure it's uninstalling? Or just removing the settings shortcut.
Finally? I'm not sure its,that big of a deal for most people.
Did it for my Lumia 925. Because on my Lumia 920 it's gone with WP 8.1. Storage sense is better :)
My guess it has some dependency's in the rom that hook into the firmware
With this can I uninstall the horrible new podcast app and re install it again??
OEM apps != OS level apps, so no
oh, thanks.
Thankfully all att apps get uninstalled without playing any tricks with your phone. Those are the first to go when I buy a new phone or hard reset.
I was given the option to uninstall games and video hub, aren't they OS apps?
Nice try. I had a list of things I'd like to get rid of too but no such luck :-)
thanks !
I find Most of the Nokia apps & settings quite useful actually & I don't intend to uninstall any at all. It'd have been rang great to uninstall system apps like podcasts, Maps and Wallet
+920 I don't need Maps.
Leave those apps alone they are not poking you so leave them alone probably one day you will need that.
I removed podcast,cinema graph, but couldn't wallet
isn't your wallet connected to the store app? and wouldn't that make it impossible to download more apps?
It is. But maybe he doesn't want Store either.
And if I use "Check for updates" in the store, will it install it again? UPDATE* I just uninstalled "Nokia account" and it's gone. (I just don't use it).
Until the day something goes wrong with your phone.
You're such a pessimistic.
lol you made a spelling mistake or don't understand the phrase
LOL, I mean he is a pessimist.
I agree with you. Something will probably end up going wrong. What's the big benefit making the risk, worth it?
If you don't try it, so how do you know it? What Nokia account do to my phone?
It enables you not to log into each Here/Nokia branded app with your Nokia account individually.
Nice update we got on the Nokia account settings! Makes my phone that much faster ;)
That's been around since WP7 and was always very useful when experimenting with homebrew apps that were installed to the settings list.
That's what I was thinking. This isn't new, this trick has been around for a long time on WP.
Well done Akash Sharma... Its a good find, but probably I wouldn't do it though. :P
i removed Phone, Messaging, and Email. i feel so free now!!!
eh, I know you're joking but to be clear, those are OS level features and not OEM apps ;)
he is just joking you can't un - installed in built microsoft OS app only OEM apps can be installing . thanks for comedy dude !
LOL
hahahahaha.....!!
Sure you did. Probably at the same time I was uninstalling Xbox music and games.
Lmao! I just removed my phone completely! I feel like a new man!! It's actually starting to disappear from my hands as I'm writi.......
Haha you wouldn't need a phone is you remove all this ^^
Finallly I can uninstall glance screen from settings which I accidentally installed on my Nokia Lumia 520. :)
It's deal breaker for many ppl (example Lumia Icon). Why would you delete it?
Going to use this for Xbox Video and Xbox Music
Those are OS level so you can't remove them.
Any chance this could work to uninstall Xbox music?
Probably not, but, um... you realize you could just *stop using* Xbox Music, right? I mean, yeah, it'd still be taking up several megabytes of storage space that you could otherwise reclaim, but do you only have a few MB free?
Really?! You mean I could just not use it?!?! Damn!! I would have never guessed.. You must be related to Einstein or Tesla cause damn you're bright.
Yes! Let us know if it works... I'd LOVE to get rid of Xbox music! Don't use it.. Don't need it... Don't want it... I'd love it if the only music app I had on my phone was the only one I use or need; Nokia Mix Radio.
+1 & Amen!!!
I wish it could. That's why I came to this page. XBOX Music fails at basic headphone use and it is the 2nd biggest space hog on my phone. Booooo!
Trying to remove Batery Saver now.
pretty sure you can't
Saw this on the forums earlier....i uninstalled glance and touch on my 1520... I no longer have the screen sensitivity and proximity sensor problems (autobrightness issues)!!
What if you reinstalled either one of them? Maybe it will fix it
Yup,I can verify that this does indeed get rid of the sensitivity issue on my 1520. Great find this is. You just have to remember to change the clock back or your apps will give the same pop up to uninstall........lol...lol. Mac
WHOA wait? Are you serious?????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Please triple quadruple check before I go and do this
Yes it works been using it all day...my 1520 doesn't feel like a prototype phone anymore. :)
do you still have Glance uninstalled? and if so do you miss it or not?
Some people have to much time on there hands to find this type of bug.
Oh Yes... last time when I tried to change it to future years, it actually screwed all my alarms !!
I find the real benefit is removing carrier installed apps. So long useless Verizon (whichever carrier) services/apps.
Ah ha! Thanks for that!
Sneaky. I like it ;)
Does this increase at all the storage available on the device or will the space still be alocated for it in the OS storage division? I'm asking 'cause I was thinking about getting rid of stuff I don't use like Glance, but only if that would actually help free storage space which I always deerly need because these "flagships" only have 29GB of storage and no microSD cards...
Probably very minimal.
Apps are generally pretty small, and I'm guessing system-ish apps are even smaller than your average app. So yeah, you might get an extra 2 or 3 MB freed up - careful not to spend it all in one place!
Goodbye Glance
I'm keeping mines how it is. OEM apps are staying in my phone.
+920
Why?
Can i delete the video app? Because it doesnt work now..
Yepp. you can. I tried it on my Lumia 630 DS. Its great
This is a hack that is helpful in enabling wifi tether/internet sharing on at&t lumia devices. I used this to enable wifi tether on my 920 on T-Mobile. Instructions are not from me and are posted somewhere in the forums. All you're gonna need is a foreign sim card. You need access point to set the apn settings for the foreign sim card and then uninstall it before you insert your default sim card. Make sure you do not reinstall access point. Then set up the APN for data/MMS manually in the "cellular" settings and voila, Internet Sharing won't be blocked anymore.
Was this the post you were talking about?
http://forums.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/251258-internet-sharing-mms-...
i wonder what will happen if i change the date on my phone and then delete DATE+TIME?? Will my phone be able to delete other OEM features and will it show the date and time? and whether such date and time would be current one or will it remain a freaking century ahead.. and what will happen to all the apps then will i recieve message with time and date as of now in present and will the messages i send would be of current time updated via web or will it be shown as a century ahead..!! :P i wonder if anybody interested in trying to remove DATE+TIME!!!
and what if i uninstalled store also then how will i install syspusher to add all those OEM features back!!
I think you're high or something xD
What good is it going to do! XD
Date+Time is an OS feature not an OEM app.
so it turns out nokias are not eternal
I don't get why everyone is so excited and happy, it's not like they're a weight on your shoulders, unless they free a huge space!
They do use space & some like the Verizon apn(available on non verizon ativ s eg. Sgh-t899m) can even conflict with your service
Feature was there before; used it to uninstall Access Point since the ATT 1020 unlocked wasn't able to Internet Share on T-Mobile LTE. Another user, "Trooters," found out that by using Access Point with a foreign SIM, rebooting, using the date method to uninstall Access Point then; would open access to this one feature. "Trooters" figured it out for an unlocked ATT Lumia 920 and I used it successfully on my 1020 - this was a few months ago.. see Part II, Step 3 of his process. http://forums.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/251258-internet-sharing-mms-now-working-t-920-w-usa-t-mobile-sim.html
Can't imagine why anyone would want to do this, but OK.
For uninstalling stuff like Samsungs Verizon apn app(which is seperate from the standard app on non Verizon hardware)
I'm not all that concerned with this. But if there were some way to hack in the native visual voicemail functionality on Verizon I would be pleased...
They dont use the native app but an external one check xda out
No real need to uninstall any of them, and I'm keeping the Nokia ones, but it still made me smile to send Verizon's backup setting off to Hell along with their other crap apps I uninstalled the second I got my Icon :D
Off-topic: Other people also got problems with WhatsApp? Not receiving notifications...
Yes. Reinstalling, factory resetting does not seem to help. Hope they update the app soon.
Nokia apps, no you wouldn't want to uninstall. If you get a Samsung, or HTC device or maybe apps from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and such, yes you might want to uninstall their apps because a lot of them are crap. I know on my friends Samsung Note (I know its Android) phone she wanted to uninstall a bunch of Samsung apps, but couldn't. Companies that make crappy apps deserve to have them installed but Nokia apps are usually good so no you wouldn't want to uninstall them.
Right so a Samsung or HTC user should be using apps from which OEM then? Funny how it seems to be Nokia apps that are causing the most issues though, but reduced screen sensitivity must be worth it to have Glance!!!!!
If your trying to get internet sharing to work you would have to. Nokia doesnt work like Samsung(have editable apn settings for sharing)
Still can't uninstall an Italian registry viewer I side loaded which appears in the settings :/
Does anyone knows how to delete WP 8 when you're on 8.1 ?
I have OCD. So I'll uninstall and reinstall the OEM apps on my 920 and 720 so that they are in alphabetical order. (Atleast the access point, audio, extras+info. . . . . Storage. . . Touch). That's just me.
Until one of them gets an update, then its moved to the bottom
Storage check.
Just tried it on my 1520 on 8.1 and it didn't let me uninstall the Xbox Video or Music app. It also messed up my emails saying they're not up to date!
You can't uninstall those. Only s"settings" by OEMs, like touch or display. Email syncs by "time", changing the date wont allow your acct to work. Change the date back, then re-sync.
Was really looking forward to this to fix the broken Calendar app. Turns out that this doesn't work on the Calendar app. That's disappointing.
Nice
Uninstall "touch". Sensitivity problem solved
I uninstalled everything. Got room for all those weather apps now!
I saw this trick last year somewhere on this website or wmpoweruser.com
Does this even do anything? Like make the battery last longer?
Just tried it on my Lumia 920 8.0 Device. Just freed up 1.5gb of space. Thanks :-))
Only thing I wish I could get rid of is HELP+TIPS. Is that OEM or OS?
OS & some that are branded & locked have service provider support page embedded but still cant uninstall. But if its on a wp7.x device maybe it can be
Some of you need to look up the difference between OS level and OEM apps. Calendar, Xbox Music and Xbox Video CANNOT be removed as they are OS level. OEM settings "apps" can be uninstalled using this method though.
Mark, i uninstalled touch settings app, how can i get it back if i needed
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-in/store/app/sysapp-pusher/19d44d9e-f18e-... use this app : to re-install again !!
Cool Thanx Mr. AAKASH SHARMA Finally got rid of a few things in settings I never use.
Thanks #guytronic :
Damn. Tried to get rid of Music. Didn't work.
Music app has God's permission. You'll need higher permission than that to uninstall.
Does not work For Data Sense
Nokia 925 with 8.1 in the UK. My Network+ wouldnt open.... Used the above and reinstalled Network + now works 100% Many thanks
Easter Egg
To save the app link (to reinstall later) you could click on "Buy", then "Share", then you can share to OneNote or whatever you like. I think the error is caused by expired certificate.
Am I getting 8.1 on my 810?? Im on t-mobile in uk?
Am gonna uninstall windows from my phone Wow
Thank you, +100 like
Not Working for me >.<
notthing happens when i click uninstall. app is still there
What's the purpose of showing this video? It is a loop hole of developer in windows 8 or 8.1, well Don't wanna make anything change in it;s original behaviour, might your phone wont work better with this app's or something come out unexpectedly.
???
extras and info is dumb
uunable to uninstall xbox music
This helped alot! I just upgraded to 8.1 and for some reason the "Touch" settings werent opening up, after doing this little trick and reinstalling the app from a .xap from the official MS store it works as it should! Thanks again!
Tried to uninstall Games and Music from my Lumia 925 and it did not work. I am not into games and the only music I listen to is at home. These OEM apps are a nuisance.
Excellent! Just used this to uninstall the Verizon APNs settings app I accidentally installed on my Samsun ATIV S NEO on Sprint.
Did not work to remove podcast app which is completely useless to me
Couldny uninstall Music App either.!
It is not working for me. :-( Lumia-720 8.1 Denim release. My "Network+" and "display" apps are crashing and I I wanted to reinstall them. Even after changing date, they are just crashing and all other settings apps are opening as usual !!!
Thank you! It's work. I want to delete those apps because I don't have space to instal messenger from facebook, what's up and don't let me to save in Office because phone (lumia 530) don't have memory.
I want to uninstall "Battery Saver" app on Lumia 640 XL as it keeps popping error message. The app has a problem and the display of battery life left on the device is not correct. Not sure if uninstalling & reinstalling it would rectify the problem.
hi i also HAVE the same device...this hack DOES NOT WORK !! have you found any solution ? i want to delete xbox videos and music...
Hi there, Could someone let me know if changing the year to 2106 will allow me to uninstall the camera in Lumia 720? My camera is blurry since the 8.1 update and NOKIA Care Center were not able to fix it. Resetting the camera makes no difference. TIA.

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