How to Debloat Any Android TV with ADB: The Full Command List

You need a computer with ADB on the same Wi-Fi as your TV. Nothing needs root, and every command can be undone.

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Watch how to debloat your Android TV with Claude Code running the commands for you.

Step 1: Install ADB

Step 2: Turn on developer options on the TV

1. 1.

   Open the build number

   TV	Where to find it
   Google TV	Settings > System > About > Android TV OS build
   Older Android TV	Settings > Device Preferences > About > Build
   Philips	Settings > Android settings > Device Preferences > About > Build
   Fire TV	Settings > My Fire TV > About > your device name

2. 2.

   Press OK on it seven times

   The TV says “You are now a developer”.

3. 3.

   Go back, open Developer options and turn on USB debugging

   On Fire TV it's called ADB debugging.

Step 3: Connect your computer to the TV

Step 4: Save a list of your apps

1. Run this once

   You'll need this file if you ever want to undo everything at once.

   adb shell pm list packages -d > already-disabled.txt

Step 5: Learn the two commands

1. 1.

   Turn an app off

   adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 PACKAGE.NAME

2. 2.

   Turn it back on

   adb shell pm enable PACKAGE.NAME

3. 3.

   Do five to ten apps at a time, then check the TV still works

   Try the remote, change input and open Settings.

4. 4.

   Never turn these off

   Package	Why
   com.google.android.gmscom.google.android.gsf	Apps stop signing in and updating
   com.android.vending	Play Store
   com.android.tv.settings	Settings
   com.android.systemui	The TV's interface
   com.google.android.tv.remote.service	Your remote
   com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherxcom.google.android.tvlauncher	Home screen (only in Step 7)
   Anything with inputmethod, tvinput, hdmi or livetv	Keyboard, HDMI inputs and live TV

Step 6: Turn off the bloat

Step 7: Swap the home screen (optional)

1. 1.

   On the TV, install Projectivy Launcher from the Play Store and open it

   This gets rid of the ads on the home screen.

2. 2.

   Make it your home screen

   The last line should show com.spocky.projengmenu. If it doesn't, stop here.

   adb shell cmd role add-role-holder --user 0 android.app.role.HOME com.spocky.projengmenuadb shell cmd role get-role-holders --user 0 android.app.role.HOME

3. 3.

   Turn off the old home screen

   On Sony, also run adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.sony.dtv.applicationdisabler.

   adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherxadb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraith

4. 4.

   Press Home on the remote

   You should see Projectivy.

Step 8: Block ads with Private DNS

1. 1.

   Turn it on

   Works on Android 9 or newer, Fire TV included.

   adb shell settings put global private_dns_mode hostnameadb shell settings put global private_dns_specifier dns.adguard-dns.com

2. 2.

   If an app stops loading, turn it off

   adb shell settings put global private_dns_mode off

Step 9: Make it feel faster

1. 1.

   Shorten the animations

   adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0.5adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0.5adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0.5

2. 2.

   Clear every app's cache

   Your logins and downloads stay.

   adb shell pm trim-caches 999G

3. 3.

   Restart the TV

   adb reboot

Undo anything

1. Undo one change

   To undo	Run
   An app you turned off	adb shell pm enable PACKAGE.NAME
   Private DNS	adb shell settings put global private_dns_mode off
   Animations	The Step 9 commands with 1 instead of 0.5

2. Bring back the Google TV home screen

   adb shell pm enable com.google.android.apps.tv.launcherxadb shell pm enable com.google.android.tungsten.setupwraithadb shell pm enable com.sony.dtv.applicationdisabler

3. Undo everything on Mac or Linux

   This uses the file from Step 4.

   adb shell pm list packages -d > now-disabled.txtgrep -vxFf already-disabled.txt now-disabled.txt | cut -d: -f2 | tr -d '\r' | while read p; do adb shell pm enable "$p" < /dev/null; done

4. Undo everything on Windows (PowerShell)

   $before = Get-Content already-disabled.txtadb shell pm list packages -d | Where-Object { $before -notcontains $_ } | ForEach-Object { adb shell pm enable ($_ -replace 'package:','').Trim() }

5. Still stuck? A factory reset brings every app back

Troubleshooting

1. Problem	Fix
   Black screen after Step 7	Run the “Bring back the Google TV home screen” commands above. ADB still works.
   The mic button stopped working	adb shell pm enable com.google.android.katniss
   Can't cast from your phone	adb shell pm enable com.google.android.apps.mediashell
   HDMI inputs are missing	Turn back on any app with tvinput or hdmi in its name
   Apps came back after a restart	On Sony, turn off com.sony.dtv.applicationdisabler. Elsewhere, an update did it. Run your commands again.
   adb devices says unauthorized	Press Allow on the TV
   adb devices says offline	Run adb disconnect, then connect again
   TV stuck on the logo	Wait five minutes. If it still won't start, factory reset it with the TV's buttons.