Restoring an app you uninstalled

You removed something and want it back. In the overwhelming majority of cases that is one command.

The command

adb shell cmd package install-existing com.example.package

Expected reply:

Package com.example.package installed for user: 0

It works because the application was never fully deleted. Uninstalling with --user 0 only withdrew it from your user; the factory file is still on the system partition. install-existing links it back.

If the command fails

Package ... new package not known

Can happen on older Android versions. Try the alternative form:

adb shell pm install-existing com.example.package

And failing that:

adb shell pm enable com.example.package

Still not back

Then the safe route: factory reset. It reinstates absolutely all the original software. You lose settings and any accounts you added, but the television comes back exactly as it left the box.

It is under Settings → Device preferences → Reset. Tedious, and it is the guarantee that none of this is irreversible.

Recovering several at once

If you got carried away, you can reinstate everything missing for your user:

adb shell cmd package list packages -u

That -u includes uninstalled ones. Compare against the list you saved before starting — if you saved it, and this is why we keep going on about it — and work back through.

Why this matters more than it looks

Reversibility is not a technical detail, it is the criterion by which we decide what to publish. A directory entry does not go live until somebody has run the restore command on that exact model and confirmed the application comes back.

It sounds excessive. It is not: the difference between "this can be undone" and "this ought to be undoable" is the difference between useful advice and a problem.