How to Turn Off Bloatware Notifications on a New Phone (2026)

The fastest way to stop bloatware notifications on a new phone is to switch off the app’s own notification toggle. Long-press the notification in the shade and tap Turn off notifications, or open the app’s notification screen in Settings and switch it off there. Either way the app stays installed, nothing breaks, and you can flip it back on later.

This matters most in the first few hours after a phone arrives, because preinstalled apps fire marketing messages before you have even moved the phone out of its box. Those alerts bury the ones you actually need, and they train you to swipe the lock screen without reading. Last updated October 2026. Steps below cover Android 13 through current builds, Samsung One UI, Google Pixel, Motorola and Xiaomi HyperOS.

What You Need

You need the phone, its passcode and about ten quiet minutes. No computer, no cable, no extra app.

Before you change anything, sort the preinstalled software into two piles. Keep the things that do real work: Phone, Messages, Camera, Google Play Services, Google Services Framework, Android System WebView, Google Account Manager, and anything your carrier needs for calls and text. Mute the rest: Galaxy Store, Samsung Internet, Samsung News, GetApps, App Market, Facebook Lite, McAfee, Spotify, the carrier’s own store app, and any trial subscription the phone handed you.

On a Samsung phone, the extra manufacturer apps are the obvious target. On an unlocked phone the carrier layer is thin; on a carrier-locked phone it can be the noisiest thing on the device.

Step-by-Step

Work through these five steps in order. The first two stop the noise and take about five minutes, the third is optional, and the last two keep your phone healthy while the noise stays off.

Step 1: Identify the Apps Sending Notifications

Pull down the notification shade and look at what is actually arriving. Tap the app name to expand a grouped stack and see the individual alerts underneath.

Now try the fastest route. Long-press a notification from the offending app and tap Turn off notifications. On Pixel and Motorola builds that option is right there in the menu. On Samsung One UI you often get Notification categories instead, which opens the same screen a tap longer, and on some builds you need to pass through App info.

Sort what you found into three groups. Keep security alerts, account and password prompts, battery and storage warnings, system updates, and anything from a person you know. Mute offers, upgrade-to-Premium nudges, trial reminders, carrier promos and shopping notifications. Read carefully before touching a two-factor code, because silencing the app that delivers your login codes locks you out later.

Also check what you did not install. Apps added by a carrier or by an over-the-air update land in the same list as everything else, so the notification itself is often the only clue that the app is not yours.

Step 2: Turn Off Bloatware Notifications

If the long-press shortcut did not appear for an app, open the full notification screen and follow the path for your brand.

Samsung (One UI): Settings > Notifications > Notification categories > App notifications > tap the app > turn off All notifications. Older One UI builds split this into separate Alerts, Social and Promotional switches, so switching off the category you dislike is enough. The alternate route is Settings > Apps > See all apps > app name > Notifications.

Google Pixel: Settings > Notifications > App notifications > tap the app > switch off All notifications. Settings > Apps > See all apps > app name > Notifications works too and gives you the rest of that app’s settings in the same place.

Motorola: Settings > Notifications > App notifications, then touch and hold the app row to turn it off. Motorola also exposes a Pop on screen switch per app, which kills banner pop-ups on the unlocked screen while leaving the notification in the shade.

Xiaomi and Redmi (HyperOS): Settings > Notifications > App notifications > tap the app > switch it off. The longer route is Settings > Apps > Manage apps > app name > Notifications, where you also find its battery usage.

Then tighten the lock screen itself, since that is where most people see the problem. On Samsung, open Settings > Lock screen > Show notifications on lock screen > Show only notifications from priority apps, and mark a short priority list. On Pixel, use Settings > Notifications > Lock screen notifications and the same priority app idea. Do Not Disturb handles the hours you do not want interruptions: Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb, then pick a schedule such as sleep hours.

Android 13 and later can also ask for notification permission at install time. When a new app appears mid-setup, the prompt is the first chance to say no.

Step 3: Remove the App If You Do Not Need It

Silencing is enough for most people. Removing the app frees the storage and closes the door on reinstall prompts, so it is worth doing for the handful of apps you will genuinely never open.

Open the App info screen and you will see up to three buttons, and which ones exist depends on how the app was installed. Uninstall removes it fully, which only applies to apps you installed yourself. Uninstall updates rolls the app back to the factory version, useful because it often deletes the account data and ad settings that came with an update. Disable switches it off and keeps the files in place, which is the reversible option and the one to prefer for anything the manufacturer shipped.

On a Samsung phone the sequence is usually long-press the app icon on the home screen or in the drawer, tap App info, then Uninstall updates, then Disable. Apps with an active account or a system dependency may grey out Disable, and that greyed-out button is Android telling you the manufacturer wired this app to something else.

Leave the core system components alone. Google Play Services, Google Services Framework, Google Account Manager and Android System WebView should never be disabled, and neither should your carrier’s VoLTE or network manager app. Check the carrier angle before you touch anything from Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile: their messaging and authentication apps can deliver your two-step codes, and the VoLTE app is often what makes calls work indoors. A phone you bought unlocked has far less of this layer, so the risk drops sharply.

Step 4: Stop Remaining Notification Tricks

Some alerts survive because they arrive through a channel rather than the app’s main switch. A few more taps close those off.

Open an app’s notification settings and you often find categories instead of one toggle. Alerts, Social, Promotional, Ongoing and Reminders can each be handled on their own, so turning off Promotional kills the marketing without touching anything useful. Same idea inside the app: Spotify hides its pitch under something like News and Offers, and Galaxy Store and Samsung News each carry their own marketing switch buried in their settings.

Then consider that some promotions are not notifications at all. A community manager on the Android Central forums pointed out that a fair share of what looks like an app alert is really an ordinary marketing email with an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Using that link is faster than hunting through menus, and it holds.

Notification history is the fastest diagnostic tool here. Settings > Notifications > Notification history shows what arrived, from which app, and when. You can lock the history so apps you have not cleaned up yet cannot clear their own trail, and the list tells you exactly which package to target next.

Badges are separate from notifications. Icon dots keep appearing on Galaxy Store and similar apps even when alerts are muted, and a blanket switch for them lives under Settings > Notifications > Notification badges on Pixel, or in the notification section of One UI. Do Not Disturb handles scheduled nudges better than per-app toggles, since it applies to everything at once.

Finally, clear the setup prompts before they turn into habits. Galaxy AI, Gemini and similar assistants push setup cards that block the home screen until dismissed, and the carrier’s app manager page offers optional apps for installation. Decline both during setup, and the noise stops before it starts.

Step 5: Confirm the Phone Is Working Properly

Run a quick pass before you walk away. Make a phone call and send a text, open the camera, pair a Bluetooth headset, and trigger a login on a site where you use an authenticator app. Then install one small free app from Google Play to confirm store access.

If Wi-Fi calling disappeared from the call options or calls drop in places they used to work, the carrier VoLTE app is the usual culprit. Re-enable it from App info > Enable, and leave it alone from then on. Restart the phone once after your changes so the notification services reload, then check the shade again.

Plan one maintenance moment later. Sort Settings > Apps > See all apps by recently installed after a major update, because disabled bloatware can return with a system update and the re-enable is as simple as switching the toggle back.

Common Mistakes

Nearly every bad outcome on this list comes from skipping the order above and reaching for the biggest hammer first.

• Disabling Google Play Services or the Services Framework. Sync, app installs, sign-in and push notifications can all fail. Fix: leave those alone and silence the marketing app itself.
• Muting the app that sends your two-factor codes. You find out at the worst moment, on a login you cannot finish. Fix: keep every security and account alert switched on and prune the rest.
• Assuming Uninstall works on every preinstalled app. System and carrier apps usually show Disable or Uninstall updates only, and some grey out entirely. Fix: use Disable, which is reversible, and treat a missing button as a signal.
• Touching the carrier VoLTE app on a locked phone. HD voice and indoor calling can stop working and are confusing to diagnose. Fix: re-enable it under App info and leave it running.
• Forgetting the lock screen. Per-app alerts go off, yet the marketing cards stay visible every time you pick the phone up. Fix: set the lock screen to priority apps only and add Do Not Disturb for your sleeping hours.
• Not rechecking after an update. Bloatware that was disabled can come back with a system update. Fix: glance at recently installed apps after major updates.
• Never testing whether anything broke. Reversible does not mean risk-free, only recoverable. Fix: run the call, text, camera, Bluetooth and Play Store check once when you finish.

One habit saves the most trouble: when you turn something off, note the app name somewhere. Two months later, an app you forgot you silenced is the first suspect when a password reset alert never arrives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Start at the notification shade. Expand each stack, long-press the marketing app and tap Turn off notifications, which takes a few seconds and reverses in one tap later. After that, set the lock screen to priority apps, add a Do Not Disturb schedule, and use Disable on the apps you never open, leaving Google Play Services, the account manager apps, Android System WebView and your carrier’s VoLTE app running. Finish with a call, a text and a quick Play Store install so you know nothing broke, and recheck recently installed apps after each major update.