How to install / get back uninstalled Apps (APKs) with ADB. - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

A lot of people searched for a way to uninstall bloat or APKs using ADB because a lot of OEMs don't allow uninstalling many of preinstalled apps.
Tested on Pie and Oreo.
BUT most of the articles if not all of them ( couldn't find any article saying otherwise ) say that after using the command "adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <name of package here>" to uninstall an app, you have to factory reset your phone to get these packages back which Is NOT TRUE.
First method :-
you can simply use "adb shell cmd package install-existing <package name>" in ADB and you'll get the package back .
Examples:-
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.something
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.android.something
Tested and working on Android pie and Oreo on Samsung devices.
Second method HERE
Seems like some people can't get it to work with no helpful information so we can't help much.

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Articles like https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/

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Hi, doesn't works
Code:
/system/bin/sh: cmd: not found

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It does work. Thank you!

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Hi! Does this work on huawei p smart 2019 with android pie? Will ota work after that?

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jazzh said:
Hi! Does this work on huawei p smart 2019 with android pie? Will ota work after that?
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Has nothing to do with OTA. That code only installs apk.
JaviLerma said:
Hi, doesn't works
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I need a screenshot or I can't be sure what you did wrong.

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Vordx said:
Has nothing to do with OTA. That code only installs apk.
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Gr8.

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I successfully applied this in p smart 2019.

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Not work
it doesn't work

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barjani said:
it doesn't work
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You typed install, not uninstall

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jazzh said:
You typed install, not uninstall
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i just copy paste command from the text above except the packages that i want to install again
"you can simply use "adb shell cmd package install-existing <package name>" in ADB and you'll get the package back ."
is it this thread to install back again packages or to uninstall packages?
i want to install back my packages, which I using command "adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <name of package>" to uninstall it.

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Try to find that apk and put in the folder of the command prompt call from pc.

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barjani said:
i just copy paste command from the text above except the packages that i want to install again
"you can simply use "adb shell cmd package install-existing <package name>" in ADB and you'll get the package back ."
is it this thread to install back again packages or to uninstall packages?
i want to install back my packages, which I using command "adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <name of package>" to uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of Android are you running? What's the output of "ls -l /system/bin/cmd"?

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jcmm11 said:
What version of Android are you running? What's the output of "ls -l /system/bin/cmd"?
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android ver. 5.1.1 and android ver 7.1.2
on ver. 5.1.1 got "No such file or directory" but on ver 7.1.2 got "-rwxr-xr-x 1 root shell 21964 2019-03-07 12:23 /system/bin/cmd"
i want to re-install app on android ver 5.1.1.
is it posible to install back on 5.x.x? after seing output from 'ls' command on terminal

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barjani said:
android ver. 5.1.1 and android ver 7.1.2
on ver. 5.1.1 got "No such file or directory" but on ver 7.1.2 got "-rwxr-xr-x 1 root shell 21964 2019-03-07 12:23 /system/bin/cmd"
i want to re-install app on android ver 5.1.1.
is it posible to install back on 5.x.x? after seing output from 'ls' command on terminal
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You sure it's uninstalled using ADB and not root ?

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Vordx said:
You sure it's uninstalled using ADB and not root ?
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Yups ... it's uninstalled with ADB command, i just follow from this article https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/ to unistall and no root access.
Sent from my L697 using Tapatalk

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Im also having similar problem, uninstalled through adb, but when i try to reinstall it, it gives error
/system/bin/sh: CMD: not found

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djinn_tyagi said:
Im also having similar problem, uninstalled through adb, but when i try to reinstall it, it gives error
/system/bin/sh: CMD: not found
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It works for me (windows cmd prompt), should be the same in linux terminal:
type
1) adb shell
and within the shell type:
2) cmd package install-existing <name of package>
alternatively type directly from command prompt:
adb shell cmd package install-existing <name of package>

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Tried running this on Android 6 on my moto G4, install-existing is NOT a listed argument for pm, and now my phone is dead since I can't reinstall a removed app. Wonderful.
the OP should update thier post that this is ONLY for Android versions 7 and higher. It will not work on android 6 or lower.

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For you guys getting this error:
"/system/bin/sh: cmd: not found"
Not all android versions have the "cmd" utility in "/system/bin".