How To Identify & Revoke Admin Rights of Unseen Devices on Android: A Guide by MalwareFox

Android is one of the most used operating systems. Since it is open-source, there are plenty of options for customizations and manipulations according to user preference. The same is the case with the hidden Device Administrators.

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Some apps can gain Device Administration privilege without asking for your permission. Consequently, it can cause harm to the device.

In this guide, we would discuss how to check and remove the hidden device administrators from an Android phone.

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What is Device Administration?

Device Administration is an Android security measure. It is assigned to some pre-installed applications on the phone by default for suitable operations. It helps to protect the data of lost or stolen phones by locking the device or erasing the data. Additionally, device administrator privilege can prevent a user from installing or uninstalling applications. It would also warn you when you try to install the apps from unknown sources.

How to Check if an Android App is Safe to Install

Why You May Want to Remove Device Administration Rights

Because of a malware attack, some apps may get unauthorized Android administration rights. They are also known as hidden device administrators because they hide from the device admin apps. Another reason to remove the privileges is that the app is useless for you and unnecessary using too much space. It may also be draining your phone’s battery. So in order to uninstall that app, first, you have to remove its admin privileges.

It is worth mentioning that you might not be able to remove Administrators rights from some bloatware. For removing them, you might have to root your device.

How to Disable the Device Administrator Privileges?

Note: Settings shown in the following steps could be different for different phone manufacturers and Android versions. Look for the similar settings on your device.

To disable the android administrator settings, follow these steps on your Android device.

Go to your phone Settings and tap on “Security & privacy option.”
Look for “Device administrators” and press it.

3. You would see the applications that have device administrator rights.
4. Tap on the app for which you want to disable the privileges and press Deactivate. Confirm on prompt.

5. The admin rights are now removed, and you should now able to uninstall that app.

Use Hidden Device Admin Detector

Since it is an opensource platform, Android is quite vulnerable to malware attacks. Also, some malware can secretly gain the Android Administrator privilege and hide. To disable such a Hidden Device Administrator, you would require an external third-party application from Trend Micro.

1. Download the “Hidden Device Admin Detector” Trend Micro application from here .

2. After installing it, open it and tap “**Click here to scan.**“

3. Allow the app to scan for the hidden device administrator. It may take a few minutes, depending on the total number of apps on the device. Once the scan is complete, the app would display the apps that have the admin privilege.

4. Simply uncheck the apps which you do not want to have Android Administrator rights.

That’s it, you have successfully removed the hidden device administrators of your Android phone.

Final Words

So this how you can disable the android administrator settings on Android devices manually and using the third-party application.

When an unauthorized application gets the admin privilege, it may cause severe damage to the phone, and hackers can take control of your phone and steal personal pieces of information. Therefore, we recommend checking what resources it wants from your device before installing an application. Also, ask yourself why it requires permission to use that resource , and only grant access when you are sure that the app is secure.

Also, make sure that you have a good antimalware application installed on your Android device to catch the suspicious apps.

How can I find a hidden device administrator in Android?

There is no inbuilt app provided by Android to search for the application that is secretly enjoying the device admin privilege. So you require a third-party Android app, specially designed for that purpose, to find hidden admin on Android.

What is a Device Administrator?

In Android, the device administrator is the special privilege given to some apps, so that they could perform some tasks by themselves, like locking the phone when it is stolen.

6 thoughts on “Check and Remove Hidden Device Administrators On Android”

Shane

June 23, 2021 at 8:32 pm
I have had issues with apps running in the background, closing other apps & accessing permissions and unrestricted data usage. My Wi-Fi & Bluetooth also turn themselves on. After reading everything you have discussed, I now know where to begin to fix this issue. Just one question,please: There are system apps with permissions and app links that are frozen. They can neither be turned on or off. Can you advise me on how to tackle this. Again thanks for all your help.
Reply
2.
Dan O’

September 21, 2021 at 10:47 pm
Good stuff, I will take action.
Reply
3.
Bruce Milliron
September 27, 2021 at 11:46 pm
I can not load any apps from Google play store.
“Administer has not given me permission”
So I unable to load any apps from Google play
Reply
4.
cindy

September 28, 2021 at 7:40 am
how can I be sure the best app for android without infection device
Reply
5.
Francis David

August 26, 2022 at 4:37 pm
I find it difficult to restore factory in my phone because of security plugin and if I want to deactivate it the deactivate button is not clear it shows that I can’t deactivate.
Please help me how can I disable it when appears like that ? Is there any other way?
Please you let me know.Thanks
Reply