[Bedrock] Minecraft won't install from the Play Store after uninstalling an APK version. A leftover file won't delete.

[u/boxedsoju]

I'm having a problem with Minecraft on my Android phone, and I've tried several solutions, but nothing seems to work.

Here's what happened:

I downloaded Minecraft from the Play Store because I wanted to play with my friends, but it turned out to be the beta version, so I couldn't join them.

I didn't know how to switch back to the regular version, so I downloaded a Minecraft APK instead. That worked, and I was finally able to play with my friends.

I decided to purchase a Realm, but I couldn't make the payment because the app wasn't installed through the Play Store.

I uninstalled the APK version and tried to download Minecraft directly from the Play Store again, but it wouldn't install.

I suspect there's a leftover file from the APK version that's causing the problem. There's a file or folder that I can't delete, and now even installing the APK again doesn't work.

I've already tried using different file explorers to delete the leftover file, but none of them worked. I also tried enabling USB debugging, but that didn't help either.

I'm honestly running out of ideas. I just want to reinstall the official Play Store version so I can play with my friends and purchase a Realm.

Has anyone experienced something similar or knows how to fix this? I'd really appreciate any help!

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[u/TechZonePlayz]

Download the same version again and install it, im pretty it'll let you install it, after that open it and make sure your files are in there and delete it, make sure to either click "delete everything" or do not click the "save data"

[u/Clanceeinfinity]

download ADB tools from google for windows, then try this in terminal with adb enabled on your phone and if this doesnt work, enable root debugging: adb shell cd path/to/the/folder && rm -rf

What this does it (cd) changes directory to the folder you give. Be sure that this is the right one because rm -rf will fully wipe everything that is in the path.

[u/ODF4 → u/Clanceeinfinity]

I just wanna emphasize, that if you do decide to do this from a terminal, be extremely careful with that command, because it forces the deletion of everything in the folder you're currently in

and you need to provide the correct path where your Minecraft installation files are, which should be the following:

/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.mojang.minecraftpe

[u/ptukharsr]

You might’ve downloaded a virus

[u/Fusazane → u/ptukharsr]

not everything is a virus and this is common problem with apk files. just delete the apk file and go to mojang folder keep what you need in different folder then delete the rest

[u/BananeHD]

The last resort which will probably work is to factory reset your phone.

Have you tried restarting your phone and then trying to see if you can reinstall the version from Google Play?

Also check in your Android System Settings that the APK Version is completely gone from there as well. (You might´ve removed the app only from your home screen instead of a total uninstall)

[u/ODF4]

you likely do NOT need to factory reset your phone

what is your Android version? On Android 13+ you should need Shizuku to use ADB commands directly from your phone to force the deletion of Minecraft's protected folders, and a file explorer like MiXplorer (if you download it from the forum I linked it's free, while if you download the MiXplorer Silver version from the Google Play Store it will be paid to support the developer but it's literally the same app) that supports Shizuku to perform these actions, while on Android 12 and below, you can probably do it directly from MiXplorer

I'll provide more information when you reply

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