Lately, you must have seen that many nations around the world have banned certain apps, and that’s mainly because of security reasons. And just like that, you can say that India is one of the strictest countries in the world that has banned a bunch of apps that don’t sit right with our policies, and on top of that, security reasons are always there. Just in the last couple of years, India has been on a streak to ban a bunch of such apps, and some of them were super popular already, but they still got banned for valid reasons. And that is pretty much the reason why we’re here to talk about the Top 10 Popular Apps That Are Banned In India 2025, let’s get to it then.
1. TikTok
It straight up has been more than 5 years now since TikTok was banned in India, and the situation isn’t looking any good for this app in India even today. It’ll probably stay banned for a few more years, and we have talked about it in the very first spot of this list because it quite literally was one of the most famous apps in India before 2020. Like, more than 200 million people in India were TikToking, and the whole thing was happening at a speed that hardly anyone could keep up with. However, on June 29th, 2020, India decided to cut off the service, mentioning issues related to national security and data, and TikTok was the first of the 59 apps that were banned at that time.
2. PUBG Mobile
We have to talk about this game whose players or users are still grieving it even several years after, though, there is a new Indian version of it already in the market, but those global servers are actually far from reach. PUBG Mobile was not only a battle royale, it was a way of life for a staggering number of gamers. The adrenaline-pumping matches, live voice chats, and the never-ending updates were the main reasons for the fans’ engagement, you know? However, when 118 apps were banned in September 2020, PUBG Mobile was not able to withstand the crackdown because of its connection with China.
3. Garena Free Fire
Is it really banned? Yes, it is, but the other version of it is called “Free Fire MAX,” and that one is still popular in India and was specifically launched because the original game was banned in the country. Like, we can say that from the very moment PUBG Mobile was out of the game, Free Fire took its place and became the most popular game, mainly because of its low requirements for devices and very fast matches of 10 minutes. But yes, it was also prohibited on 14th February 2022 along with 54 other apps, with the reason for the ban being data privacy issues.
4. Shareit
Back in the days when the internet was not always fast or cheap, this app was the main tool people used. Like, many of you’d remember that Shareit was the perfect way to move files like videos, photos, apps, and anything could be sent without the use of data. It reached over 400 million users in India and thus was established as the default app on Android devices. And yes, it was simultaneously the main reason why the app was banned for the very first time in the initial ban wave (June 2020), as it was detected sending data without authorization.
5. UC Browser
Anyone who has used the internet in the early 2010s will certainly remember the huge craze for UC Browser, which quite literally was the most popular low weight type browser in India before Chrome came over. It was a perfect match for low-end phones as the app ran smoothly, pages were loaded quickly, and it even gave the option of a built-in news feature. Back then though, it had more than 130 million users in India. However, it was also identified in the initial 59-app ban, supposedly for recording user activities without giving any prior consent.
6. WeChat
You might already know that it is a Chinese app that is super famous in China right now, and it is not just a messaging app, nah, it can be used for payments, video calls, and even app-based services, etc., all in a single platform. Why it got banned in India, though? Well, that was over concerns about data and sovereignty; the ban was imposed on it on June 29, 2020. Its ban is still in place five years later.
7. CamScanner
Along with workstation employees, the students might have been the ones who felt the impact of this situation the most, right? Like, CamScanner was the tool people would reach out to when they wanted their documents to be digitized quickly, but that very June 2020 wave is when it was banned. And it still is that way.
8. ES File Explorer
If at any time you have been looking through secret folders or sending files through Wi-Fi, you most likely have used this. But the thing is, the scary thing about it was that its access to the system at a very deep level made people worry a lot. After the 2020 bans, it could not be salvaged as the main reason was a data behavior that was considered risky.
9. Clean Master
One of the apps, Clean Master, was heavily advertised, especially on afforable devices, and claimed to have done all the cleaning, cooling, and protecting of your phone with just one tap, remember that craze? It had a huge number of downloads, in the hundreds of millions. But the app was also accused of very quietly collecting a lot of user data without their consent. So yes, it got banned back in 2020.
10. Likee
Just like TikTok and other short video and Vine apps, there was this Likee app that was super famous in India before 2020. No matter how hard it looked like a foreign or Indian app, but when it became clear that it was a Chinese app, the government of India put it on the ban list of the 59 apps that year.
Conclusion
No doubt there are a bunch of other popular apps that have gotten banned in India, but if we’re solely focusing on the popularity aspect, these ones top the chart. Sure, some of these apps have newer versions with other names that follow the rules in India regarding safety and data protection, are back, but the main and official versions are still banned.