Enable Installation of Unknown Sources Android Apps

Are you trying to install an APK on Android phone from outside of Play Store? You will see this error message: “Install blocked. For security, your phone is set to block installation of applications not obtained from Play Store”.

Android apps typically come from Google Play Store. There is an advantage to it – that you get only the trusted apps on your device. That is the reason why there is an option to disable/enable ‘unknown sources’ in Android. By default this option is disabled. This is Google’s way to quality-control the Android apps. Which makes sense. It filters out malware and poor quality apps to some extent. You can use your device to the fullest without fiddling with this setting.

However, there are some apps that are not distributed from the Play store. Then there are some devices that do not come with Play Store preinstalled. In either of these two cases, you will need to enable apps from “Unknown Sources” to be installed. This is a simple and quick process.

Enable Apps from “Unknown Sources” on Android

Step 1: Open Settings app on your Android device

Step 2: Navigate to “Security” and look for the option “Unknown Sources” – and enable it.

Step 3: An alert will pop up to confirm – tap “OK” on the alert, then tap “Trust”.

That’s it. Now when you try to install a downloaded APK on your device, it will not show you the “your phone is set to block installation of applications” error.