Guide: Here's how to uninstall default Windows 11 apps

Yes. Similar method to uninstall annoying widgets. Will re-install when they are truly customizable. If ever.

Any command to install appx or msixbundle ? Add-appxpackage is getting outdated I guess

Just get GeekUninstaller and you're done.

Great article. MS should make all apps user-uninstallable. Who are they to say that one or more apps "must" be on my machine? If I don't want Cortana or Edge on my machine, I should be able to get rid of it.

Purpose for this?

This only uninstalls for the App for the current user, and if I remember right, Windows will not remove or reduce the user count for default applications to physically remove the app from the computer.

So, at best this will keep an App like Cortana from loading at startup - which you can already disable in the Task Manager.

I recommend you don't mess with default Apps in Windows, as you can break stuff that you might not understand or realize.

Apps also consume a tiny amount of drive space - so this really accomplishes nothing. Updates will put the Apps back.

-------------------------------------------------

Caution - Only for the insanely determined, and I and Neowin are not responsible.

If you REALLY want to fully rip out any App - and also uninstall it for all users and also remove it from your drive...

(One final note of warning: The list of Apps will include Apps and packages and frameworks that ARE REQUIRED for Windows to work properly. Do not touch any App that you do not 100% know what it is.)

1 - Open Powershell as Administrator
2 - Create a backup list of all your Apps using these two Commands

WinGet list > AppsWinGet.txt
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Select Name | Out-File AppsPackages.txt

(First one is WinGet Names to reinstall from repository, second is actual package name)

3 - Type this to get a nice list of all the Apps on your computer in a Graphical view, so you can easily copy the name:

Get-AppxPackage -Allusers | Select Name | Out-GridView
If you want the results in the PowerShell Window, remove: | Out-GridView

4 - Find the Name of the App you want to uninstall, and copy it, for example: Cortana - then use this line, substituting Cortana with the Name of the App you want to remove:

Caution: DO NOT forget your App Name, or this command will uninstall all your Apps.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Cortana | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers


Final note - to get an App back - you can use WinGet or search for the App on Bing, and open the Microsoft Store link from inside the browser - which will allow you to install the App from inside the Store App. ( Default Apps will not appear in the Store App when you search for them, so it is easier to just find them through bing. )

Example:
WinGet install Cortana

Bing:
Microsoft Store Cortana


PS - Really, don't uninstall default Windows Apps. They really don't take up space and will break things. Most Apps are under 20MB or so in size - not worth your time.

On 17/03/2022 at 08:56 PM, Mobius Enigma said:

Purpose for this?

This only uninstalls for the App for the current user, and if I remember right, Windows will not remove or reduce the user count for default applications to physically remove the app from the computer.

So, at best this will keep an App like Cortana from loading at startup - which you can already disable in the Task Manager.

I recommend you don't mess with default Apps in Windows, as you can break stuff that you might not understand or realize.

Apps also consume a tiny amount of drive space - so this really accomplishes nothing. Updates will put the Apps back.

-------------------------------------------------

Caution - Only for the insanely determined, and I and Neowin are not responsible.

If you REALLY want to fully rip out any App - and also uninstall it for all users and also remove it from your drive...

(One final note of warning: The list of Apps will include Apps and packages and frameworks that ARE REQUIRED for Windows to work properly. Do not touch any App that you do not 100% know what it is.)

1 - Open Powershell as Administrator
2 - Create a backup list of all your Apps using these two Commands

WinGet list > AppsWinGet.txt
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Select Name | Out-File AppsPackages.txt

(First one is WinGet Names to reinstall from repository, second is actual package name)

3 - Type this to get a nice list of all the Apps on your computer in a Graphical view, so you can easily copy the name:

Get-AppxPackage -Allusers | Select Name | Out-GridView
If you want the results in the PowerShell Window, remove: | Out-GridView

4 - Find the Name of the App you want to uninstall, and copy it, for example: Cortana - then use this line, substituting Cortana with the Name of the App you want to remove:

Caution: DO NOT forget your App Name, or this command will uninstall all your Apps.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Cortana | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers


Final note - to get an App back - you can use WinGet or search for the App on Bing, and open the Microsoft Store link from inside the browser - which will allow you to install the App from inside the Store App. ( Default Apps will not appear in the Store App when you search for them, so it is easier to just find them through bing. )

Example:
WinGet install Cortana

Bing:
Microsoft Store Cortana


PS - Really, don't uninstall default Windows Apps. They really don't take up space and will break things. Most Apps are under 20MB or so in size - not worth your time.

I respectfully disagree. If I don't want any apps that I will never use, I uninstall them, on principle alone. I don't like having garbage showing up on my apps list.