Microsoft continues its long history of putting many apps we don’t need in Windows 11. It’s sometimes called bloatware. So enterprising people continue their long history of finding ways to get rid of the default Microsoft apps on Windows 11/10. Why? Because fewer unnecessary apps in Windows 11 make Windows 11 faster.
Table of Contents
Remove default Microsoft Apps from Start Menu
Maybe you don’t want to uninstall default Windows apps, but don’t want to see them in the Start Menu. It’s a simple process to unpin Windows apps.
Open Start Menuright click on the app and select Unpin from Start. The app disappears from the Start Menu.
Uninstall Microsoft Apps in Windows 11 via Start Menu
Probably the simplest way to uninstall Microsoft apps is to do it from the Start Menu.
- Choose Start Menufind the app you want to remove, right click on it and select Uninstall.
- Windows will ask you to confirm that you want to uninstall it. Option Uninstall and the app is deleted.
Uninstall Microsoft Apps in Windows 11 via Settings
When you want to uninstall some apps, this is a good point and click method.
- Choose Start Menu and start typing removed. No need to click on the search bar or select the Search tool on the taskbar. Just start typing. Option Add or remove programs from the results.
- Settings will be open for Apps and features area. Find the app to remove, right click on it and select Uninstall.
- Windows will ask you to confirm that you want to uninstall the application. Option Uninstall.
There will be a progress bar when the app is uninstalled and it will notify Uninstalled Once completed.
Uninstall Microsoft Apps in Windows 11 via Control Panel
Yes, the Control Panel is still available in Windows 11. It’s not as handy to delete everything as it was in previous versions. Programs can still be uninstalled through this method, however, Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps won’t even show up here. UWP apps are the ones you most likely want to uninstall.
- Choose Start Menu and start typing control. Option Dashboard from the results.
- When Dashboard window opens, search Programs and choose Uninstall a program below it.
- inside Uninstall or change the program window, select the program to remove and then select Uninstall.
Windows will display User Account Control (UAC) window asks, “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?” Option Right. Depending on the size of the program, it may take several minutes until the program ends.
Uninstall Microsoft Apps in Windows 11 Via PowerShell
Even Home users can learn PowerShell and have better control over Windows. Building a PowerShell script to uninstall Microsoft apps gives you the most control over what gets removed. It also makes deleting a bunch of Microsoft apps quick and easy, so save the script for the next Windows 11 install.
If creating a PowerShell script is more than you bargained for but still wants that kind of speed and control, jump to the scripting section below.
- Choose Start Menu and start typing power. Choose PowerShell ISE and open it as Administrator.
- Once it is open, type and run the cmdlet Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned.
When asked if you really want to change the enforcement policy, select Yes for all. This will allow you to run the scripts you create.
- First you need to get the package name for Windows applications. Create a script and save it with a name like get-InstalledApps.ps1. Copy and paste the following cmdlets into the new script. They will create and save the list Nameand PackageFullName of installed UWP apps. Comment lines in images that start with # explains what the cmdlets below it do.
- Get-AppXPackage | ‘
- Select-Object -Property Name, PackageFullName | `
- Export-Csv “$PSScriptRoot\Windows-apps.csv”
- Open the resulting text file. A general rule of thumb for what to remove from this file is to remove any lines that you’re not sure what they are or that have “neutral” in PackageFullName. This will leave only the things that you are sure you want to uninstall. If you are not sure what to do here, move on to the next section of the article.
- Create another script and name it uninstall-WindowsApps.ps1. Use the following cmdlets to uninstall only the remaining Windows applications in the text file. Comment lines in images that start with # explains what the cmdlets below it do.
- $ preferApps = import-CSV “$PSScriptRoot\Windows-apps.csv”
- $unwanted application variable
- foreach ($preferApp in $preferApps) {
- Get-AppXPackage $ preferApp.name | Remove-AppXPackage -WhatIf
- }
When you’re ready, delete -What if parameters and run the script. Applications will be uninstalled.
Uninstall Microsoft Apps in Windows 11 Via Scripts
There are several pre-made scripts that can be used to remove unwanted Microsoft applications. Two of the most popular are Windows 10 Decoder and Windows 10 Debloater. Both do similar things and both work in Windows 11, however we will only look at Windows 10 Debloater here, as it has a graphical user interface (GUI) option that you can find it more useful to use.
- Go Windows 10 Debloater page and select Code button, then select Download ZIP.
- Once the zip file is downloaded, extract it. Find Windows10DebloaterGUI and run it.
- Some scripts will run and then the Windows10Debloater GUI will open. There are several options here, however the fastest, easiest to use is DELETE ALL BLOATWARE SOFTWARE.
Once selected, you will see the script running in the background removing a lot of things. This process may take several minutes. The only message that this is done is that the script stops scrolling and the last line is Completed all quests. All unwanted Microsoft apps are gone.
How to Restore Default Microsoft Apps in Windows 11
Great, you’ve removed all the default and bloated Microsoft apps. But what if you need them back? You can go through Microsoft Store and reinstall them one by one. However, the simplest and fastest way is with a single line of PowerShell.
- Create another script and name it restore-WindowsApps.ps1. Run the following cmdlet to restore default Microsoft apps. Comment lines in images that start with # explains what the cmdlets below it do.
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | foreach {Add-AppXPackage – Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode}
- All the default Microsoft Applications that your version of Windows normally has are installed.
Windows 11 and default apps
Unnecessary default applications have always been a part of Windows, and to be fair, most operating systems. Now you know how to take care of that. Do you use any other method like Chocolatey package manager? Which one do you like? We love hearing about new things from you. Let us know.
