How do you forcefully remove apps in Windows 10?

Question

How can I remove apps that Windows doesn't seem to allow to be uninstalled, like Xbox and Groove Music?

Solution 1

1. elevated Powershell command line

2. this command to get list of packages:

   Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, PackageFullName

3. Find package you want to remove

4. This command to remove package (Copy/Paste package name):

   Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxApp_7.7.17003.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Caveat: During toying around, this does seem to remove the apps for the logged in user. They still existed for another user when I logged in as them. I'll toy around more and see if I can find a way to "ban" an app computer/network wide.

Edit 1: Furthmore, you can remove the ProvisionedPackages so that they don't get installed in the future:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Select DisplayName, PackageName
Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage Microsoft.ZuneMusic_2019.6.11821.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Edit 2: Finally, you can do a "Bulk remove" to "scorched earth" Packages and Provisioned.

Just a warning: This will uninstall the Windows Store. That's not an issue for me, but uninstalling everything isn't for the faint of heart.

Get-AppxPackage | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online

It's probably wise not to completely remove the windows store. I haven't tried this yet, but this (in the comments) looks to be ballpark of what I'd use, to remove everything except Windows Store.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | where-object {$_.name –notlike “*store*”} | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-appxprovisionedpackage –online | where-object {$_.packagename –notlike “*store*”} | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online    

Further resource: Delete Windows 10 Apps and Restore Default Windows 10 Apps

Solution 2

If you find same universal or provisioned apps are difficult to remove, try the GRID command in Powershell:

PowerShell Commands to Remove Apps in GridView

Just use Out-Gridview to select which applications you want to remove.

Get-AppxPackage | Out-GridView -Passthru | Remove-AppXPackage

Keep in mind the above only removed the apps for the current user. To remove the apps from the computer for all users, run the following:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Out-GridView -PassThru | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

This will display a grid of all installed apps. You can SELECT the apps (highlight in blue) you want to remove from the displayed list and click OK. Reboot.

(I found I could only delete a few apps at a time by repeating the above command and selecting a few each time I reran the command)

Solution 3

You can target specific Apps without knowledge of the entire Package name with wildcard filters.

For individual, per-user Packages:

Get-AppxPackage *bing* | Remove-AppxPackage

For "Provisioned" Packages, which Windows installs for every user:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*bing*"} | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

Comments

[StBlade]

Thanks, this works great!! If you want to do this network wide, drop it in a login script for a user or deploy via GPO.

[Andrei B.]

You should almost never uninstall all the packages! For example, ShellExperienceHost manages the graphical interface. Uninstalling it will make the windows, task bar or start menu unusable.

[WernerCD]

@AndreiB. This process (getapp -... | RemoveApp) removes Store "Apps". Not "Applications" or "Windows Features". That is most likely not an "App" - it's, if I'm not mistaken, a windows feature. This won't remove Office (an installed "Application" or XBox (an "App" marked "vital").

[WernerCD]

Also, "Important" store Apps won't get removed - with the exception of the Store (which is why the where-object notlike store is vital). I've been doing "uninstall all Apps" since shortly after I moved to 10 without issue (except for removing store by accident because, for some reason, it's not marked "vital")

[johny why]

@AndreiB. are you saying WernerCD's "Edit 2" command will make the windows, task bar or start menu unusable?

[bakalolo]

is this safe in all cases or possible corruption to system?

[WernerCD]

@bakalolo I've never noticed any problems. There are packages that CANT get removed like this (although there are other ways of doing so, IIRC. IE You can do a Task Kill > Move Folder slight of hand for stuff like Search to get it removed and that might interefere with things but I didn't have system corruption when I tried it last). I generally remove all packages like this after an upgrade to remove the cruft and its stable for me.