How to Uninstall Windows 10’s Built-in Apps (and How to Reinstall Them)
Windows 10 includes a variety of universal apps, and there’s no easy way to hide them from the “All Apps” view in the new Start menu. You can uninstall them, but Microsoft doesn’t allow you to easily uninstall them in the usual way.
Before we get started, we should say that we don’t really recommend uninstalling the built-in universal apps. These apps take up very little space on your device, so it’s best to just ignore them if you don’t want to use them. You should also be aware that it’s likely that Windows updates (especially major ones like the Fall Creators Update) will reinstall those apps anyway. But, if you really want to uninstall them, you can. And, if you’ve already uninstalled included apps, you can get them all back with a single command.
Uninstall the App Normally
You can install some apps in the normal way. Just right-click an app on the Start menu—either in the All Apps list or the app’s tilke—and then select the “Uninstall” option. (On a touch screen, long-press the app instead of right-clicking.)
This trick appears to work for the included Get Office, Get Skype, Get Started, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Money, News, Phone Companion, and Sports apps. You can also uninstall bloatware apps your PC manufacturer has installedusing this method. It even works for apps that are “automatically downloaded” by Windows 10, such as Candy Crush, FarmVille, TripAdvisor, Netflix, and Pandora.
However, you can’t remove most of Microsoft’s other included Windows 10 apps this way.
Use PowerShell to Uninstall Built-in Apps
You can uninstall most of the built-in apps—even ones that don’t normally offer an “Uninstall” option—with a PowerShell cmdlet. Note, however, that this trick won’t allow you to remove a few of the most important built-in apps, like Cortana and Microsoft Edge. If you try, you’ll see an error message saying they can’t be removed.
First, open PowerShell as administrator. Hit Windows+X, and then choose the “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” option from the Power User menu.
Note: If you haven’t installed the Windows 10 Creators Update from Spring, 2017 yet, you might see the Command Prompt featured on the Power User menu instead of PowerShell. In this case, hit Start, type “PowerShell” into the search box, right-click the PowerShell result, and then select the “Run as administrator” option.
At the PowerShell prompt, copy and paste one or more of the following commands—pressing Enter after each command—to remove the apps you don’t want on your Windows 10 system:
Uninstall 3D Builder:
Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Alarms and Clock:
Get-AppxPackage *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Calculator:
Get-AppxPackage *windowscalculator* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Calendar and Mail:
Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Camera:
Get-AppxPackage *windowscamera* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Contact Support:
This app can't be removed.
Uninstall Cortana:
This app can't be removed.
Uninstall Get Office:
Get-AppxPackage *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Get Skype:
Get-AppxPackage *skypeapp* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Get Started:
Get-AppxPackage *getstarted* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Groove Music:
Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Maps:
Get-AppxPackage *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Microsoft Edge:
This app can't be removed.
Uninstall Microsoft Solitaire Collection:
Get-AppxPackage *solitairecollection* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Money:
Get-AppxPackage *bingfinance* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Movies & TV:
Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall News:
Get-AppxPackage *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall OneNote:
Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall People:
Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Phone Companion:
Get-AppxPackage *windowsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Photos:
Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Store:
Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Sports:
Get-AppxPackage *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Voice Recorder:
Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Weather:
Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage
Uninstall Windows Feedback:
This app can't be removed.
Uninstall Xbox:
Get-AppxPackage *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage
How to Reinstall All Built-in Apps
If you decide you want the preinstalled apps back, you can reinstall them with a single line of PowerShell code. Again, open a PowerShell window as Administrator. Copy and paste the following line at the PowerShell prompt, and then press Enter:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
This command tells Windows to install those default apps again. Give it some time and allow it to finish, even if nothing appears to happen at first. Even if you see an error message, restart your PC, and then examine your Start menu—you may just have all those default apps back again, anyway.
Again, the only real advantage to doing this is some mild decluttering of your Start menu. It’s also likely that future updates (especially major updates) could reinstall those apps.
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