windows 10

Uninstalling all apps in Windows 10

  • August 16, 2015

A clean install or upgrade of Windows 10 will include several apps preinstalled. These include:

  • 3D Builder
  • Alarms and Clock
  • Calculator
  • Calendar
  • Mail
  • Camera
  • Contact Support
  • Get Office
  • Get Skype
  • Get Started
  • Groove Music
  • Maps
  • Microsoft Solitaire Collection
  • Money
  • Movies & TV
  • News
  • OneNote
  • People
  • Phone Companion
  • Photos
  • Store
  • Sports
  • Voice Recorder
  • Weather
  • Windows Feedback
  • Xbox

Phew! That’s a lot of bloatware. For most of them uninstalling is simply a matter of right clicking on the shortcut or tile and selecting “Uninstall”. But many apps do not have this option since they are built into Windows.

I’m going to show you a way of removing all these apps at the same time, allowing you to start with a clean slate.

WARNING! This will remove all Store Apps on your machine, with the exception of Microsoft Edge and Cortana. This will also remove the Store app. I will show you how to reinstall the Store app a little later below.

 

  1. Open up Powershell as an administrator. This can be done by quickly searching for Powershell in the search box in the task bar and right clicking it to open as an admin.
  2. Run the following command: Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage
  3. Then run the following command: Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage

Once this is done you should notice that all the apps listed at the start of my post should be gone! Notice that the Store app was also removed, if you’re fine with that then you’re job is done. But if you want to install some useful apps like Calculator or Mail we will need to restore the Store.

Reinstalling the Store App

These instructions are from Microsoft but I will repeat them here incase they are taken down.

  1. Download the Reinstall-preinstalledApps.zip PowerShell Script to your PC and copy it to your desktop. If the link doesn’t work create a file called reinstall-preinstalledApps.ps1 and copy the following code into it:
  2. Open an elevated PowerShell window.
    1. Click Start.
    2. Type “Windows PowerShell” in the search bar.
    3. Right-click Windows PowerShell in the results list and click “Run as administrator”.
    4. A User Account Control dialog displays. Click “yes” to proceed.
  3. Navigate to the script download folder, which is your desktop if you followed step 1. Your command will look similar to the following:
    PS C:\Users\Abby>CD Desktop
  4. Temporarily allow unsigned PowerShell scripts to execute. Your command will look similar to the following:
    PS C:\Users\Abby\Desktop>Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
  5. Add a string argument to the powershell command that represents the string containing the name of the app. In our example of the Windows Store, the string is *Microsoft.WindowsStore* (asterisks included). Your command will look similar to the following:
    PS C:\Users\Abby\Desktop>.\reinstall-preinstalledApp.ps1 *Microsoft.WindowsStore*
    The system will prompt for approval to execute the script. Typing “y” will allow the script to continue.
  6. Re-enable enforcement for signed PowerShell scripts. Your command will look similar to the following:
    PS C:\Users\Abby>Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned

You should now see the Store app available. Before you start installing other apps from the store I suggest opening the “Downloads” screen from the top right menu and selecting “Check for Updates”.