Removing built in apps from Windows 10 all versions incl. 1903/1909/2004/20H2

Page History

Update 2020-11-02: Added information relating to Windows 10 20H2 October 2020 Update

Update 2020-06-12: Added information relating to Windows 10 2004 May 2020 Update (20H1)

Update 2020-01-27: Removed information for old unsupported versions of Win 10 and added a table to show which app maps to the display names in PowerShell.

Update 2019-10-06: Updated to include Windows 10 1909 November 2019 Update (19H2) Enterprise edition.

Update 2019-05-23: Updated to reflect the apps included in Windows 10 1903, May 2019 Update (19H1) Enterprise edition.

Update 2018-10-06: An update to reflect some tests I’ve done with Windows 10 1809, October 2018 Update.

Update 2018-05-07: A minor update to reflect some quick tests I’ve done with Windows 10 1803, April 2018 Update.

Update 2018-03-30: Minor maintenance update. Reworked some sections to be more clear and instructive. Added some new information from my own testing and fact checking.

Update 2017-10-17: Updated post with the list of apps included in Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update) by default.

Update 2017-08-03: I’ve re-written much of this post to answer some questions that have come up and to help clarify the process. Thanks to Jörgen Nilsson over at ccmexec.com, with his original post that inspired me to write this one.

 

When deploying Windows 10 you might want to remove some of the included UWP apps to help speed up the login process, save storage space, bandwidth etc.

 

Remove All UWP Apps (Not Recommended)

Note: This process is destructive and non-reversible. Please ensure you have backups before proceeding.

To simply remove all the apps possible for the current user, run the following PowerShell command:

Get-AppxPackage | Remove-AppxPackage

 

To remove all the provisioned apps, run the following PowerShell command:

Note: Provisioned apps are the apps that will be installed for all new users when they first log on.

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

 

Removing A Specified List of UWP Apps

The best way to begin the process of getting a list of the UWP apps you want to remove is to first install a clean copy of Windows 10.

To get a list of installed UWP apps for the current user, run this PowerShell command:

Get-AppxPackage | Select Name

 

To get a list of all the apps currently provisioned, run this PowerShell command:

Note: Provisioned apps are the UWP apps that will be installed for all new users when they first log on.

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Select Displayname

 

Here is a table of all the provisioned apps in Windows 10 1903/1909/2004/20H2 from PowerShell and which application they represent.

 

PowerShell Display Name	Description	Application in Start Menu	Notes
Microsoft.549981C3F5F10	Cortana UWP app		New in 2004
Microsoft.BingWeather	Weather UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.GetHelp	Help UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.Getstarted	Tips UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.Messaging	Messaging UWP app		Removed in 2004
Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer	3D Viewer UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable	Microsoft Edge		New in 20H2
Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub	Office 365 hub app		N/A
Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection	Collection of games		N/A
Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes	Sticky Notes UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.MixedReality.Portal	Mixed Reality UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.MSPaint	Paint 3D UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.Office.OneNote	OneNote UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.OneConnect	???	None	Removed in 2004
Microsoft.People	Contacts management UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.Print3D	3D Printing UWP app		Removed in 2004
Microsoft.ScreenSketch	Screen shot UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.SkypeApp	Skype UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00	System	None	New in 2004
Microsoft.VP9VideoExtensions	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.Wallet	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.WebpImageExtension	System	None	N/A
Microsoft.Windows.Photos	Microsoft Photos UWP app – 2 shortcuts		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsAlarms	Clock and Alarams UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsCalculator	Calculator UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsCamera	Camera UWP app		N/A
microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps	Calendar and Mail UWP apps		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub	Feedback Hub UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsMaps	Bing Maps UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder	Audio recording UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.WindowsStore	Microsoft Store UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI	System, part of Xbox	None	N/A
Microsoft.XboxApp	Xbox Console Companion UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay	System, part of Xbox	None	N/A
Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay	Xbox Game Bar UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider	System, part of Xbox	None	N/A
Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay	System, part of Xbox	None	N/A
Microsoft.YourPhone	Phone linking UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.ZuneMusic	Groove Music UWP app		N/A
Microsoft.ZuneVideo	Films & TV UWP app		N/A

 

Remove Specified Provisioned UWP Apps from an online Windows 10 WIM Image

Download the following script from GitHub. The script removes the apps specified in a text file from the current logged on user and removes provisioned apps from the Windows 10 install, but will require administrative privileges to remove provisioned apps. I use the script as a part of my Task Sequence for creating my reference image. The script is heavily based on work by Jörgen Nilsson – check out his post over on his site.

 

Remove Specified Provisioned UWP Apps from an offline Windows 10 WIM Image

The script below is a modified version of the script used above that will remove the provisioned UWP apps specified from a Windows 10 WIM file.

From Windows 10 1709 onwards, you will need to specify the index ID of the image to operate on. You can obtain this by running the following PowerShell command:

Get-WindowsImage -ImagePath "C:\foo\Windows 10 1903 x64\sources\install.wim" | Format-Table -Property ImageIndex, ImageName

The output of the command above for Windows 1903 x64 is:

ImageIndex ImageName
---------- ---------
1 Windows 10 Education
2 Windows 10 Education N
3 Windows 10 Enterprise
4 Windows 10 Enterprise N
5 Windows 10 Pro
6 Windows 10 Pro N
7 Windows 10 Pro Education
8 Windows 10 Pro Education N
9 Windows 10 Pro for Workstations
10 Windows 10 Pro N for Workstations

Note: The Start Menu for new users will still have icons for the removed apps. They can be removed manually by the user, or you can configure the Start Menu (and Taskbar) using a few different options. I’ve written about administratively configuring the Start Menu previously, here and here.

1709 Fall Creators Update and above: There are multiple images packaged in the WIM file, so you will need to specify the index number to reflect the OS you wish to remove the apps from.

## Configure the location of your image and a path to mount it
$Wim = "C:\foo\myimage.wim"
$Index = "1"
$MountPath = "C:\foo\offline"

## Configure the apps to be removed
$AppsList = "Microsoft.BingWeather",
            "Microsoft.APPNAME...",
            "Microsoft.ZuneMusic",
            "Microsoft.ZuneVideo"
## Mount the Image
Mount-WindowsImage –ImagePath $Wim –Index $Index –Path $MountPath

## Remove the Apps listed above or report if app not present
ForEach ($App in $AppsList)
{ 
    $ProPackageFullName = (Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Path $MountPath | Where {$_.Displayname -eq $App}).PackageName

    If ($ProPackageFullName)
    {
        Write-Host "Removing Provisioned Package: $ProPackageFullName"
        Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Path $MountPath -PackageName $ProPackageFullName
    }

    Else
    {
        Write-Host "Unable to find provisioned package: $App"
    }
}

## Dismount the image and save changes
Dismount-WindowsImage –Path $MountPath -Save

## End

I take great care to test my ideas and make sure my articles are accurate before posting, however mistakes do slip through sometimes. If you’d like to get in touch with me please use the comments, Twitter (you can tweet me and my DMs are open) or my contact form.

I hope this article helps you out, please consider supporting my work here. Thank you.

-Mike