How to uninstall Windows 10 apps using PowerShell, in 3 steps

Windows 10 comes with quite a few pre-installed universal apps, such as Calendar, Mail, Camera, or Photos. While some people like them and find them useful, others do not. If you do not want some of these bundled apps on your Windows 10 device, you might be wondering if they can be removed from your system. While a few of the built-in apps can be uninstalled by right clicking on them and selecting the Uninstall option, some of them do not offer this option. That is because Microsoft considers them to be core apps, required by Windows 10 to offer you Microsoft's intended user experience. Here is how to use PowerShell to remove Windows 10 apps that you do not want:

Contents

1. Step 1. Open PowerShell as an administrator
2. Step 2. Find the full package name of the Windows 10 app that you want to uninstall
3. Step 3. Uninstall the Windows 10 app using PowerShell
4. The uninstall commands for Windows 10 core apps
5. Which Windows 10 default apps did you eliminate?

Step 1. Open PowerShell as an administrator

First of all, you have to launch PowerShell as an administrator. However, if you are in a hurry and you do not want to read another article, a fast way to launch PowerShell as administrator is to type "powershell" in Cortana's search box, right-click or tap and hold "Windows PowerShell" and then click or tap "Run as administrator."

Search and start PowerShell în Windows 10

If a User Account Control notification pops up, approve the execution of PowerShell by clicking or tapping Yes.

User Account Control notification for running PowerShell as admin

Once PowerShell is launched, you should see a window similar to the one in the image below.

PowerShell in Windows 10

Step 2. Find the full package name of the Windows 10 app that you want to uninstall

To uninstall Windows 10 built-in apps, you have to run a specific command for each of these apps.

The problem is that, for you to properly run this command, you have to know the full package name of the app that you want to uninstall. To find out its name, you first have to list all the apps installed on your Windows 10 computer. For PowerShell to show you this list, run the following command and press Enter: Get_-AppxPackage_."

The Get-AppxPackage command in PowerShell

PowerShell starts displaying the apps installed on your Windows 10 computer.

The output of the Get-AppxPackage command in PowerShell

Scroll through PowerShell to find the app that you want to be uninstalled. You can quickly identify it by looking at the Name field of each of the apps from the list. For instance, the Camera app bears the name of "Microsoft.WindowsCamera."

The Microsoft Windows Camera app from Windows 10

Alternatively, you can search for the name of the app using the Find tool from PowerShell: right-click on the title bar of the Powershell window, and go to "Edit -> Find."

The Find command in PowerShell

Type in the text that it is part of the app's name (in our case "camera") and click or tap Find Next until you get the name of the app that you are searching for.

Finding an app's name in PowerShell

However, to be able to run the uninstall command, you need not the Name of the app, but the PackageFullName. Copy it to the clipboard or write it down and move to the next section of this tutorial.

The PackageFullName of a Windows 10 app

Step 3. Uninstall the Windows 10 app using PowerShell

The PowerShell command you must run to remove a Windows 10 app is this: "Remove-AppxPackage [App Name]."

In the above command model, you should replace "[App Name]" with the full package name of the app you want to remove, the one you noted in the previous section of this tutorial. For instance, if you want to remove the Camera app, you should run a command similar to this one: "Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsCamera_5.54.3002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe"

The Remove-AppxPackage command in PowerShell

Fortunately though, to make things simpler, Powershell allows us to use keywords for the app names and this is what we will show you in the next section. We list the PowerShell commands that you need to run to uninstall the apps that are bundled with Windows 10.

The uninstall commands for Windows 10 core apps

This is the list of PowerShell commands you need to run in order to uninstall the universal apps that are preinstalled in Windows 10:

• Uninstall 3D Builder: Get_-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage_
• Uninstall ACG Player: Get-AppxPackage *acg* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Alarms and Clock: Get-AppxPackage *alarms* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Calculator: Get-AppxPackage *calculator* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Calendar and Mail: Get-AppxPackage *communications* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Camera: Get-AppxPackage *camera* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Dolby Access: Get-AppxPackage *dolbyaccess* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Fitbit Coach: Get-AppxPackage *fitbitcoach* | Remove-AppxPackage
• 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 *maps* | Remove-AppxPackage
• 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 Phototastic Collage: Get-AppxPackage *phototastic* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Photos: Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall PicsArt: Get-AppxPackage *picsart* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Uninstall Plex: Get-AppxPackage *plex* | 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 Xbox: Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage

Each time you run an uninstall command, PowerShell shows you a progress bar similar to the one below.

Using the Remove-AppxPackage command in PowerShell

When the process is done, the PowerShell window removes the uninstall progress information from the screen, and return the control to the command line.

Removing an app in PowerShell with Remove-AppxPackage

Which Windows 10 default apps did you eliminate?

As you've seen, uninstalling all the Windows 10 built-in universal apps can be done, even if it requires a few advanced PowerShell commands. If you do not want or need these apps, you can remove them in just a couple of minutes. If you changed your mind and want them back, read this tutorial: How to reinstall all the Windows 10 default apps with PowerShell. Which Windows 10 default apps do you want to eliminate? Let us know by leaving a comment below.