How to Uninstall Bloatware Apps from Windows 10 Creators Update

Last Updated on March 23, 2018

Windows 10 Creators Update has again shown us that Microsoft isn’t going to stop pushing unwanted apps to the users anytime soon. If you are among the majority which doesn’t like having unwanted apps on your PC, then you can use this article to uninstall most of the apps.

uninstall-bloatware-apps-windows-10-creators-update

These bloatware apps install automatically when you setup Windows 10 for the first time and there’s no way for you to stop this. You can, of course, uninstall them one by one after you get to your Desktop.

Uninstalling Apps (bloatware) from Windows 10 Creators Update

Windows 10 by default has a lot of apps pre-installed on it. Some of them are useful like Mail and Maps, but most of these apps are crappy games and bloat that you don’t need on your PC. So, making sure which apps are useful and which one is not can sometimes become confusing.

To make things easier, I have categorized these apps as Bloat, Essentials, and Others.

Bloatware are the apps which serve no purpose on your PC other than hogging up space and annoying you from time to time.

Essentials are the ones which I think that most people will need while using their Windows 10 PC time to time.

Others are the apps which are useful but only for specific use cases. You may rarely use them, but they won’t bother you much.

To uninstall these apps, you can use the Microsoft PowerShell as administrator and remove them from your PC.

  • First, open the PowerShell by searching for it in the start menu search.
  • Right-click on PowerShell and run it as administrator.
  • Type cd .\Desktop\ and press Enter to switch the current working directory to the Desktop.
  • Now, you can use the Get-AppxPackage command to view the list of all installed apps on your PC. Type the following command to get a list of all apps on your PC in a text file on your Desktop.
    Get-AppxPackage | Out-File myapps.txt

Now, open the myapps.txt with notepad and you’ll see a very large file with all installed apps listed.

In this PowerShell window, you can use the Remove-AppxPackage command to uninstall any UWP app.

The general format for typing the command is Remove-AppxPackage <app name>. Look the app name from the myapps.txt file on your desktop.

Of course, finding each app on your Windows 10 PC and figuring out whether it is useful or not is quite tiresome. So, for your convenience, I have made the list of all the current apps that come installed on Windows 10 Creators Update.

You can type these commands in the PowerShell window to uninstall that particular app.


Bloatware

These are the apps that you should uninstall right away. Removing them from your PC won’t have any detrimental effects on its stability or performance.

Minecraft

Get-AppxPackage *Minecraft* | Remove-AppxPackage

Drawboard PDF

Get-AppxPackage *DrawboardPDF* | Remove-AppxPackage

Farmville 2: Country Escape

Get-AppxPackage *FarmVille2CountryEscape* | Remove-AppxPackage

Asphalt: Airborne

Get-AppxPackage *Asphalt8Airborne* | Remove-AppxPackage

Pandora

Get-AppxPackage *PandoraMediaInc* | Remove-AppxPackage

Candy Crush Soda Saga

Get-AppxPackage *CandyCrushSodaSaga* | Remove-AppxPackage

Microsoft Solitaire Collection

Get-AppxPackage *MicrosoftSolitaireCollection* | Remove-AppxPackage

Twitter

Get-AppxPackage *Twitter* | Remove-AppxPackage

Sports

Get-AppxPackage *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage

Money

Get-AppxPackage *bingfinance* | Remove-AppxPackage

Get Office

Get-AppxPackage *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage

News

Get-AppxPackage *BingNews* | Remove-AppxPackage

Phone Companion

Get-AppxPackage *windowsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage

Windows Holographic

Get-AppxPackage *HolographicFirstRun* | Remove-AppxPackage

Netflix

Get-AppxPackage *Netflix* | Remove-AppxPackage

Weather

Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage

View 3D Preview

Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft3DViewer* | Remove-AppxPackage

Movies & TV

Get-AppxPackage *ZuneVideo* | Remove-AppxPackage

3D Builder

Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage

Facebook

Get-AppxPackage *Facebook* | Remove-AppxPackage

Get Skype

Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.SkypeApp* | Remove-AppxPackage

Skype Preview

Get-AppxPackage *SkypeApp* | Remove-AppxPackage

App Connector

Get-AppxPackage *Appconnector* | Remove-AppxPackage

Microsoft Wallet

Get-AppxPackage *Wallet* | Remove-AppxPackage

Sway

Get-AppxPackage *Office.Sway* | Remove-AppxPackage

Groove Music

Get-AppxPackage *ZuneMusic* | Remove-AppxPackage

Essentials

These are the apps that you will either need or are required by Windows 10 to function correctly. I recommend you to not mess with them.

Store (single account only)

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsStore* | Remove-AppxPackage

Calculator

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsCalculator* | Remove-AppxPackage

Paid Wi-Fi & Cellular

Get-AppxPackage *OneConnect* | Remove-AppxPackage

Alarms & Clock

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsAlarms* | Remove-AppxPackage

Calendar and Mail

Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Camera

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsCamera* | Remove-AppxPackage

Maps

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsMaps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Messaging

Get-AppxPackage *Messaging* | Remove-AppxPackage

Voice Recorder

Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage

Paint 3D

Get-AppxPackage *MSPaint* | Remove-AppxPackage

Phone

Get-AppxPackage *CommsPhone* | Remove-AppxPackage

Photos

Get-AppxPackage *Photos* | Remove-AppxPackage

Scan

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsScan* | Remove-AppxPackage

Others

These are the miscellaneous apps that may or may not be useful depending on whether you personally find a use case for it. You can remove most of these without affecting Windows 10 features.

OneNote

Get-AppxPackage *OneNote* | Remove-AppxPackage

Sticky Notes

Get-AppxPackage *MicrosoftStickyNotes* | Remove-AppxPackage

Xbox

Get-AppxPackage *XboxApp* | Remove-AppxPackage

Xbox Game Speech Window

Get-AppxPackage *XboxSpeechToTextOverlay* | Remove-AppxPackage

Xbox One SmartGlass

Get-AppxPackage *XboxOneSmartGlass* | Remove-AppxPackage

Feedback Hub

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsFeedbackHub* | Remove-AppxPackage

People

Get-AppxPackage *People* | Remove-AppxPackage

Microsoft Wi-Fi

Get-AppxPackage *ConnectivityStore* | Remove-AppxPackage
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Written by Utkarsh

Utkarsh Bhatt is a certified tech expert and software engineer for a Fortune 500 Company. He was born in 1995, making him one of the oldest members of the team at EFX. Utkarsh loves solving technical issues and is always the first to jump on any problem that needs solving. When he’s not coding or debugging, he enjoys playing video games (especially Super Smash Bros.) and watching cartoons.

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13 thoughts on “How to Uninstall Bloatware Apps from Windows 10 Creators Update”

  1. I have followed your directions for removing any unwanted app in windows 10. However, after typing in the command and hitting enter nothing happens to let me know if it is removing it, thinking, or when its done and to exit. It just sits there doing nothing. Can you please advise. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Yeah, there is no feedback from Powershell after you remove an app. You can confirm whether an app has been removed successfully by looking for it in the start menu search. The app you removed shouldn’t appear in the results.

      Reply
  2. Below are the two methods I attempted to use to remove the app. I realized now that I am NOT supposed to update the pc before running Sysprep which is a huge inconvenience. I was curious if by any chance you have a solution for removing the apps still?

    Thank you,

    PS C:\Users\administrator> Get-AppxPackage -Name *windows.miracastview* -AllUsers | remove-appxpackage
    remove-appxpackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor.
    (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
    error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package
    Windows.MiracastView_6.3.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\MiracastView failed. This app is part of
    Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the
    computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] a16701a1-6528-0002-ad4e-67a12865d301 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID a16701a1-6528-0002-ad4e-67a12865d301
    At line:1 char:58
    + ... pxPackage -Name *windows.miracastview* -AllUsers | remove-appxpackage
    +                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (Windows.Miracas...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand
    
    PS C:\Users\administrator> Remove-AppxPackage -Package Windows.MiracastView_6.3.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy -AllUs
    ers
    Remove-AppxPackage : Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
    At line:1 char:1
    + Remove-AppxPackage -Package Windows.MiracastView_6.3.0.0_neutral_neut ...
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Remove-AppxPackage], COMException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand
    
    PS C:\Users\administrator>
    Reply
    • You can’t remove all the apps from Windows without breaking the system. The OS forbids you from removing core apps via the command line. Miracast is one such app that can’t be removed.

      You can read the error description which you posted where it is written that “This app is part of
      Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the
      computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
      “.

      Reply
      • Thank you for the quick response. I guess unfortunately I will have to do a factory reset and start over because sysprep was prompting me that was causing the issue.

        Reply
  3. Trying to remove the Holographic app results in this error:

    Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor.
    (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
    error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package
    Microsoft.Windows.HolographicFirstRun_10.0.16299.125_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from:
    C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.HolographicFirstRun_cw5n1h2txyewy failed. This app is part of Windows and
    cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn
    Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] aef7b0b0-8de9-0003-fee1-f7aee98dd301 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID aef7b0b0-8de9-0003-fee1-f7aee98dd301
    At line:1 char:41
    + Get-AppxPackage *HolographicFirstRun* | Remove-AppxPackage
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : WriteError: (Microsoft.Windo…l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

    This also happens when removing the People app. Those are the only two that gave me such errors.

    Reply
    • Some apps can’t be removed by anyone on Windows 10. It looks like developers have added People’s and Holographic’s app to this list.

      Reply
  4. When I try to remove Get-AppxPackage *HolographicFirstRun* | Remove-AppxPackage

    I get this:
    Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor.
    (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
    error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on the package
    Microsoft.Windows.HolographicFirstRun_10.0.17134.1_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from:
    C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.HolographicFirstRun_cw5n1h2txyewy failed. This app is part of Windows and
    cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn
    Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] f1d0eeb0-7eeb-0001-6779-d5f1eb7ed401 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID f1d0eeb0-7eeb-0001-6779-d5f1eb7ed401
    At line:1 char:41
    + Get-AppxPackage *HolographicFirstRun* | Remove-AppxPackage
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : WriteError: (Microsoft.Windo…l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

    Reply
  5. Am I removing only the name of the app so it can’t be run; or am I also removing the underlying program from the computer

    Reply
    • Depends on the app. Some apps have dependencies with other installed packages, so uninstalling them may or may not remove all those underlying programs from your computer.

      Reply

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