Uninstall apps on Windows 10 (seven ways)

• To uninstall apps on Windows 10, open Settings > Apps > Apps & features, select the app, click “Uninstall,” and click “Uninstall” again. If you’re removing a Win32 app, you may need to complete some additional steps.
• Another way to remove an app, open Control Panel > Uninstall a program, select the app, and click “Uninstall.” You may need to complete some additional steps (as required.)
• You can also uninstall apps on Windows 10 from the Start menu, Windows Package Manager, PowerShell, Command Prompt, and through the Optional features settings page for some specific apps.

On Windows 10, the ability to uninstall apps is an essential feature that allows you to remove apps that are no longer needed. It can also help you to get rid of bloatware, free up space, and troubleshoot problems.

If you no longer need a specific app or have to reinstall one of them, Windows 10 includes multiple ways to uninstall apps completely using the Settings app, Control Panel, Windows Package Manager, PowerShell, and even Command prompt.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to uninstall apps on Windows 10.

• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Settings
• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Start menu
• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Optional features
• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Windows Package Manager
• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Control Panel
• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from PowerShell
• Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Command Prompt

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Settings

To uninstall an app on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

2. Click on Apps.

3. Click on Apps & features.

4. Under the “Apps & features” section, select the app to remove.

   Quick tip: If you have a lot of apps, you can use the search box, the “Sort by” and “Filter by” options to find the app faster.

5. Click the Uninstall button.

   

6. Click the Uninstall button again.

   Quick note: If you are removing a classic desktop program, continue with the on-screen directions to complete the process.

Once you complete the steps, the application will be removed from your computer.

If the app has the “Uninstall” button grayed out, you may have stumbled upon a system application that can’t be removed from the Settings. You may still delete this app, but you will need to go through a more complex process using PowerShell using the steps below.

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Start menu

To remove apps on Windows 10 from the Start menu, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Right-click the application and select the Uninstall button.

   

3. Click the Uninstall button again.

After you complete the steps, the Microsoft Store application will be removed from the computer.

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Optional features

Through the Settings app, you can also remove system apps known as “features on-demand,” including apps like Notepad, Paint, WordPad, Windows Media Player, and many others.

To uninstall optional features on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Click on Apps.

3. Click on Apps & features.

4. Under the “Apps & features” section, click the Optional features option.

   

5. Select the app you want to uninstall – for example, Notepad, WordPad, and Microsoft Paint.

6. Click the Uninstall button.

   

After you complete the steps, the system application will no longer be available on the device.

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Windows Package Manager

Windows Package Manager (winget) is a command-line tool available on Windows 10, and it has been designed to save you time and frustration by automating the process of searching, downloading, installing, uninstalling, upgrading, and configuring software.

To uninstall an app with the winget command on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to view a list of the app you can uninstall with the Windows Package Manager and press Enter:

   winget list

4. Type the following command to uninstall an app with winget and press Enter:

   winget uninstall "APP-NAME"

   In the command, change “APP-NAME” for the app’s actual name. Quotations are only required if the app has spaces in the name. For example, this command uninstalls the Microsoft Teams app on Windows 10:

   winget uninstall "microsoft teams"

   

Once you complete the steps, the app will be removed from the computer. If you are removing a traditional desktop application, the app uninstaller interface may appear with additional steps to complete the uninstall.

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Control Panel

On Windows 10, you can still use the Contro Panel to remove programs, but only classic apps, not the ones you install from Microsoft Store.

To uninstall classic desktop apps (win32) on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Under the “Programs” category, click the Uninstall a program option.

   

3. Select the program to remove from Windows 10.

4. Click the Uninstall button.

   

5. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

After you complete the steps, the win32 app will be removed from Windows 10. You can always repeat the instructions to uninstall other apps.

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from PowerShell

Although it is possible to use the Settings app to remove classic and modern apps, you still cannot uninstall many built-in apps like Camera, Alarms & Clock, Cortana, and many others, and this is when PowerShell comes in handy. In addition to using Settings and Control Panel, you can also use PowerShell to uninstall classic, modern, and built-in apps and tools.

To Uninstall apps on Windows 10 PowerShell on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and click the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to view all the apps installed on your device and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage

   

   If you want to see all the Windows apps installed on the computer, type the following command and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers

   In the output, you will see a long list of apps, which can be overwhelming, but you need to do this to know the name of the apps you want to uninstall. For example, if you want to uninstall the Camera app, you will notice that the system name is “Microsoft.WindowsCamera” in the listing.

4. Type the following command to uninstall an app and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage PROGRAM-NAME | Remove-AppxPackage

   In the command, make sure to replace PROGRAM-NAME with the application’s actual name, as listed in the above step. For example, this command uninstalls Cortana on Windows 10:

   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

   

Once you complete the steps, the app will no longer be available on your device, but you can always reinstall it using the Microsoft Store.

Uninstall Windows 10 apps from Command Prompt

Alternatively, you can also use Command Prompt to uninstall applications using the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool, but only classic desktop programs, not Microsoft Store apps.

To uninstall apps with the WMIC command-line tool on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to launch the WMIC tool and press Enter:

   wmic

4. Type the following command to list all the installed applications and press Enter:

   product get name

   

5. Type the following command to uninstall a program and press Enter:

   product where name="PROGRAM-NAME" call uninstall

   In the command, make sure to replace PROGRAM-NAME with the application’s actual name, as listed in the above step. For example, this command removes the Microsoft Edge Dev app:

   product where name="Microsoft Edge Dev" call uninstall

   

6. Type “Y” to confirm the uninstall process.

Once you complete the steps, the program you specified in the command will be uninstalled from the Windows 10 installation.