How to Delete Scheduled Task in Windows 10

How to Delete Scheduled Task in Windows 10

The Task Scheduler enables you to automatically perform routine tasks on a chosen computer. With this service, you can schedule any program to run at a convenient time for you or when a specific event occurs. Task Scheduler does this by monitoring whatever criteria you choose (referred to as triggers) and then executing the tasks when those criteria are met.

If you no longer need or want a scheduled task, you can delete in from Task Scheduler.

This tutorial will show you how to delete one or more scheduled tasks from Task Scheduler in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Contents

Option One: Delete Scheduled Task(s) in Task Scheduler
Option Two: Delete Specific Scheduled Task in Command Prompt
Option Three: Delete Specific Scheduled Task in PowerShell
Option Four: Delete All Scheduled Tasks in a Folder in PowerShell
Option Five: Delete Scheduled Task(s) in Registry Editor

OPTION ONE

Delete Scheduled Task(s) in Task Scheduler

1 Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog, type taskschd.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Task Scheduler.

2 In the left pane of Task Scheduler, navigate to and open the folder (ex: "Custom Folder") the task(s) you want to delete are located in. (see screenshot below)

3 In the middle pane of the opened folder (ex: "Custom Folder"), select one or more task(s) you want to delete.

You can press and hold the Ctrl key while clicking on a task to select more than one task.

4 Perform either action below to delete the selected tasks depending in their current status.

Click/tap on Delete under Selected Items in the right Actions pane.
Click/tap on Action (Alt+A) on the toolbar, and click/tap on Delete (Alt+D).
Right click on the selected task(s), and click/tap on Delete.

5 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

6 When finished, you can close Task Scheduler if you like.

OPTION TWO

Delete Specific Scheduled Task in Command Prompt

To see more schtasks /Change command usage details, go to: Schtasks.exe | Microsoft Docs

1 Open a command prompt or elevated command prompt depending on which account the task uses.

If you get an access denied error message when running the command below, then it means you will need to run the command in an elevated command prompt.

2 Type the command below into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

(If task is in root "Task Scheduler Library" folder)
schtasks /Delete /TN "<task name>" /F

OR

(If task is in a folder other than root folder)
schtasks /Delete /TN "<folder location>\<task name>" /F

Substitute <folder location> in the command above with the actual folder path (ex: "\Custom Folder") the task is located in Task Scheduler.

Substitute <task name> in the command above with the actual task name (ex: "Example task") you want to delete.

For example: schtasks /Delete /TN "\Custom Folder\Example task" /F

3 When finished, you can close the command prompt if you like.

OPTION THREE

Delete Specific Scheduled Task in PowerShell

This option is not available in Windows 7.

To see more Unregister-ScheduledTask command usage details, go to: Unregister-ScheduledTask | Microsoft Docs

1 Open Windows PowerShell or elevated Windows PowerShell depending on which account the task uses.

If you get an access denied error message when running the command below, then it means you will need to run the command in an elevated Windows PowerShell.

2 Type the command below into Windows PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

(If task is in root "Task Scheduler Library" folder)
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName "<task name>" -Confirm:$false

OR

(If task is in a folder other than root folder)
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskPath "<folder location>\" -TaskName "<task name>" -Confirm:$false

Substitute <folder location> in the command above with the actual folder path (ex: "\Custom Folder") the task is located in Task Scheduler.

Substitute <task name> in the command above with the actual task name (ex: "Example task") you want to delete.

For example: Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskPath "\Custom Folder\" -TaskName "Example task" -Confirm:$false

3 When finished, you can close Windows PowerShell if you like.

OPTION FOUR

Delete All Scheduled Tasks in a Folder in PowerShell

This option is not available in Windows 7.

To see more Get-ScheduledTask command usage details, go to: Get-ScheduledTask | Microsoft Docs

To see more Unregister-ScheduledTask command usage details, go to: Unregister-ScheduledTask | Microsoft Docs

1 Open Windows PowerShell or elevated Windows PowerShell depending on which account the task uses.

If you get an access denied error message when running the command below, then it means you will need to run the command in an elevated Windows PowerShell.

2 Type the command below into Windows PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

Get-ScheduledTask -TaskPath "<folder location>\" | Unregister-ScheduledTask -Confirm:$false

Substitute <folder location> in the command above with the actual folder path (ex: "\Custom Folder") the task(s) are located in Task Scheduler.

For example: Get-ScheduledTask -TaskPath "\Custom Folder\" | Unregister-ScheduledTask -Confirm:$false

3 When finished, you can close Windows PowerShell if you like.

OPTION FIVE

Delete Scheduled Task(s) in Registry Editor

You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type regedit into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.

2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 4)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree

3 Expand open the Tree key in the left pane, and expand open the subkey for the folder (ex: "Custom Folder") the task(s) you want to delete is located in. (see screenshot below step 4)

Tasks located in the root Task Scheduler Library folder will be listed separately as a subkey using the task name.

4 Right click on the task name (ex: "Example Task") you want to delete, and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below)

5 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

6 When finished, you can close Registry Editor if you like.

That's it,
Shawn Brink

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