Removing Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Settings from all apps list


  1. Posts : 1
    Windows 10
       #1

    Removing Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Settings from all apps list


    First off Hello everybody and sorry this is my first post I am normally just a lurker. This forum, even though I have never posted ,has been a huge help with quite a few things and a great resource in general.

    Trying to clear out the All Apps list on the start menu. Most apps I have uninstalled and utility folders deleted. The 3 things left on there that I would still like to remove are Cortana, Microsoft Edge, and Settings. I do not want to uninstall Cortana or Microsoft Edge. I simply do not want those three things to appear in the list. i.e. I deleted the Administrative Tools folder from programdata/microsoft/windows/startmenu which stops the shortcuts from appearing in the list but I still have access to all the things within.

    I know its small but its important. On a side note I could have sworn i read somewhere that microsoft was going to be updating their upgrade system so you no longer had to do an in place upgrade before you could do a clean install. Does anybody know anything about that or is that not a thing. I do not seem to be able to find the original article I was reading and may have misread.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 132
    windows 10
       #2

    Kabby said:
    First off Hello everybody and sorry this is my first post I am normally just a lurker. This forum, even though I have never posted ,has been a huge help with quite a few things and a great resource in general.

    Trying to clear out the All Apps list on the start menu. Most apps I have uninstalled and utility folders deleted. The 3 things left on there that I would still like to remove are Cortana, Microsoft Edge, and Settings. I do not want to uninstall Cortana or Microsoft Edge. I simply do not want those three things to appear in the list. i.e. I deleted the Administrative Tools folder from programdata/microsoft/windows/startmenu which stops the shortcuts from appearing in the list but I still have access to all the things within.

    I know its small but its important. On a side note I could have sworn i read somewhere that microsoft was going to be updating their upgrade system so you no longer had to do an in place upgrade before you could do a clean install. Does anybody know anything about that or is that not a thing. I do not seem to be able to find the original article I was reading and may have misread.
    Bit of a late reply here, but the issue is still relevant so I thought I would reply.

    As yet there still seems to be no solution to this problem. Microsoft have bypassed the normal folders that list apps in the start menu so that some apps can't be removed from the list. This includes Edge, Cortana and the more recent Connect. As far as I am aware there is no folder, so there must be a registry thing going on here. I will continue to look in to the problem and will get back if I ever find a solution.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 42,737
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #3

    Hi, if you want start menu flexibility, you'll need to choose an appropriate 3rd party start menu.

    Removing things like that is all very well, but as soon as you get a new build upgrade, they'll be back, as they will be if you do an in-place upgrade repair install.

    On a side note I could have sworn i read somewhere that microsoft was going to be updating their upgrade system so you no longer had to do an in place upgrade before you could do a clean install.
    There's not a great deal of logic to that in my mind.

    Are you perhaps thinking of an in-place upgrade repair to fix problems in upgrading to the next build so the upgrade might then succeed?
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 132
    windows 10
       #4

    dalchina said:
    Hi, if you want start menu flexibility, you'll need to choose an appropriate 3rd party start menu.

    Removing things like that is all very well, but as soon as you get a new build upgrade, they'll be back, as they will be if you do an in-place upgrade repair install.
    But I am one of those people who is seriously annoyed by the way Microsoft is forcing things on us. I don't think it will be too much longer before I disable updates completely. Sure, some time in the future I may well face the issue again, but I will deal with that when it happens.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 42,737
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #5

    Agreed about the way MS is treating its customers.. and making the PC less P - just can't personalise it as freely as used to be. Making sudden changes without informing people, and introducing problems and significant bugs.

    As regards the Start Menu- that's easy. Don't use it. Get Classic Shell (for example). Hugely better and familiar, flexible and configurable. And did I mention it's free? And you can launch universal apps from it if you wish? (No tiles though).
    classic shell start menu - Google Search
    Good search, and you can still use the rubbishy Win 10 start menu if you really want some frustration. Look:

    Removing Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Settings from all apps list-untitled.png

    Shortcuts extracted from subfolders and listed in alpha order. Hmm.

    And just hide the Cortana search bar.

    Use disk imaging defensively, especially around upgrades as well as routinely (everyone should- it's invaluable in several ways).
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 132
    windows 10
       #6

    dalchina said:
    Agreed about the way MS is treating its customers.. and making the PC less P - just can't personalise it as freely as used to be. Making sudden changes without informing people, and introducing problems and significant bugs.

    As regards the Start Menu- that's easy. Don't use it. Get Classic Shell (for example). Hugely better and familiar, flexible and configurable. And did I mention it's free? And you can launch universal apps from it if you wish? (No tiles though).
    classic shell start menu - Google Search
    Good search, and you can still use the rubbishy Win 10 start menu if you really want some frustration. Look:

    Removing Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Settings from all apps list-untitled.png

    Shortcuts extracted from subfolders and listed in alpha order. Hmm.

    And just hide the Cortana search bar.

    Use disk imaging defensively, especially around upgrades as well as routinely (everyone should- it's invaluable in several ways).
    I might do that if they continue to limit us. I don't really use the start menu that much, it was just annoying me that there is all sorts of junk in there that I don't want...but that's Windows 10 all over. I have taken the step to disable updates on my PC's now.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 2
    Win7 Ent & Win10 Ent (Token Activate)
       #7

    I found this powershell script that does exactly that, it removes Contact Support, Win Feedback, Cortana & Settings all in one swoop; it works like a champ. One thing though, GPO settings must be made to kill Cortana before the shortcut disappears from All Apps.

    Code:
    function Enable-Privilege {  
      param($Privilege)
      $Definition = @'
    using System;  
    using System.Runtime.InteropServices;  
    public class AdjPriv {  
      [DllImport("advapi32.dll", ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
      internal static extern bool AdjustTokenPrivileges(IntPtr htok, bool disall,
        ref TokPriv1Luid newst, int len, IntPtr prev, IntPtr rele);
      [DllImport("advapi32.dll", ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
      internal static extern bool OpenProcessToken(IntPtr h, int acc, ref IntPtr phtok);
      [DllImport("advapi32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
      internal static extern bool LookupPrivilegeValue(string host, string name,
        ref long pluid);
      [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
      internal struct TokPriv1Luid {
        public int Count;
        public long Luid;
        public int Attr;
      }
      internal const int SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED = 0x00000002;
      internal const int TOKEN_QUERY = 0x00000008;
      internal const int TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES = 0x00000020;
      public static bool EnablePrivilege(long processHandle, string privilege) {
        bool retVal;
        TokPriv1Luid tp;
        IntPtr hproc = new IntPtr(processHandle);
        IntPtr htok = IntPtr.Zero;
        retVal = OpenProcessToken(hproc, TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES | TOKEN_QUERY,
          ref htok);
        tp.Count = 1;
        tp.Luid = 0;
        tp.Attr = SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED;
        retVal = LookupPrivilegeValue(null, privilege, ref tp.Luid);
        retVal = AdjustTokenPrivileges(htok, false, ref tp, 0, IntPtr.Zero,
          IntPtr.Zero);
        return retVal;
      }
    }
    '@  
      $ProcessHandle = (Get-Process -id $pid).Handle
      $type = Add-Type $definition -PassThru
      $type[0]::EnablePrivilege($processHandle, $Privilege)
    }
    
    function Take-Over($path) {  
      $owner = [Security.Principal.NTAccount]'Administrators'
    
      $key = [Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::LocalMachine.OpenSubKey($path, 'ReadWriteSubTree', 'TakeOwnership')
      $acl = $key.GetAccessControl()
      $acl.SetOwner($owner)
      $key.SetAccessControl($acl)
    
      $acl = $key.getaccesscontrol()
      $rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.RegistryAccessRule "Administrators", "FullControl", "ContainerInherit", "None", "Allow"
      $acl.SetAccessRule($rule)
      $key.SetAccessControl($acl)
    }
    
    do {} until (Enable-Privilege SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege)
    
    function Remove-Package($name) {  
      $key = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages\$name"
      Take-Over $key
      Remove-Item -Path HKLM:"$key\Owners" -Force -Recurse
      & C:\Windows\System32\PkgMgr.exe /up:$name /norestart /quiet
    }
    
    # Remove Contact Support
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-Windows-ContactSupport-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~10.0.10586.0"  
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-Windows-ContactSupport-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.10586.0"
    
    # Remove Windows Feedback
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-WindowsFeedback-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~10.0.10586.0"  
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-WindowsFeedback-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.10586.0"  
    
    # Remove Cortana
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-Windows-Cortana-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~10.0.10586.0"
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-Windows-Cortana-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.10586.0"
    
    # Remove Settings
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-Windows-Settings-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.10586.0"
    Remove-Package "Microsoft-Windows-Settings-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~10.0.10586.0"
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 17,838
    Windows 10
       #8

    FLHTCU103ski said:
    I found this powershell script that does exactly that, it removes Contact Support, Win Feedback, Cortana & Settings all in one swoop; it works like a champ. One thing though, GPO settings must be made to kill Cortana before the shortcut disappears from All Apps.
    Settings!?!?!?
    You may want to include a WARNING that this probably will severely cripple the OS!
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2
    Win7 Ent & Win10 Ent (Token Activate)
       #9

    Edwin, so far the OS hasn't been crippled, this is based on actual test and not an assumption such as "probably will". We run barebones since we don't need all the microsoft fluff such as Cortana & Feedback. Our system is a closed loop network, meaning there is not any contact with the outside world; therefore, these features are taking up space & act as an interference to the end user.

    If the OS crashes due to virus or hardware failure, we "reflash" using a Ghost image disk & the computer is back to our OEM specs in less than 30 minutes; quicker than a Domino's pizza delivery.

    A quick addition/edit:
    There are many hacks that we can perform to Windows, if there weren't any allowed, websites such as TenForums wouldn't exist. One such hack is "How to Remove All Built-In Apps in Windows 10". This works like beast too, but is not applicable to Cortana, Feedback, Settings & Contact, hence the reason why I posted the above PowerShell script. These cannot be removed by the Get- & Remove- AppxPackage PowerShell commands. If one wants to learn about the Get- & Remove-, search "How to Remove All Built-In Apps in Windows 10", there's a tutorial with ready-made commands.
    Last edited by FLHTCU103ski; 14 Feb 2017 at 07:02. Reason: additional information
      My Computer


 

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