How to Stop Windows 10 Metro Apps from Automatically Installing?

In researching another problem, I discovered that on one computer (haven't checked others) we have several apps installed.

Farmville 2
Candy Crush Soda
Asphalt 8
Netflix
Pandora
etc

All were installed on Aug 13.

I use IOBit Uninstaller and do not have them listed as installed. When reviewing Apps & Features under Settings > System, I see that these are installed on that Aug 13. Yet, the last Windows Update was August 10. Not good.

I realize now that they are part of the Play and Explore section of Windows Metro apps. Ugh!

I can uninstall each of them one by one by right clicking on them and selecting uninstall - on all but one...

"XBOX - Age of Empires" - it does NOT have an uninstall option.

Any other options for uninstalling it?

How does one stop this auto loading of MS Metro apps in Win 10? Need to know for both standard and Pro Win 10, if different.

You can uninstall the apps you don't want for each user. That XBox app may be an advert from MS.

To stop apps updating automatically, run Task Scheduler then review the Task WindowsUpdate/Automatic App Update and edit it to do what you want. I disabled the At logon of any user option.

You should update apps manually from the Store periodically.

Thank you for the advice Steve. :)

However, transplanted99's last question "How does one stop this auto loading of MS Metro apps in Win 10?" should be researched more thoroughly for a better solution.

Microsoft is guilty of automatically installing select UWP applications that are not part of Windows 10 core AppX provisioned packages and more importantly, without asking. The advertisement link tiles on Start are also an annoyance and cannot be removed en masse. For Microsoft to add these without giving the end user the choice to opt-out, e.g. under the Customize Settings section of the Windows 10 setup was a poor decision. This is really no different than allowing the OEMs to install their crapware on most retail purchased computers and you unfortunately still have these same UWP apps to contend with on a Microsoft Signature Edition computer.

Most of these applications and links are of little or no value to those using Windows 10 Pro in businesses that do not want and/or cannot afford to use Windows 10 Enterprise, it simply creates unnecessary work for admins. I don’t have an answer (yet) on how to prevent the automatic loading of these unwanted apps, but the solution I use after fully updating Windows 10 (14393.67), both the OS and Store apps, is two PowerShell scripts to remove the unwanted apps. The first script lists (and pipes out to a text file) all of (installed) AppX packages via the Get-AppxPackage command. From there the second script, using select entries from the Appx package list that was generated by the first script, removes the packages and their corresponding tiles (from the current user profile and every subsequent new user) with the exception of the Suggested App tiles. Those still must be removed manually one-by-one. I've searched this on those quite a bit and cannot locate where they reside in the OS to delete them from Start.

I hope this generates further discussion.

Steve C said:

You can uninstall the apps you don't want for each user. That XBox app may be an advert from MS.

To stop apps updating automatically, run Task Scheduler then review the Task WindowsUpdate/Automatic App Update and edit it to do what you want. I disabled the At logon of any user option.

You should update apps manually from the Store periodically.

Slartybart said:

See if this helps:

Store Update Apps Automatically - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Thanks. Tried these both. Perhaps they will prevent future installs, but hard to tell so far. Now need to figure out how to uninstall.

usrtky said:

Thank you for the advice Steve. :)

However, transplanted99's last question "How does one stop this auto loading of MS Metro apps in Win 10?" should be researched more thoroughly for a better solution.

Hope the suggestions here work, but as mentioned in my recent comment... hard to tell. Maybe if I don't see any new apps over a 30 day period, I can declare success.

usrtky said:

This is really no different than allowing the OEMs to install their crapware on most retail purchased computers and you unfortunately still have these same UWP apps to contend with on a Microsoft Signature Edition computer.

Yes, this caught me by surprise, and thought had things under some control. Evidently, not.

usrtky said:

...the solution I use after fully updating Windows 10 (14393.67), both the OS and Store apps, is two PowerShell scripts to remove the unwanted apps. The first script lists (and pipes out to a text file) all of (installed) AppX packages via the Get-AppxPackage command. From there the second script, using select entries from the Appx package list that was generated by the first script, removes the packages and their corresponding tiles (from the current user profile and every subsequent new user) with the exception of the Suggested App tiles. Those still must be removed manually one-by-one. I've searched this on those quite a bit and cannot locate where they reside in the OS to delete them from Start.

Might try cooking something up like that, thanks for the tip.

Still, I have that pesky "XBox: Age of Empires" metro app that has not manual means. It might be an "advertisement", since clicking on it brings me to a page with a big blue "Free" button on it (presume it is for downloading). Still, don't want it and there seems no means to get rid of it.

I noticed, under "Play and Explore": Groove Music, OneNote, Movies, and just "XBOX" alone also do not have an uninstall menu item.

While, under "Life at a Glance": Twitter, Pandora, and Skype Preview can be uninstalled, while the rest (including "XBox: Minecraft) cannot be.