How to Install and Uninstall Cortana in Windows 10
Cortana, your personal productivity assistant, helps you stay on top of what matters and save time finding what you need. Simply type or speak requests in natural language to connect with people, manage your schedule, find a free hour, set a reminder, add a task, and more. You can also find local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance updates.
With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004, you now have access to a new Cortana experience that offers an emphasis on productivity, helping you quickly find the information you want across Microsoft 365. Cortana in Windows 10 features a chat-based UI that gives you the ability to interact with Cortana using your voice or the keyboard.
Cortana in Windows will assist you in better managing your schedule and tasks. You can speak or type requests to check your calendar, set a reminder, or add to your lists in Microsoft To Do. And you can look up local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance information with Bing search.
See also:
- Upcoming changes to Cortana | Microsoft Support
- Making it easier to stay caught up with Cortana in Microsoft 365
- What is Cortana? | Windows Support
- What’s new with Cortana? | Windows Support
- What can you do with Cortana in Windows? | Windows Support
- Cortana in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Docs
- Cortana's regions and languages | Windows Support
- Cortana and privacy | Microsoft Privacy Support
This tutorial will show you how to install or uninstall Cortana for your account or all accounts in Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004 and higher.
Contents
- Option One: Uninstall Cortana for Current User Only in PowerShell
- Option Two: Uninstall Cortana for All Users in PowerShell
- Option Three: Install Cortana for Current User Only from Microsoft Store
EXAMPLE: Cortana in Windows 10 version 2004 and higher
1 Open PowerShell.
2 Copy and paste the command below into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.549981C3F5F10* | Remove-AppxPackage
3 When finished, you can close PowerShell if you like.
You must be signed in as an administrator to do this option.
1 Open an elevated PowerShell.
2 Copy and paste the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -PackageTypeFilter Bundle -name "*Microsoft.549981C3F5F10*" | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers
3 When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like.
1 Click on this Cortana app page link for the Microsoft Store app.
2 If prompted, click/tap on Open Microsoft Store to directly open to the Cortana page in the Microsoft Store app. (see screenshot below)
3 In the Microsoft Store app, click/tap on Get or Install for the Cortana app. (see screenshot below)
4 When the Cortana app has finished installing, you can click/tap on Launch to open Cortana and sign in to Cortana if not already. (see screenshot below)
5 You can now close the Microsoft Store app if you like.
That's it,
Shawn
Related Tutorials
- How to Enable or Disable Cortana in Windows 10
- How to Enable or Disable Cortana to Automatically Run at Startup in Windows 10
- How to Sign in or Sign out of Cortana in Windows 10
- How to Hide or Show Cortana Button on Taskbar in Windows 10
- How to Uninstall Desktop Apps and Windows Apps in Windows 10
- How to Reinstall and Re-register All Built-in Windows Apps in Windows 10
- How to Turn On or Off Hey Cortana Voice Activation in Windows 10
- Change to Speak or Type to Cortana when Press Win+C keys in Windows 10
How to Install and Uninstall Cortana in Windows 10
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New #1
Brink,
I recently did a clean install of Windows 10 1909 which updated a couple of days later to 2004. Regretfully, from Windows store Cortana Beta got downloaded and installed. For some reason, although a store app, Cortana Beta does not have provide the usual method to uninstall the app through Settings>Apps>Cortana. Uninstall is grayed out.
I have two accounts on the this computer, one an Admin account and the other a standard account. I went into the Admin account and ran your tutorial to remove Cortana Beta for ALL USERS, the elevated Powershell ran as expected and immediately removed Cortana Beta from the Admin account. When I went back into the standard account, Cortana still remained and was not uninstalled. I then elevated the standard account to Admin level and tried running the elevated Powershell to remove the current user, but that failed to remove Cortana. I then tried running the Powershell for all users but that failed as well.
Any idea how to remove this unwelcome lady from the remaining account she is installed in?
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Brink,
I figured out the problem removing Cortana using the tutorial.
The "Current User" elevated Powershell failed because I had left both user accounts as Admin accounts when running the Powershell. Once I ran with only the "Current User" as Admin, the Powershell ran as expected and Cortana was removed.
Unwelcome lady now gone.
Thanks for tutorial, your the best!
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New #3
What is 549981C3F5F10? Where did you get it? Can i obtain that number at powershell? How can i obtain that number for other apps? thx!
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New #4
Hello Johny,
The number is specific to the package name for the Cortana app.
Option 3 in the tutorial below can show you how to get the package names for other apps you may want to uninstall using PowerShell.
Uninstall Apps in Windows 10
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New #5
Thanks for the tut Shawn.
I just finally got rid of it.
They dumbed it down so much, you can't even turn your pc off or put it to sleep with it anymore.
Also when they finally let the UWP version use the wake word, it kept opening up when I was watching YouTube or Cartoons On Line, and something was said that in NO way sounded like "Cortana"
You use to be able to get it to learn your voice, and they killed that off in 1909, before the UWP version was out.
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New #6
You're most welcome Cliff.Thanks for the tut Shawn.
I just finally got rid of it.
They dumbed it down so much, you can't even turn your pc off or put it to sleep with it anymore.
Also when they finally let the UWP version use the wake word, it kept opening up when I was watching YouTube or Cartoons On Line, and something was said that in NO way sounded like "Cortana"
You use to be able to get it to learn your voice, and they killed that off in 1909, before the UWP version was out.
Yeah, Cortana has pretty much been crippled. Hopefully, Cortana will get more features added soon.
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New #7
Nope.... it's getting even less(for the normal user).
Unless your a business person, Cortana is digital toast as of next year.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ges-to-cortana
Last Updated: Jul 31, 2020
Cortana is continuing to redefine the nature of a digital assistant, with new AI-powered experiences in Microsoft 365 that are accelerating productivity to help save you time and focus on the things that matter most.
As we make this shift toward a transformational AI-powered assistant experience in Microsoft 365, we need to adjust our focus areas of innovation and development to give our customers assistance where they need it most. As a result, we are making changes to some U.S. consumer-centric features and functionalities with lower usage.
The first change is to end support for all third-party Cortana skills on September 7. Then, in early 2021, we’ll stop supporting the Cortana app for mobile (iOS and Android), because you can now manage your calendar and email, join meetings, and do so much more via our new productivity-focused experiences — like the Cortana Windows 10 experience, Cortana integration in Outlook mobile, and soon Cortana voice assistance in the Teams mobile app.
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In addition, after careful consideration, we’ve decided to end support for the Cortana service integration in the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker in January 2021. We know that most of our customers primarily use the Invoke to play music because of its premium quality sound.
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New #9
question: I only bothered remembering cortana (of yesteryear) fused with the search index feature of windows 10. I.E: if cortana is removed, I can no longer search my stuff from the start menu or anywhere else.
Tell me: if I uninstall cortana from my windows 10 (2004), will the above happen, or has cortana been excised from the search index of windows 10?
How to Install and Uninstall Cortana in Windows 10
Published by Shawn BrinkCategory: Apps & Features04 Oct 2020
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