Uninstall Apps in Windows 10  

Hello @Mark0, and welcome to Ten Forums.

Basically, these are Microsoft Store apps that can be uninstalled from either the current user or all users on the computer.

Other than the built-in apps included in Windows 10, apps from the Microsoft Store are installed separately per user on the computer.

A standard user can simply uninstall only their Microsoft Store apps. Using option 1 or 2 is the easiest way to do this.

An administrator account can uninstall Microsoft Store apps for all users on the computer. This is where the provisioning package of an app gets removed when uninstalled for all users. Option 6 or 7 is a good easy way to do this.

Some apps required by the system will not be allowed to be uninstalled, and you will get an "Access Denied" type error message when you try.

You will always be able to reinstall any uninstalled apps via the Microsoft Store. This is why it's important to not uninstall the Microsoft Store app. If you do uninstall the Microsoft Store app, you will often need to do a repair install of Windows 10 to restore it.

Mark0 said:

Hi,
sorry, I still don't get it. I see that %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps is full of stuff. This clearly is not a per-user folder. So which part of an app goes under %USERPROFILE%?
Also, I see that "uninstalling" an app for a single user (tutorial, option 2) does not result in any change in %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps. It looks more like a "make app unavailable to the user" rather than actual uninstall.
Would it make any difference adding the -AllUsers parameter in PS? Would that result in the removal of the matching directories under %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps?
Mark

Correct. Uninstalling an app for all users will remove the app's package from %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps.

Mark0 said:

Nice. It starts to make sense.
One more question. Today I uninstalled Candy Crush for my user (tutorial, option 2). This one time the package did disappear from %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps. How come some packages get removed from %ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps when uninstalled for a single user, while others need to be uninstalled for all users? By the way, I never installed anything from the Store, they're all out-of-the box apps.
Cheers,
Mark

It really just depends on the app, and how it was written to uninstall its package.

Mark0 said:

Got it.
So from today I'll go with the PowerShell -AllUsers option if no user needs the app. I personally don't like having pieces of software I don't need floating around the drive
Thanks again, Brink
Mark

You're most welcome Mark.

Mark0 said:

Hello @Brink,
after some testing, I'm afraid there's something wrong with option 6 in the tutorial (option 7 really is the same as option 6). Just as a reference, I'm trying to remove the XboxApp. It would be nice if you could try the following and confirm.
Steps to reproduce the problem:
1 - Create an Admin account. Let's call it UserOne.
2 - Create a second account, either Admin or Standard User. Say this is UserTwo.
3 - Log in with UserTwo. Verify that the XboxApp is installed to the user account. Log out.
4 - Log in with UserOne. Verify that the XboxApp is installed to the user account. Don't log out.
5 - Still logged as UserOne, open an elevated Powershell prompt. Run the two commands you give in option 6 to uninstall the XboxApp.
6 - See that XboxApp is still installed for UserTwo.
Cheers,
Mark

Hello Mark,

I'm seeing the same as your for the Xbox Console Companion app. Odd.