Bloatware is the extra software found in an operating system that slows down your PC, consumes space on the hard drive, and is of no use whatsoever. If this is true, then removing such software will only improve your system’s performance.
With advancements and new features in the Windows 11 OS, Microsoft is adding more apps and tools for user convenience. However, the average user rarely uses much of the software found within the OS.
With that, you can remove the bloatware on your Windows PC, and this technique is referred to as “debloating.” There are several methods for doing so, all of which are discussed in this post. But before we dig into that, let us discuss what can and cannot be removed.
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Is it safe to remove bloatware?
Bloatware is defined as software that you do not need but is present on your system anyway. Although some of the additional applications may be necessary, such as Calculator, Calendar, etc., you still may never use them and are only slowing down your system while running processes in the background.
You can uninstall such applications as long as they are removed using the correct methods, and the apps are not required for system-critical tasks. For example, applications such as the Task Scheduler are needed by the OS to run tasks automatically. However, removing this app will prevent all such tasks from executing.
That said, the methods discussed below to remove any bloatware are completely safe for the operating system and should not compromise the integrity of any data.
Windows 11 bloatware list
Although you may consider many apps useless and consider them bloatware, it may not be correct to remove them. An example of this is Microsoft Edge. Although many of us use other web browsers, Microsoft Edge is integrated with the operating system and is required to perform critical system tasks, thus removing it is not recommended.
Learn how to uninstall Microsoft Edge from Windows 11.
That said, we believe that the following list of software is safe to remove and would impact the OS negatively:
- Mail and Calendar
- Your Phone
- Xbox Console Companion
- Paint 3D
- Mixed Reality Portal
- Microsoft People
- Movies & TV
- Get Help
- Solitaire Collection
- Sticky Notes
- Windows Terminal
- Skype
- Xbox Game Bar
- Power Automate Desktop
- OneNote
- OneDrive
- Calculator
- Feedback Hub
- Ink Draft
- Microsoft Teams
- Media Player
- Microsoft Update Health Tools
- Notepad
- Paint
- Snipping Tool
- Voice Recorder
Remove Windows 11 bloatware
Remove bloatware from Control Panel
One of the methods to remove bloatware from your Windows 11 PC is through the Programs and Features option in the Control Panel. This method is the same as uninstalling any regular application.
Follow these steps to uninstall bloatware using the Control Panel:
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Open Programs and Features by typing in appwiz.cpl in the Run Command box.
Open Programs and Features -
Double-click on the app that you want to remove.
Double-click app to remove -
When asked for a confirmation, click Yes.
Click Yes to confirm
The uninstallation wizard will now run and remove the bloatware.
Remove bloatware from Settings app
Another method to remove any unwanted bloatware is through the Settings application in Windows 11. This is the method you would most likely prefer since it shows most of the preinstalled UWP applications that can be removed.
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Navigate to the following:
Settings app >> Apps >> Apps & features
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Here, scroll down to the list under “App list,” then click on the ellipses (3 dots) in front of the bloatware that you want to remove.
Click on the dots to expand -
From the expanded menu, click Uninstall.
Click Uninstall -
When asked for a confirmation, click Uninstall again.
Confirm uninstallation
The software will now be removed successfully.
Remove bloatware using Windows PowerShell
If you’d rather use the Windows Command Line Interface (CLI), you can use any bloatware directly from Windows PowerShell. This method is recommended especially if you want to remove more than one software, as it is relatively quick.
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Now use the respective cmdlet given in the table below to remove the software from your Windows PC.
Application Name Command to Uninstall 3D Builder get-appxpackage *3dbuilder* | remove-appxpackage Alarms & Clock get-appxpackage *windowsalarms* | remove-appxpackage App Connector get-appxpackage *appinstaller* | remove-appxpackage Calendar and Mail together get-appxpackage *communicationsapps* | remove-appxpackage Calculator get-appxpackage *calculator* | remove-appxpackage Camera get-appxpackage *camera* | remove-appxpackage Feedback Hub get-appxpackage *feedback* | remove-appxpackage Office get-appxpackage *officehub* | remove-appxpackage Get Started or Tips get-appxpackage *getstarted* | remove-appxpackage Skype get-appxpackage *skypeapp* | remove-appxpackage Groove Music get-appxpackage *zunemusic* | remove-appxpackage Groove Music and Movies & TV together get-appxpackage Microsoft.Zune* | remove-appxpackage Maps get-appxpackage *maps* | remove-appxpackage Messaging and Skype Video together get-appxpackage *messaging* | remove-appxpackage Solitaire Collection get-appxpackage *solitaire* | remove-appxpackage Microsoft Wallet get-appxpackage wallet | remove-appxpackage Microsoft Wi-Fi get-appxpackage connectivitystore | remove-appxpackage Money get-appxpackage bingfinance | remove-appxpackage Money, News, Sports, and Weather together get-appxpackage bing | remove-appxpackage News get-appxpackage *bingnews* | remove-appxpackage OneNote get-appxpackage *onenote* | remove-appxpackage Paid Wi-Fi & Cellular get-appxpackage *oneconnect* | remove-appxpackage Paint 3D get-appxpackage *mspaint* | remove-appxpackage People get-appxpackage people | remove-appxpackage Phone get-appxpackage *commsphone* | remove-appxpackage Phone Companion get-appxpackage *windowsphone* | remove-appxpackage Phone and Phone Companion together get-appxpackage *phone* | remove-appxpackage Photos get-appxpackage *photos* | remove-appxpackage Sports get-appxpackage *bingsports* | remove-appxpackage Sticky Notes get-appxpackage *sticky* | remove-appxpackage Sway get-appxpackage *sway* | remove-appxpackage View 3D get-appxpackage *3d* | remove-appxpackage Voice Recorder get-appxpackage *soundrecorder* | remove-appxpackage Weather get-appxpackage *bingweather* | remove-appxpackage Windows Holographic get-appxpackage *holographic* | remove-appxpackage Windows Store get-appxpackage *windowsstore* | remove-appxpackage Xbox get-appxpackage *xbox* | remove-appxpackage Cmdlet to uninstall specific app
Remove all Windows 11 bloatware
The PowerShell method stated above is relatively quicker to remove bloatware. However, you still need to put in one cmdlet after the other to uninstall the software one by one. You can also remove all bloatware with a single cmdlet. Here is how:
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Now run the following command to uninstall all bloatware mentioned in the bloatware list given at the beginning of this post above.
get-AppxPackage | Remove-AppxPackage
Remove all bloatware Note that you may see a lot of red lines and errors, which is completely normal. It appears because some apps might not exist on your system, but the ones that do will be removed.
Remove bloatware using JunkCtrl
JunkCtrl is an open-source, third-party application that removes bloatware or “junk,” from your operating system. You can use it to debloat your Windows 11 installation using its user-friendly interface. Here is how:
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Open the JunkCtrl GitHub page and download the application.
Download JunkCtrl -
Extract the contents of the downloaded package and launch the application (.exe).
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On the first screen, click “Skip and use Copilot.”
Skip and use Copilot -
Press and hold the Ctrl button and use your mouse to select the apps you want to remove.
Select the apps to uninstall -
When selected, click Move.
Move the selected apps -
Click Uninstall.
Uninstall the bloatware using JunkCtrl
Once you complete the steps, the tool will run the necessary scripts to remove the selected apps and services to debloat the system.
Remove bloatware using third-party software
If you are not comfortable using the methods discussed above, you can also opt to use a third-party software specifically designed to remove Windows Bloatware (as well as perform some other tasks). These programs provide a GUI to remove all the bloatware on your PC.
We recommend using either of the following bloatware removal tools:
Closing words
Removing bloatware from your new computer or a fresh installation of Windows 11 will certainly free up space on your hard drive for other important data. Not only that, it speeds up your boot time and makes your system run better.
You can also remove Windows components from Windows 11 ISO before making a clean install so that there is no bloatware to begin with.
