This is a great tool if you would like to remove Microsoft Windows bloatware once and for all from Windows 10 systems. The script supports both offlin
This is a great tool if you would like to remove Microsoft Windows bloatware once and for all from Windows 10 systems. The script supports both offline and online removal. By default it will remove all apps, but you can provide a separate RemoveApps.xml file with a list of apps that you want to instead remove. If this file doesn’t exist, the script will recreate one in the log or temp folder, so you can run the script once, grab the file, make whatever changes you want, then put the file alongside the script and it will remove only the apps you specified.
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# REMOVEAPPs.PS1
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
if ($env:SYSTEMDRIVE -eq "X:")
{
$script:Offline = $true
# Find Windows
$drives = get-volume | ? {-not [String]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($_.DriveLetter) } | ? {$_.DriveType -eq 'Fixed'} | ? {$_.DriveLetter -ne 'X'}
$drives | ? { Test-Path "$($_.DriveLetter):\Windows\System32"} | % { $script:OfflinePath = "$($_.DriveLetter):\" }
Write-Verbose "Eligible offline drive found: $script:OfflinePath"
}
else
{
Write-Verbose "Running in the full OS."
$script:Offline = $false
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Get-LogDir: Return the location for logs and output files
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
function Get-LogDir
{
try
{
$ts = New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.SMS.TSEnvironment -ErrorAction Stop
if ($ts.Value("LogPath") -ne "")
{
$logDir = $ts.Value("LogPath")
}
else
{
$logDir = $ts.Value("_SMSTSLogPath")
}
}
catch
{
$logDir = $env:TEMP
}
return $logDir
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Get-AppList: Return the list of apps to be removed
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
function Get-AppList
{
begin
{
# Look for a config file.
$configFile = "$PSScriptRoot\RemoveApps.xml"
if (Test-Path -Path $configFile)
{
# Read the list
Write-Verbose "Reading list of apps from $configFile"
$list = Get-Content $configFile
}
else
{
# No list? Build one with all apps.
Write-Verbose "Building list of provisioned apps"
$list = @()
if ($script:Offline)
{
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Path $script:OfflinePath | % { $list += $_.DisplayName }
}
else
{
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | % { $list += $_.DisplayName }
}
# Write the list to the log path
$logDir = Get-LogDir
$configFile = "$logDir\RemoveApps.xml"
$list | Set-Content $configFile
Write-Information "Wrote list of apps to $logDir\RemoveApps.xml, edit and place in the same folder as the script to use that list for future script executions"
}
Write-Information "Apps selected for removal: $list.Count"
}
process
{
$list
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Remove-App: Remove the specified app (online or offline)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
function Remove-App
{
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[parameter(Mandatory=$true,ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
[string] $appName
)
begin
{
# Determine offline or online
if ($script:Offline)
{
$script:Provisioned = Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Path $script:OfflinePath
}
else
{
$script:Provisioned = Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online
$script:AppxPackages = Get-AppxPackage
}
}
process
{
$app = $_
# Remove the provisioned package
Write-Information "Removing provisioned package $_"
$current = $script:Provisioned | ? { $_.DisplayName -eq $app }
if ($current)
{
if ($script:Offline)
{
$a = Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Path $script:OfflinePath -PackageName $current.PackageName
}
else
{
$a = Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName $current.PackageName
}
}
else
{
Write-Warning "Unable to find provisioned package $_"
}
# If online, remove installed apps too
if (-not $script:Offline)
{
Write-Information "Removing installed package $_"
$current = $script:AppxPackages | ? {$_.Name -eq $app }
if ($current)
{
$current | Remove-AppxPackage
}
else
{
Write-Warning "Unable to find installed app $_"
}
}
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Main logic
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
$logDir = Get-LogDir
Start-Transcript "$logDir\RemoveApps.log"
Get-AppList | Remove-App
Stop-Transcript
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- # REMOVEAPPs.XML # --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft.BingWeather Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller Microsoft.GetHelp Microsoft.Getstarted Microsoft.Messaging Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes Microsoft.MSPaint Microsoft.Office.OneNote Microsoft.OneConnect Microsoft.People Microsoft.Print3D Microsoft.SkypeApp Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp Microsoft.Wallet Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions Microsoft.Windows.Photos Microsoft.WindowsAlarms Microsoft.WindowsCamera microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub Microsoft.WindowsMaps Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder Microsoft.WindowsStore Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI Microsoft.XboxApp Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay Microsoft.ZuneMusic Microsoft.ZuneVideo
Credit goes to Michael Niehaus for the script creation.
COMMENTS