How to delete apps on your pc

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Remove old and unused apps to free space on your PC

Updated on September 11, 2020

What to Know

Use the Apps & features or Add or Remove Programs function from the Control Panel.
You can also open the uninstall function or program that may have come with the application.

This article explains how to remove specific apps you don't like or just don't use from a Windows 10, 8 or 7 operating system.

The first way is the simplest and quickest method for removing an app.

Select Start.
Find the program you want to uninstall by scrolling down the All Apps list.
When you find the program or Windows Store app you want to get rid of, hover over it with your mouse, and right-click.
From the menu that appears, select Uninstall.
In Programs and Features, scroll until you find the app you want to uninstall, select it, then click Uninstall.
Windows 8 and 8.1 users can also use this method. Instead of right-clicking a program in the Start menu, however, you'd right-click from the Start or All Apps screens.

Windows 10 Settings App Option

Another option is to follow the Settings app method. Get started by navigating to Apps & features. A list of all the installed Windows Store apps and desktop programs will populate on this screen of the Settings app.

Select the Start button then go to Settings.
Under Windows Settings, select Apps.
Under Apps & features, scroll down to find the app you want to uninstall.
Select the app, and then select Uninstall.
Confirm removal by selecting Uninstall again.
Follow the program's uninstall prompts.

Windows 8.1 and 8

Other than the right-click method listed in the Windows 10 section, Windows 8.1 has a similar way to remove apps through the Programs and Features control panel.

Press the Windows Key or select Start on the lower left-hand corner to open the Start Screen.
Locate the application you want to uninstall and right-click the app icon and select Uninstall.
The Programs and Features control panel applet will open. Make sure the correct app is selected.
Select Uninstall/Change and follow the uninstall wizard to complete removal.

You can also bypass and go straight to the Programs and Features control panel applet by doing the following:

Windows 8.1: Right-click the Start menu and select Programs and Features from the context menu.

Windows 8: Hover your cursor over the bottom left corner of your desktop until you see a small image of the Start Screen. Right-click on the context menu and select Programs and Features.

Windows 7

Just as previous Windows systems, Windows 7 utilizes the Start menu to begin any uninstall.

Select the Start button.
Select Control Panel.
Select Programs.
Under Programs and Features, scroll to find the program you want to uninstall.
Select the program then select Uninstall.
Follow along with the uninstall prompts to complete the app removal.

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For one reason or another, you’ve decided that you’re going to delete an app or two from your Windows 10 PC. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right? All you’ve got to do is… delete them.

Actually, one of the biggest questions that PC users ask is, “How do I delete apps from my PC?” Some apps are easy to delete, but others are much more difficult to get rid of, specifically the built-in apps that come included with your Windows 10 operating system.

We can help you evict those applications that aren’t paying rent! Here’s how to delete apps from your PC with Windows 10.

(Be warned: there are Avengers: Endgame spoilers in this blog.)

Here’s why you should delete apps you don’t need

If you’re not asking, “How do I delete apps from my PC?” you might be asking, “Why should I delete apps from my PC?”

That’s a fair question. There are four main reasons why you should delete unneeded apps from your PC:

To increase your storage space
To boost your computer’s speed
To prevent files from getting corrupted
To keep your PC better organized

1. Increased storage space

If you’ve had your computer for a while, you might be running out of storage space. Over time, you’ve slowly accumulated a large collection of files that consume most of your hard drive space. Or, you just have a ton of computer files - very understandable if you’re a business person or if you’re a creative professional (nothing eats up your storage space faster than photo and editing files). If you’re running into this problem, you can easily

clear up some storage space

by deleting apps that you don’t use.

2. Increase speed

Even if you’re content with having only a few gigabytes of available storage, your computer might begin

to operate at slow speeds

. Your computer’s memory (RAM) is principally responsible for computer speed, but your RAM constantly exchanges files with your hard drive in order to run your computer programs.

If you don’t have enough available storage space, your RAM won’t be able to send as many data packets to your hard drive, which means it’ll take longer for your computer to perform tasks. It might not cause any problems when you’re browsing the web, but it could significantly hinder the performance of larger software.

3. Avoid corruption

Another reason why you should delete unneeded apps is that you’ll reduce the likelihood that one of them will get corrupted and cause problems for your computer. When a virus or malware infects one of your files, it can cause a slew of issues that affect your entire PC.

4. Stay organized

And last, but certainly not least, getting rid of unnecessary apps is a simple way to keep your PC organized and free from the dreaded “computer clutter.” It’s difficult to find a single file when there are heaps of files scattered all about your PC. Additionally, computer clutter makes it difficult to create backups if you’re only trying to back up select folders and files. We’d like to think that Marie Kondo has our back on this one.

Caution: Before you delete apps

Before you delete any Windows 10 apps, remember that many Windows 10 apps work in conjunction with one another. If you remove one, you might affect the capabilities of another - one you depend on for your regular computing. If this happens to you, we have a "regrets" section at the end of this tutorial. You can simply reinstall what you need. Also, make sure that all applications are closed before you begin deleting apps.

How to manually delete apps on Windows 10

Here’s how to manually delete apps that are not built-in Windows 10 apps (although you can delete a few built-in apps with this method).

Open the Start menu
Click Settings.
In the Settings menu, click System
Select the Apps & Features tab

On the right pane, you’ll be given a list of apps that are installed on your PC.

Select an app you want to delete
Click the Uninstall button
Click the Uninstall pop-up button

This method should work for a few built-in apps, too, such as:

Get Office
Get Skype
Get Started
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Money
News
Phone Companion
Sports

It also works for apps that are automatically downloaded by Windows 10, like Candy Crush, Netflix, and Pandora.

How to delete built-in apps on Windows 10 with PowerShell

There are some apps that come pre-installed with your Windows 10 operating system. If you want to delete them, you’ll need to use a Windows tool called PowerShell. PowerShell is a command software that enables you to use scripting language to control many of your operating system features.

It’s an advanced tool that’s used mostly by IT professionals to fix computer problems, but you can use it to delete a few built-in apps. We’ll walk you through the process - it’s not too difficult!

Be aware that there are some critical apps you won’t be able to remove from Windows 10, like Cortana and Microsoft Edge. These apps are deeply ingrained into the Windows 10 functionality.

To delete built-in apps from Windows 10:

Click Start and enter “PowerShell” into the search box
Right-click on PowerShell and select Run as administrator
You’ll have to be logged in as an administrator to use PowerShell in this capacity. You might get a notice that says, “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?” Click Yes.
Enter the correct commands to delete the apps you don’t want
Copy and paste one of the commands listed below into PowerShell, and then hit Enter on your keyboard. Once you hit Enter, the app will be automatically deleted

Uninstall 3D Builder

Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Alarms and Clock

Get-AppxPackage *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Calculator

Get-AppxPackage *windowscalculator* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Calendar and Mail

Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Camera

Get-AppxPackage *windowscamera* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Groove Music

Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Maps

Get-AppxPackage *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Movies & TV

Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall OneNote

Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall People

Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Photos

Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Store

Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Voice Recorder

Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Weather

Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage

Uninstall Xbox

Get-AppxPackage *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage

How to reinstall built-in apps

We all have regrets. Maybe after you hit the Enter key, you felt a deep stabbing pain in your heart and felt an instant disgust about the person you’ve become. If that’s the case, you should know that it’s easy to restore any of the apps that you’ve just deleted.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

That’s it! Like Iron Man snapping his fingers in his custom-made Infinity Gauntlet, you’ve just restored all life in the universe. (See, I warned you there’d be spoilers…)

Use an external hard drive if you need more storage space

Let’s discuss the storage space issue one more time because it’s an important one. If you’re running out of storage space, you can resolve the issues in a couple of different ways that don’t require you to delete any apps. And besides, many of the apps listed don’t take up a whole lot of your precious storage space.

Use an external hard drive

One of the most effective ways to clear up storage space on your computer is to store files on an

external hard drive

. External hard drives are storage drives that you can plug into your computer via USB or other adapters. Most external drives have 1TB to 3TB storage capacities and they’re great for storing files that you don’t need to access frequently, like records and photos.

What’s so wonderful about external drives is that they’re portable, so you can take them with you while you’re traveling or even just commuting between home and office. When you store your photos, videos, documents on an external hard drive, you can free up space on your computer for all your apps.

Delete temporary files

A lot of your storage issues might stem from an accumulation of smaller files, like temporary internet files, temporary Windows files, program download files, and cached files. Most of the time, you don’t even know these files are on your computer, and they build up year after year and

consume a lot of your storage space

Thankfully, you don’t need these files and they’re easy to find and delete. You can use a Windows tool called “Free up space” (formerly called Disk Cleanup), which will automatically locate these files and give you the option of deleting them. Read our

Disk Cleanup guide

for a more comprehensive how-to.

Get a new computer with a large storage capacity

About the Author

Zach Cabading is a contributing writer for HP® Tech Takes. Zach is a content creation specialist based in Southern California, and creates a variety of content for the tech industry.

How do I uninstall an app on my PC?

Click Start. Choose Settings > Apps > Apps & Features. Choose the apps you want to uninstall and click the Uninstall button..

Click Start, and choose your app from the list that appears..

Right-click the app you wish to remove..

Select Uninstall..

Why wont my PC let me delete apps?

Type Task Manager in Windows search and click Open. In the following window, head over to the Processes tab and look for the program you are trying to uninstall. Right-click on it and choose End task. Once done, close Task Manager and check if you can now uninstall the targeted program.