Uninstall apps on Windows 11 (ultimate guide)

• To uninstall apps on Windows 11, open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, click on the app menu, and choose “Uninstall” to remove it.
• If you’re having issues uninstalling an app, open Control Panel > Uninstall a program, choose the application, and click on “Uninstall.”
• Alternatively, you can use the “winget uninstall –id APP-ID” command with Command Prompt or the “Get-AppxPackage PROGRAM-NAME | Remove-AppxPackage” command on PowerShell, among other options.

You can uninstall an app on Windows 11 in several ways when you no longer need it, or because it’s causing problems, whether you use version 22H2 or 21H2, and in this guide, you will learn how. Although it may not often happen, sometimes, you may need to remove an application from your computer. For example, you want to debloat the system, no longer need the application, or remove an unnecessary app that came pre-installed on your Windows 11 laptop. You are trying to free up space, repair the app by reinstalling, etc.

Whatever the reason, Windows 11 includes many ways to uninstall applications regardless of the type or source using the Settings app, Start menu, Control Panel, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.

This guide will teach you several ways to remove an application on Windows 11 22H2 or 21H2.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from Settings

To uninstall an app on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 11.
2. Click on Apps.
3. Click the Installed apps tab.
   Quick note: On version 21H2, the page’s name was “Apps & features.”
4. Under the “Apps list” section, find the app to remove.
5. Click the app menu (three-dots) button and choose the “Uninstall” button.

   

6. Click the Uninstall button again to confirm.
7. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

Once you complete the steps, the app will be removed from Windows 11 and any files associated with it.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from Start

To remove Windows 11 apps from the Start menu, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Click the All apps button in the top-right corner.
3. Scroll down, find, right-click the app, and select the Uninstall button.

   

4. Click the Uninstall button again.
5. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

Once you complete the steps, the application will be removed from the computer. You can also right-click an app from the “Pinned” section and select the “Uninstall” option to remove it.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from Search

To uninstall apps from Windows Search, use these steps:

1. Click the Taskbar’s Search button.
   Quick tip: You can also use the “Windows key + S” keyboard to open Windows Search.
2. Search for the application to remove from Windows 11.
3. Right-click the app and select the Uninstall button.

   

4. Click the Uninstall button again.
5. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

After you complete the steps, the program will be removed from your computer.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from Optional Features

You can also remove built-in apps on Windows 11 known as “optional features” or “features on-demand,” some of which include apps like Notepad, Paint, WordPad, Windows Media Player, and many others.

To remove optional apps on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Apps.
3. Click the Optional features tab.
4. Under the “Installed features” section, choose the app to remove.
5. Click the Uninstall button.

   

After you complete the steps, the app will no longer be available on Windows 11.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from Control Panel

To uninstall a Windows 11 program from Control Panel, use these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Under the “Programs” section, click the “Uninstall a program” option.

   

3. Select the app and click the Uninstall button to remove it from Windows 11.

   

4. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

Once you complete the steps, the application will be uninstalled. However, using this method, you can only remove win32 apps. You can’t uninstall modern apps from the Microsoft Store. Also, in future releases of Windows 11, Microsoft plans to remove this experience in favor of the Settings app option.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from Command Prompt

To uninstall an app from Command Prompt with the winget tool, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and click the Run as administrator option.
3. Type the following command to list all the apps installed on Windows 11 and press Enter:

   winget list

4. Type the following command to uninstall an app and press Enter:

   winget uninstall --id APP-ID

   In the command, change the APP-ID for the “Id” of the app. This command example removes the TikTok app:

   winget uninstall --id BytedancePte.Ltd.TikTok_6yccndn6064se

   

5. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

Once you complete the steps, the traditional or modern application will be completely removed from Windows 11.

While this guide shows you several ways to uninstall apps, some applications will include an “Uninstall” option within the folder created in the Start menu. Some others are standalone apps that don’t register with the system, and you can remove them by simply deleting the folder.

Uninstall apps on Windows 11 from PowerShell

Although you can remove most apps from the Settings app, some built-in apps like Cortana, Camera, Clock, Get Help, and others don’t have an uninstall option, but you can still use PowerShell to remove them.

To uninstall apps with PowerShell commands, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and click the Run as administrator option.
3. Type the following command to view all the installed apps and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage | select Name, PackageFamilyName

   

   If you want to see all the Windows 11 apps installed on the computer, type the following command and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | select Name, PackageFamilyName

   The command will return a long list of apps, which can be overwhelming, but you need to do this to know the name of the apps you want to uninstall. For instance, if you want to uninstall the Camera app, you will notice that the system name is “Microsoft.WindowsCamera” in the listing.

4. Type the following command to uninstall an app and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage PROGRAM-NAME | Remove-AppxPackage

   In the command, replace “PROGRAM-NAME” with the application’s actual name, as listed in the above step. This command example uninstalls Cortana from Windows 11:

   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

   

After you complete the steps, the app will no longer be available on the computer, but you can always reinstall it from the Microsoft Store.

Using this method, you can only remove Microsoft apps. You can’t remove third-party apps like Google Chrome, VLC, etc. For third-party apps, you may be able to use the Windows Package Manager (winget) tool, Settings app, and Control Panel.

If you are dealing with a problematic app that can’t be uninstalled, check your software support website for specific instructions. Sometimes they may offer specific tools to remove the app. In the case that the app is causing problems and you can’t uninstall it, you may want to consider resetting your computer, which makes fix performance and other existing issues.