How to get rid of unnecessary programs in Windows 10

There are some pre-installed programs that apparently cannot be removed from Windows 10: to get rid of them just use PowerShell. Here's how to do it

Windows 10 is full of programs and applications preinstalled by both the computer manufacturer and Microsoft. Some users, for a variety of reasons, would easily get rid of them. However, it is not always that simple to get rid of them. Especially those inserted directly by the Californian company.

Let's take the Xbox app as an example. Not everyone is interested, yet it's almost impossible to delete it from the system. Try it. Go to "Apps and Features", locate the program and try to remove it. Useless. Do the same thing with Calculator. Ditto. Unlike other software, the "Uninstall" button, which would allow you to get rid of the two applications, is not clickable. For good reason, some of these pre-installed programs are best never deleted. They may cause instability in the operating system. Others, however, you can safely remove.

To delete apps that look like they cannot be "uninstalled", simply use Windows PowerShell. Be careful, though: before you go any further, you should be aware of the risks you are running.

What programs to delete

Let's go back to the initial example and say that you no longer need the Xbox app. How to delete it? Simple. For a start, locate the search bar (you'll find it in the lower left corner of the screen) and type "Windows PowerShell". A window will open, similar to the "Command Prompt". Copy and insert: Get-AppxPackage *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage and press enter. If everything went well, you will no longer find the Xbox application on your computer.

Another application that you can remove, without causing major damage to Windows 10, is "Microsoft Solitaire Collection", the suite of games that includes Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid and Tripeaks. Not everyone is interested in keeping it active on the computer. Again, just use Windows PowerShell. Launch it and enter this character string: Get-AppxPackage *solitairecollection* | Remove-AppxPackage. That's it.

Let's assume that, after a while, you feel like playing one of Microsoft's solitaire games. The app, however, is no longer available. How to do that? There is a method that allows you to recover all pre-installed programs in Windows 10 that you deleted with PowerShell.

Open PowerShell again, copy and paste: Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}. After a few minutes, you should have all the previously removed apps back.

Remember that you need to be an "administrator" of the computer to do all these operations.