Windows – way to loop through Windows 8 Apps and remove them all

mdtpowershellwindowswindows 8

Windows apps are annoying and I would like to remove them. Been playing around with Powershell and scripting and I wanted to know if there was a way I could make Powershell to loop through all the apps and remove them.

# List of Applications that will be removed
$AppsList = "Microsoft.BingTravel","Microsoft.WindowsAlarms","Microsoft.Reader",`
"Microsoft.WindowsScan","Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder","Microsoft.SkypeApp","Microsoft.BingFoodAndDrink","Microsoft.BingMaps",`
"Microsoft.HelpAndTips","Microsoft.BingFinance","Microsoft.ZuneMusic","Microsoft.Reader","Microsoft.BingNews","Microsoft.AkypeApp",`
"Microsoft.ZuneVideo","Microsoft.BingTravel","Microsoft.BingSports","Microsoft.BingWeather","Microsoft.BingHealthAndFitness",`
"Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient.2","Microsoft.XboxLIVEGames","Microsoft.WindowsReadingList","Microsoft.WindowsAlarms"
ForEach ($App in $AppsList)
{
    $Packages = Get-AppxPackage | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq $App}
    if ($Packages -ne $null)
    {
          foreach ($Package in $Packages)
          {
          Remove-AppxPackage -package $Package.PackageFullName
          }
    }
    $ProvisionedPackage = Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | Where-Object {$_.displayName -eq $App}
    if ($ProvisionedPackage -ne $null)
    {
          remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename $ProvisionedPackage.PackageName
    }
}

EDIT:

I am running this from MDT for image deployments as well.

Best Answer

To remove an application with PowerShell you need to do two actions:

  • Remove the provisioned package
  • Remove the “installed” package from the user account.

To remove the provisioned package you use the command Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage and to remove the installed package you use the command Remove-AppxPackage .

According to Microsoft, the Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage cmdlet removes app packages (.appx) from a Windows image. App packages will not be installed when new user accounts are created. Packages will not be removed from existing user accounts. To remove app packages (.appx) that are not provisioned or to remove a package for a particular user only, use Remove-AppxPackage instead.

So if you want to remove apps completely, run the following:

  • Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –online
  • Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage

http://www.theitmuse.com/remove-windows-8-metro-apps/

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