Removing Built-in Applications from Windows 8

Update - This script will not work with Windows 8.1 a script for Windows 8.1 can be found here - https://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2013/10/21/removing-windows-8-1-built-in-applications.aspx.

Update - An updated and simpler version of this script is now available here - https://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2013/06/07/update-removing-built-in-applications-from-windows-8.aspx.

When creating a Windows 8 Image for the Enterprise you may not want to include all of the default Windows Store Applications. These applications are easy enough to remove by right clicking on the app tile in the Start Screen, but as you most likely know I am lazy and like to automate everything, so I prefer to use PowerShell.

To remove an application with PowerShell you need to remove it in two places:

  1. Remove the provisioned package
  2. Remove the “installed” package from the administrator account

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

If you want to remove all of the built-in applications then you can use the following simple PowerShell commands:

Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –online

Get-AppXPackage | Remove-AppxPackage

However I often want to leave some of the applications in the image, I need granular control. In this case you need to find the PackageFullName value for each application and then remove each app individually. Getting this information can be a tedious process so I have created a script that you can use to remove the applications. This script works for both X86 and X64 versions of the Windows 8. I usually comment out the lines for the apps that I want to keep and then add the script to the MDT task sequence that I use to create my master image. The script is included below:

if([IntPtr]::Size -eq 4)

{

   # This is an X86 OS - Remove provisioned package for all users

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Bing_1.2.0.137_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingFinance_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingMaps_1.2.0.136_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingNews_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingSports_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingTravel_1.2.0.145_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingWeather_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Camera_6.2.8514.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package microsoft.microsoftskydrive_16.4.4204.712_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Reader_6.2.8516.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_16.4.4206.722_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package microsoft.windowsphotos_16.4.4204.712_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.XboxLIVEGames_1.0.927.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneMusic_1.0.927.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneVideo_1.0.927.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient_2.3.1662.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

   # Remove installed apps for Local Administrator

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Bing_1.2.0.137_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingFinance_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingMaps_1.2.0.136_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingNews_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingSports_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingTravel_1.2.0.145_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingWeather_1.2.0.135_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Camera_6.2.8514.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.microsoftskydrive_16.4.4204.712_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Reader_6.2.8516.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_16.4.4206.722_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.windowsphotos_16.4.4204.712_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.XboxLIVEGames_1.0.927.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneMusic_1.0.927.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneVideo_1.0.927.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe  

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient_2.3.1662.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

}

Else

{

    # This is an X64 OS – Remove provisioned package for all users

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –package Microsoft.Bing_1.2.0.137_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingFinance_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingMaps_1.2.0.136_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingNews_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingSports_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingTravel_1.2.0.145_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.BingWeather_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Camera_6.2.8514.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package microsoft.microsoftskydrive_16.4.4204.712_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Reader_6.2.8516.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_16.4.4206.722_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package microsoft.windowsphotos_16.4.4204.712_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.XboxLIVEGames_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneMusic_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneVideo_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient_2.3.1662.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online

    remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -package Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient_2.3.1662.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe -online 

    # Remove installed apps for Local Administrator

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Bing_1.2.0.137_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingFinance_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingMaps_1.2.0.136_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingNews_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingSports_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingTravel_1.2.0.145_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingWeather_1.2.0.135_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Camera_6.2.8514.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.microsoftskydrive_16.4.4204.712_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Reader_6.2.8516.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_16.4.4206.722_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.windowsphotos_16.4.4204.712_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.XboxLIVEGames_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneMusic_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneVideo_1.0.927.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient_2.3.1662.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Media.PlayReadyClient_2.3.1662.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe

}

For more information on adding and removing apps please refer to this TechNet article.

This post was contributed by Ben Hunter, a Solution Architect with Microsoft Consulting Services.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, confers no rights, and is not supported by the authors or Microsoft Corporation. Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified in the Terms of Use .