Uninstall Windows applications silently with PowerShell

When deploying Windows devices using Autopilot, unwanted Win32 or AppX apps can clutter user experience or cause security risk. Below is a PowerShell script you can run in SYSTEM context to silently uninstall these apps as part of the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE).

This PowerShell script:

Runs silently in the background without user interaction
Handles Win32 (MSI / EXE) and AppX applications
Supports exact or partial application name matching

Gathering the application list

Before uninstalling anything, you need to know what’s installed. The following sections show how to list traditional desktop apps (Win32/MSI/EXE) from the registry and modern UWP/AppX packages using PowerShell. If you already know which applications you want to remove, you can skip this section. Otherwise, use the scripts below to identify installed applications on a Windows device.

List installed Win32 applications

Run the following script to list all Win32 (MSI / EXE) applications installed on the device.

$RegistryPaths = @(
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*"
)

foreach ($Path in $RegistryPaths) {
    Get-ItemProperty -Path $Path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Where-Object {
        $_.DisplayName -and
        $_.UninstallString
    } |
    Select-Object `
        DisplayName,
        DisplayVersion,
        UninstallString
}

Make a note of the applications you want to remove. These names (exact or partial) will be used in the uninstall script later.

List installed AppX applications

To list all removable AppX applications installed for all users on a Windows device, run:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers |
Where-Object { $_.NonRemovable -eq $false } |
Select-Object Name, Version, PackageFullName

Make a note of the applications you want to remove. These names (exact or partial) will be used in the uninstall script later.

Uninstall script

The script below takes an array of application display names (exact or wildcard) and:

Discovers matching Win32 apps from the registry
Discovers matching AppX packages for all users
Executes silent uninstall or removal actions accordingly
Safely exits if no matching applications are found

Tip: The script must be run in SYSTEM context

# Define an array of app names (exact or partial match). For partial match use '*' symbol.
$DisplayNames = @(
    "AppName1",
    "AppName2*",
    "*AppName3*"
)

# Registry paths for Win32 apps
$RegistryPaths = @(
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*"
)

# Collections
$FoundApps    = @()
$FoundAppx    = @()
$SeenMSIs     = @()
$MatchedNames = @()

# Discover Win32 apps
foreach ($Name in $DisplayNames) {
    foreach ($Path in $RegistryPaths) {

        Get-ItemProperty -Path $Path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like $Name } |
        ForEach-Object {
            if ($_.UninstallString -match "\{[A-F0-9\-]{36}\}") {
                $ProductCode = $matches[0]
                if ($SeenMSIs -notcontains $ProductCode) {
                    $SeenMSIs += $ProductCode
                    $FoundApps += [PSCustomObject]@{
                        DisplayName = $_.DisplayName
                        Type        = "MSI"
                        ProductCode = $ProductCode
                        Command     = $null
                    }
                }
                $MatchedNames += $Name
                return
            }

            if ($_.QuietUninstallString) {
                $FoundApps += [PSCustomObject]@{
                    DisplayName = $_.DisplayName
                    Type        = "EXE"
                    ProductCode = $null
                    Command     = $_.QuietUninstallString
                }
                $MatchedNames += $Name
                return
            }

            if ($_.UninstallString) {
                $FoundApps += [PSCustomObject]@{
                    DisplayName = $_.DisplayName
                    Type        = "EXE"
                    ProductCode = $null
                    Command     = "$($_.UninstallString) /S /norestart"
                }
                $MatchedNames += $Name
            }
        }
    }
}

# Discover AppX apps
foreach ($Name in $DisplayNames) {
    Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers |
    Where-Object { $_.Name -like $Name -or $_.PackageFullName -like $Name } |
    ForEach-Object {
        $FoundAppx += [PSCustomObject]@{
            DisplayName = $_.Name
            PackageName = $_.PackageFullName
        }
        $MatchedNames += $Name
    }
}

# Log missing apps
$MatchedNames = $MatchedNames | Select-Object -Unique
$MissingApps  = $DisplayNames | Where-Object { $_ -notin $MatchedNames }

foreach ($App in $MissingApps) {
    Write-Host "Application not found: $App" -ForegroundColor Yellow
}

# Exit if nothing found
if ($FoundApps.Count -eq 0 -and $FoundAppx.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Host "No applications to uninstall." -ForegroundColor DarkYellow
    exit 0
}

# Uninstall Win32 apps silently
foreach ($App in $FoundApps) {
    Write-Host "Uninstalling Win32 app: $($App.DisplayName)"
    if ($App.Type -eq "MSI") {
        Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" `
            -ArgumentList "/x $($App.ProductCode) /qn /norestart" `
            -Wait -WindowStyle Hidden
    } else {
        Start-Process -FilePath "cmd.exe" `
            -ArgumentList "/c `"$($App.Command)`"" `
            -Wait -WindowStyle Hidden
    }
}

# Uninstall AppX apps
foreach ($Appx in $FoundAppx) {
    Write-Host "Removing AppX package: $($Appx.DisplayName)"
    try {
        Remove-AppxPackage -Package $Appx.PackageName -AllUsers -ErrorAction Stop
    } catch {
        Write-Host "Failed to remove AppX package: $($Appx.DisplayName)" -ForegroundColor Red
    }
}

exit 0

Tags: Windows App Script