What is bloatware and How to Debloat Windows 11 to Improve Performance

In this article I will show you how to Debloat Windows 11 to Improve Performance, and deploy a DeBloat script via PowerShell. At the bottom, it also has a reference table with all of the applications you can add to the list to be removed when Windows OOBE has been initiated in Intune or the script has been run independently.

What is Bloatware?

Bloatware is a term used to describe unwanted software that comes pre-installed on a new computer, smartphone, or tablet. It can take up space on your device, slow down your system, and reduce battery life. Bloatware is also known as crapware and can come in many different forms, such as trialware, desktop applications, and apps that run on the touch-oriented tablet mode.

This is something I usually deploy via Intune for customers that are going through the OOBE. As soon as the device has been signed into for the first time, this script will run and delete everything that’s listed below. As the list grows, I just update my Script in Intune. You can find an updated script fully compiled through my Github page.

Instructions

We first need to write a script in a certain format with multiple sections. The script contains a ‘tag’, ‘log’, ‘uninstall list’ and ‘execution’.

1. We need to create a tag to let Intune/Windows know that we’ve installed this DeBloat script. This is the opening line in our PowerShell script as below;

if (-not (testpath "$env:programData)\Microsoft\W11Bloatware"))
{
mkdir "$(env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\Microsoft\W11Bloatware"
}
Set-Content -Path "$(env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\Microsoft\W11Bloatware.ps1.tag" -Value "Installed"

2. Next on our ps1 script, we need to start our logging and transcription for our Bloatware tool;

Start-Transcript "$(env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\Microsoft\W11Bloatware.log"

3. Now we can add our list of desired apps/packages we want installed up execution of our script;

$UninstallPackages = @(
"Microsoft.Getstarted"
"Microsoft.GetHelp"
)

you can continue the list in the format above with as many app ids you want.

4. The final part of our script contains the rule to check for installed by app id and then log if it’s to be uninstalled, provision, uninstall and then log;

$InstalledPackages = Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where {($UninstallPackages -contains $_.Name)}
	
$ProvisionedPackages = Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where {($UninstallPackages -contains $_.DisplayName)}

$InstalledPrograms = Get-Package | Where {$UninstallPrograms -contains $_.Name}

# Remove provisioned packages first
ForEach ($ProvPackage in $ProvisionedPackages) {
	
Write-Host -Object "Attempting to remove provisioned package: [$($ProvPackage.DisplayName)]..."

Try {
    $Null = Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -PackageName $ProvPackage.PackageName -Online -ErrorAction Stop
    Write-Host -Object "Successfully removed provisioned package: [$($ProvPackage.DisplayName)]"
}
    Catch {Write-Warning -Message "Failed to remove provisioned package: [$($ProvPackage.DisplayName)]"}
}
	
# Remove appx packages
ForEach ($AppxPackage in $InstalledPackages) {
	                                            
Write-Host -Object "Attempting to remove Appx package: [$($AppxPackage.Name)]..."

Try {
$Null = Remove-AppxPackage -Package $AppxPackage.PackageFullName -AllUsers -ErrorAction Stop
Write-Host -Object "Successfully removed Appx package: [$($AppxPackage.Name)]"
}
    Catch {Write-Warning -Message "Failed to remove Appx package: [$($AppxPackage.Name)]"}
}
	
# Remove installed programs
$InstalledPrograms | ForEach {
Write-Host -Object "Attempting to uninstall: [$($_.Name)]..."
Try {
$Null = $_ | Uninstall-Package -AllVersions -Force -ErrorAction Stop
Write-Host -Object "Successfully uninstalled: [$($_.Name)]"
}
	    Catch {Write-Warning -Message "Failed to uninstall: [$($_.Name)]"}
}	
Stop-Transcript

All together, it should look like this;

# Create a tag file just so Intune knows this was installed
if (-not (Test-Path "$($env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\Microsoft\W11Bloatware"))
{
    Mkdir "$($env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\RemoveW10Bloatware"
}
Set-Content -Path "$($env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\Microsoft\W11Bloatware.ps1.tag" -Value "Installed"

# Start logging
Start-Transcript "$($env:ProgramData)\Microsoft\Microsoft\W11Bloatware.log"

# List of built-in apps to remove
$UninstallPackages = @(
    "Microsoft.Getstarted"
    "Microsoft.GetHelp"
)

$InstalledPackages = Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where {($UninstallPackages -contains $_.Name)}

$ProvisionedPackages = Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where {($UninstallPackages -contains $_.DisplayName)}

$InstalledPrograms = Get-Package | Where {$UninstallPrograms -contains $_.Name}

# Remove provisioned packages first
ForEach ($ProvPackage in $ProvisionedPackages) {

    Write-Host -Object "Attempting to remove provisioned package: [$($ProvPackage.DisplayName)]..."

    Try {
       $Null = Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -PackageName $ProvPackage.PackageName -Online -ErrorAction Stop
       Write-Host -Object "Successfully removed provisioned package: [$($ProvPackage.DisplayName)]"
}
    Catch {Write-Warning -Message "Failed to remove provisioned package: [$($ProvPackage.DisplayName)]"}
}

# Remove appx packages
ForEach ($AppxPackage in $InstalledPackages) {
                                            
    Write-Host -Object "Attempting to remove Appx package: [$($AppxPackage.Name)]..."

    Try {
        $Null = Remove-AppxPackage -Package $AppxPackage.PackageFullName -AllUsers -ErrorAction Stop
        Write-Host -Object "Successfully removed Appx package: [$($AppxPackage.Name)]"
}
    Catch {Write-Warning -Message "Failed to remove Appx package: [$($AppxPackage.Name)]"}
}

# Remove installed programs
$InstalledPrograms | ForEach {

    Write-Host -Object "Attempting to uninstall: [$($_.Name)]..."

    Try {
        $Null = $_ | Uninstall-Package -AllVersions -Force -ErrorAction Stop
        Write-Host -Object "Successfully uninstalled: [$($_.Name)]"
}
    Catch {Write-Warning -Message "Failed to uninstall: [$($_.Name)]"}
}

Stop-Transcript

Bloatware table

Application	Application ID
Microsoft Get Started	Microsoft.Getstarted
Microsoft Get Help	Microsoft.GetHelp
Microsoft 3D viewer	Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer
Microsoft Office Hub	Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection
Mixed Reality Portal	Microsoft.MixedReality.Portal
Office One Note	Microsoft.Office.OneNote
One Connect	Microsoft.OneConnect
Skype	Microsoft.SkypeApp
Feedback Hub	Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub
Xbox	Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI
Xbox	Microsoft.GamingApp_8wekyb3d8bbwe
Xbox App	HubMicrosoft.XboxApp
Xbox Game Overlay	Microsoft.XboxApp
Xbox Gaming Overlay	Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay
Xbox Identity Provider	Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider
Xbox Speech to Text Overlay	Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay
Microsoft Teams Classic	Microsoft.Teams.Classic

Have another way of deploying the script or have any questions, leave a comment below.