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DebloatFreeBeginner · 18 min read

Debloat Windows 11 without breaking it

Windows 11 ships with apps you never asked for, plus a steady trickle of suggestions, promotions, and recommendations sprinkled across the Start menu, the lock screen, File Explorer, and even the Settings app. Most of it is harmless, but it adds clutter, nudges you toward Microsoft products, and on slower machines it can quietly nibble at memory and disk activity. This guide cleans all of that up safely. We remove only what is genuinely safe to remove, tell you the real risk before you touch anything, and make every change reversible.

Before you start: make a restore point

This is the single most important step, and it makes everything below reversible in one move.

  1. 1
    Open it. Press the Windows key, type Create a restore point, and open it.
  2. 2
    Turn protection on. On the System Protection tab, select your system drive (usually C:), click Configure, make sure Turn on system protection is selected, then click OK.
  3. 3
    Create the point. Back on the main window, click Create, name it Before debloat, and click Create again.

Only touch what you recognize

If you are unsure what an app or component does, leave it. Curiosity is not a good reason to delete a system part. Remove only the consumer apps you know you do not want.

Step 1: uninstall the junk the easy way

Most preinstalled apps come off with a couple of clicks, no commands required. This is the safest method and the one most people should use.

  1. 1
    Open Settings. Press the Windows key plus I.
  2. 2
    Find your apps. Go to Apps, then Installed apps.
  3. 3
    Uninstall. For any app you want gone, click the three dots on the right and choose Uninstall.

Safe to remove for most people

  • Clipchamp (video editor). No cost unless you edit video.
  • Microsoft Teams (personal chat). No cost unless you use Teams chat at home. Work Teams is a separate install.
  • News and MSN Weather. You lose the widget feeds, which is usually the point.
  • Get Help and Tips. Help popups you rarely open.
  • Feedback Hub. You simply cannot send feedback to Microsoft.
  • Solitaire Collection and other bundled games.
  • Mail and Calendar or the new Outlook, if you use webmail or another client.
  • Maps, To Do, Family, if you do not use them.

Keep Game Bar if you record or use a controller

Xbox Game Bar also powers the screen recording shortcut (Windows key plus G) and some controller features. If you never play games, removing it is fine. If you record your screen or use a gamepad, keep it.

Step 2: remove stubborn apps with PowerShell

A few apps hide the Uninstall button or refuse to go quietly. PowerShell handles these cleanly. This step is optional and aimed at slightly more confident users. If a command makes you nervous, skip it, because Step 1 already covers most of the clutter.

First, see what is actually installed. Right click the Start button, choose Terminal (Admin), and run:

Get-AppxPackage | Select-Object Name, PackageFullName

To remove one app for your current account, pipe it into the remove command. For example, the bundled weather app:

Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.BingWeather* | Remove-AppxPackage

The same pattern works for other clearly named packages. Reliable, safe examples include BingWeather, BingNews, GetHelp, Getstarted (Tips), WindowsFeedbackHub, MicrosoftSolitaireCollection, Clipchamp, and the consumer MicrosoftTeams package.

To stop an app coming back for brand new accounts on the same PC, remove its provisioned image copy as well, from an admin Terminal:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object DisplayName -like "*BingWeather*" | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

Never run the blanket remove

Avoid the command that circulates online: Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers piped into Remove-AppxPackage. It sweeps away system components along with the junk and can leave Start, Search, or Settings broken.

Packages to keep, and why

  • Microsoft Store. Removing it breaks app installs and your ability to undo removals. It is your safety net, so leave it.
  • Runtimes and frameworks (.NET, VCLibs, App Installer). Other apps depend on them and will crash without them.
  • Start, Search, and shell packages (names like ShellExperienceHost, StartMenuExperienceHost, Windows.Search). Removing these can break the desktop, Start menu, or taskbar.
  • Microsoft Edge. Ignore it and install another browser, but do not force it out. Set your preferred browser as default under Settings, Apps, Default apps.
  • Security and update components. Leave anything tied to Windows Security, Defender, or Windows Update alone.

Step 3: turn off suggestions, ads, and recommendations

This is where the biggest it feels cleaner win comes from, and none of it deletes anything. You are only switching off the nudges. Work through these one by one, then sign out and back in so they settle.

Start menu recommendations

Open Settings, Personalization, Start. Turn off Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more. On current Windows 11 builds this can hide the Recommended area entirely. The recent files toggle also feeds File Explorer and Jump Lists, so leave that one on if you rely on recent files.

Suggested content and ads in Settings

Open Settings, Privacy and security, General. Turn off Show me suggested content in the Settings app and Let apps show me personalized ads by using my advertising ID.

Tailored experiences

Open Settings, Privacy and security, Diagnostics and feedback, expand Tailored experiences, and turn off the option that lets Microsoft use your diagnostic data to show personalized tips and ads.

Lock screen and Spotlight

Open Settings, Personalization, Lock screen. Set Personalize your lock screen to Picture or Slideshow instead of Windows Spotlight, and uncheck Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.

Search highlights and Explorer banners

Open Settings, Privacy and security, Search permissions and turn off Show search highlights. Then in File Explorer open the three dots, Options, the View tab, and uncheck Show sync provider notifications, the setting that lets Explorer show OneDrive and Microsoft 365 ad style banners.

What to keep

Knowing what not to touch matters just as much. Keep all of the following.

  • Microsoft Store. Your reinstall lifeline. Never remove it.
  • Windows Security and Microsoft Defender. Your built in antivirus. Leave it fully on unless you installed a trusted replacement.
  • Edge. Ignore it, but do not fight to delete it. Set your real browser as default instead.
  • System runtimes (.NET, VCLibs, App Installer). Other software needs them.
  • Snipping Tool, Photos, Calculator, Notepad, Paint. Small, useful, and not bloat.
  • Phone Link if you connect a phone. Otherwise it is fair to remove.

How every change is reversible

Nothing here is permanent. Here is how to undo each kind of change.

  • Reinstall a removed app. Open the Microsoft Store, search for it by name, and install again. This is the everyday undo button.
  • Roll back the whole session. Open Create a restore point, choose System Restore, and return to your Before debloat point. This reverses app removals and settings together.
  • Re flip any toggle. Every suggestion and ad setting above is just a switch. Turn it back on in the same place.

If the Store cannot find a built in app, you can re register the defaults that still exist on disk from an admin Terminal:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

Heads up on big updates

Major yearly feature updates sometimes reinstall a few removed apps and reset some toggles. That is harmless, and it proves none of this is destructive. Just repeat the parts you care about after a large update.

What this won't fix

  • Debloating is not a big speed boost. In real testing, removing default apps and applying privacy tweaks freed only a fraction of a gigabyte of disk and trimmed memory by roughly half a gigabyte, about the same as closing one background app. The win is a cleaner, less naggy system, not a faster benchmark.
  • You cannot truly turn off telemetry on Home or Pro. Both always send a baseline of required diagnostic data, and the full telemetry off tweaks only apply on enterprise LTSC editions. Anyone promising zero telemetry on a normal PC is overselling it.
  • Aggressive one click debloater scripts carry real risk. Some break Start, Search, or updates, a few hide options to remove components you need, and a handful have shipped malware. If you use one, pick a well known open source tool, read what it does, and make a restore point first.
  • It will not fix a genuinely slow or failing PC. A full or failing drive, too little memory, thermal throttling, a heavy third party antivirus, or malware all need their own fix, such as an SSD, more memory, or cleaning out dust.
  • Registry performance tweaks rarely do anything measurable on modern hardware, and a few cause instability. Skip them.

Want it done for you, safely?

The free VRUZKA Optimizer runs these same proven steps, creates a restore point first, and rolls back with a single click. No fake scans, no bundled junk.

Download the free tool Back to all guides

Every step here is free and reversible.