refresh topic: Remove Microsoft Windows packages from PowerShell

How to remove Microsoft packages from PowerShell was previously discussed in year 2021 here. Microsoft continues to provide app installs which some of us do not want. 

Look at apps in Windows Settings (press WindowsKey+i then choose Apps) and attempt to uninstall apps there. Some apps allow uninstall, and others such as Bing Search do not.

 

Steps to remove Bing Search app: 

- Right-click on Start button and choose "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" 

- In the PowerShell window, look for the package name: Get-AppxPackage | select-string  "bing"

- Remove the package: Get-AppxPackage *bing* | Remove-AppxPackage

 

Alternative PDF viewer

As an alternative to the bloated and AI-interrupting PDF readers from Microsoft and Adobe, the SumatraPDF is a streamlined and free PDF viewer from Microsoft Windows. 

Download the latest Sumatra PDF release.

Most Windows users will likely choose the "Installer" so it integrates with the Start menu and file name extensions. The "Portable version" is a self-contained program that simply runs. 

After download, run the installer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I usually choose Options for making files searchable and for preview.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I prefer to not have the "Home" blank page, so I disable that in the Menu -> Settings -> Advanced Option. In the configuration file change item "NoHomeTab" from "false" to "true". Save the configuration file and restart Sumatra PDF.

Remove "Start" menu folders in Micrsoft Windows

If there is a folder you can't remove with Uninstall, you may remove it by hand. For example, let's remove the "Acer" folder. 

Press Microsoft Windows 10 Start button. 

 

 

 

Open the File Explorer. In the location area enter: %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
You will see the list of folders displayed when pressing the Start button.

 

 

 

 

Within File Explorer, right-click on the folder to remove and select DELETE. The folder should be removed.

Press the Start button to verify the folder was removed.