How To Remove The Xbox App On Windows 10

How To Remove Xbox Completely From Windows 10 All Traces

Windows 10 introduced many great features, including Xbox integration for gamers. However, everyone's not a gamer. This didn't stop Microsoft from including it for everyone, though. If you've tried to remove Xbox, you may have noticed there's no uninstall option. The good news is you're not stuck with it. There is another way to remove the app.

Purpose of Xbox App

The Xbox app has become the go-to for any gamers playing between Xbox and PC. The app offers a variety of features, such as remote gaming, use game captures, talk with friends, and more.

For those who don't use the app and never will, it's just another piece of bloatware taking up space on your Windows 10 PC. XBox is one of several universal apps that Microsoft assumes everyone wants. It's kind of like all those apps mobile manufacturers put on devices that people end up rooting their phones to remove.

Remove Xbox from Windows 10

While it's easy to remove most apps from "Add or Remove Programs," you don't have an uninstall option for Xbox. Instead, you have to take an alternate approach using the Windows PowerShell. While it looks similar to the command prompt, it works a little differently.

The process is quick and shouldn't cause any problems with your PC. However, it's always a good idea to back up your files just in case.

To get started, open the Windows Start menu and type "PowerShell." You don't need to see a search bar to type the search term.

When the results appear, click "Run as administrator" on the right side of the menu under Windows PowerShell. You'll need administrator rights to do this. If your user account doesn't have any administrator rights, you'll need to have someone log in who does have those account rights.

How To Remove Xbox Completely From Windows 10 Powershell

Wait for the PowerShell window to open and the prompt to appear.

How To Remove Xbox Completely From Windows 10 Powershell Prompt

Type (or copy and paste) the following and press Enter.

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxApp                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage

If you get an error message, try the following instead:

Get-AppxPackage                  *xboxapp*                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage

How To Remove Xbox Completely From Windows 10 Powershell Command

This should remove Xbox completely, at least the app itself.

Remove Additional Xbox Apps

If you search your PC, you'll still find several Xbox-related apps living on your computer. While you can't get rid of system-level settings and apps, such as Game Bar and Xbox Networking, you can remove the following:

Xbox Game Overlay
Xbox Gaming Overlay
Xbox Identify Provider
Xbox Speech To Text Overlay

Once again, always back up your files before removing apps via PowerShell in case something doesn't go right.

You'll use PowerShell just like you did to remove the main Xbox app. However, you'll enter each of the following one at a time. Hit Enter after each line and wait for the removal process to complete.

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay                  |                  Remove-AppxPackage

As with removing the Xbox app, if you receive an error with any of these, change the Microsoft portion of the line to *appname* where appname is the app listed after the word Microsoft. For example, Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay would become *xboxgameoverlay*.

When finished, restart your computer. Some files may linger, but these are leftover app files. You can use a search tool to find these files and delete them. You can also use Windows's built-in tools or a system cleaner.

Restoring Xbox App

If you want to restore the Xbox app, reinstall it from the Microsoft Store. There are several versions, including a beta version to try out.

You can also wait for a major Windows 10 system update, which usually happens once or twice a year. Sadly, Universal apps typically reappear with major system updates, so you'll need to go through the removal process again. Microsoft lists the names of most of these apps so you can better control what's on your PC and understand what the apps are for.

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Crystal Crowder

Crystal Crowder has spent over 15 years working in the tech industry, first as an IT technician and then as a writer. She works to help teach others how to get the most from their devices, systems, and apps. She stays on top of the latest trends and is always finding solutions to common tech problems.