What Does Removed Apps And Users Mean
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So, sorry if this is a duplicate topic, but quite frankly I've been crawling over numerous posts in this and other technical forums that take a stab at answering this question, but none of them actually have.
Or they've proposed a solution that does not work.
The problem I am trying to actually address here is that Microsoft has decided to insert a "default" install of Office in new installations of Windows- two, actually. These seem to re-insert themselves for every new user account- which my reading tells me that makes them "provisioned".
Installing my company's sanctioned version of Office 365 adds yet a third office "app", and if you're a perfectionist that would be enough to drive one batty all on its own.
The real problem for me is that these shovelware installs are like a damn landmine, waiting to be stepped on. In two separate cases I've had users lose the ability to do specific things in Outlook- most notably, calling the signatures pane to define a signature for email.
It just freezes, or does nothing. You can't set a signature- and no targeted solution I've tried will work. You basically have to recreate the user's profile from scratch. So the only ideal solution seems to be to not have those installs present when setting up a user in the first place.
Indeed I can verify if they're not present when setting up a user, you have no issues. And that's where we come back to "they're provisioned".
This means I have to remember to manually remove them from each and every user profile I create. I have scores of users I am setting up at present, and my memory isn't great.
Clearly I can't reverse the current nonsense trend of "lets foist crap people never asked for with every operating system/device", so I am looking for a way to remove these so they don't keep cropping up in new user profiles and tripping me up as I try to proceed through new systems deployment.
Most my reading suggests there is a way to do this, but none I've come across so far have actually worked. Powershell scripts, deprovision regedits, domain GPOs... each time I sign in a "new" user, up pop the shovelware office apps again, no matter what I've done.
Credits to Microsoft here for finally taking pre-installed software from just "mildly annoying" to "bedbug infestation"-levels of infuriating.
But I'd like to get off the merry-go round please. Anyone have a working method for finally expunging these things?
Okay, so I think I've found the answer. It's the "best answer" in the following thread:
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2152460-stop-windows-10-pro-bloatware-installing-for-new-user...
This comes from NathM
you probably have an OEM preinstall of Office (the Store packaged Win32 version)1. Get-AppXPackage %s -allUsers | Remove-AppXPackage -allUsers
2. Get-AppXPackage %s -PackageTypeFilter bundle -allUsers | Remove-AppXPackage -allUsers
3. Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -online -PackageName %s -allUsers
where %s is Microsoft.Office.Desktop
Now- just like the user who responds to him in that thread, the third command goes borky- errors/doesn't work.
BUT! Upon Logging in a new user, the apps are in fact missing after running at least the two first commands- which is the result I was looking for.
I can't say what is qualitatively different about this approach here, though. It's throwing an -allusers switch (as I'd expected one would have to to accomplish this). The only real difference I see is that his Get and Remove commands (at least in the first two, working commands) make no mention of Provisioned Apps.
I'm somewhat new at this, but my understanding of what makes an App "Provisioned" is that it's installed per user profile- which is exactly how the Apps I've been trying to excise behave.
Yet that's not what this appears to be going after. Not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth here- I'm happy it worked- but I'd also love to know WHY it worked any better than what I've been trying.
I think if I had a guess at this, the reason those first two commands work and the third does not is because the Apps I've been trying to remove are not, in fact, Provisioned.
But again, that defies my current understanding of what a Provisioned App behaves like. These were jumping into new user profiles with no input from me- and despite having been excised by the Administrator (or at least from the local admin's profile? I don't know).
Do ALL Apps do this? If so what makes a Provisioned App different from an "Unprovisioned" one?
23 Replies
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage (that's just the base of the command) is pretty much what you're looking for.csand has a script published that does this for most provisioned apps. There are exceptions like Edge that can't be removed, but by default these are the apps that are safe:
store|calculator|sticky|windows.photos|soundrecorder|mspaint|screensketch
https://community.spiceworks.com/scripts/show/4378-windows-10-decrapifier-18xx-19xx
Yeah. Done that. Done several variations on it, in fact. Doesn't work. I dearly wish it did.
I should point out that I know the App IDs I'm targeting. They are:
- Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_18.1910.1283.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Microsoft.Office.Desktop Microsoft.Office.Desktop_16051.12325.20298.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bb
I've used several variations on the "Get-AppxProvisionedPackage" command (Admin mode, with the -AllUsers switch, out of a grid view, etc). I don't know what "success feedback" looks like for them, but I know the result.
I log in a new user, pop open the apps pane, search for 'office' and there they are again. So if this method works at all, clearly it's missing something.
Is office listed in Control Panel - > Add remove programs?
Are the tiles listed under programs on the start menu (left pane) or are they just tiles on the shortcuts area (right pane)?
If you are using get-appxprovisionedpackage | remove-appxprovisionedpackage , it has to include the -online or -path parameter (depending if you are working on the current install of windows or an offline image, respectively).
How and when are you running your removal commands?
Edited Feb 4, 2020 at 23:23 UTC
Are you sure those are apps that can be removed? A number of them can't.
Removing the provisioned package does not remove the already installed apps, only prevents them from automatically installing on new user profiles.
You will have to use Remove-AppxPackage with the -AllUsers switch in addition to the above suggestions.
To keep Microsoft from installing packages on your machines, remove Windows!!! ;-)
csand: The Apps/Tiles exist in the Apps section of the main (W10, not legacy) control panel, not Programs and Features in the legacy control panel. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't generally look at the Start Menu as a place to uninstall things, and I probably never will. I seek a control panel- in this case the only one that will serve me here is the one accessible from the gear icon in the start menu.
I've tried using the "-online" switch with the Removal command (as I am removing these from an active workstation, not an image). No effect. The apps remain when signing in a new user to the workstation. I wish this weren't true. I wish this were simpler. Unless I am misunderstanding what you're suggesting, this process simply does not work- observably so.
I'm running the removal commands after booting the (live) machine. I am deleting the user account, then signing it in again- as if it were new- to test whether or not the apps are slipped into the new profile.
tulioarends: And preventing the apps from installing in new profiles is precisely what I am trying to accomplish. I have used the -AllUsers switch with it, as you suggested.
It results in the same thing: these apps re-appear when a new user is signed into the machine. If this is exactly what that process is meant to prevent, it's clearly quite bad at it.
Mike4003
Truthfully, I am not sure if these apps "can" be de-provisioned (though I can't see why they wouldn't be- particularly given the kind of trouble they seem to cause).
I do know they can be uninstalled, as I've done so many times manually. However the point of this exercise is to expunge them from the machine, and hopefully the image, so I no longer have to manually remove them- not just from the machine, but from each new user profile that gets signed into it.
Gorfmaster1 wrote:
maybe try something like this if they are reinstalling
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/application-management/remove-provisioned-apps-during-updat...
Appreciated but I already tried this. Doesn't work.
The registry keys do nothing to halt the return of these apps following a new sign-in. Though it is interesting that the apps I am targeting both have registry keys in the MS list in that article. At a guess I'd say that means they can be de-provisioned from a machine/image.
On a more serious note, which version of Windows do you have? You have the most control over Enterprise and Education, much less over Pro, and much much less over Home.
Also the release versions have varying amounts of control.
So, one thing I am noticing is- if I use some sort of a list command on the machine, let's say
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online | Select PackageName
The resulting list I end up with doesn't contain the App IDs I am trying to purge. If I point a removal command specifically at a named App ID
Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_18.1910.1283.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
What I basically get is
Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage : The system cannot find the file specified. At line:1 char:1 + Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName Microsoft.Microsof ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage], COMException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Dism.Commands.RemoveAppxProvisionedPackageCommand
"Huh? Whaddya mean? I don't have that thing you're trying to remove!"
Which is clearly wrong, because it shows up every damn time I log in a new user.
So then you start thinking- maybe the procedure I'm following here is only for the logged-in user? It's already removed there- so of course it doesn't show up in the listing! Maybe I need to look at a list of provisioned apps for ALL users? Or maybe I need to throw a similar switch when I go to remove the app?
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -AllUsers | Select PackageName
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'AllUsers'. At line:1 char:36 + Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -AllUsers | Select PackageName + ~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-AppxProvisionedPackage], ParameterBindingException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NamedParameterNotFound,Microsoft.Dism.Commands.GetAppxProvisionedPackageCommand
Nope- or I just don't know how to ask that question maybe?
Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -AllUsers -PackageName Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_18.1910.1283.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage : The system cannot find the file specified. At line:1 char:1 + Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -AllUsers -PackageName Microsof ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage], COMException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Dism.Commands.RemoveAppxProvisionedPackageCommand
Nope. "Sorry bruh. I don't have the thing you want to remove (but I'm going to keep installing it every time a new user is signed in... somehow)."
Then your sanity starts slipping, and you start typing things like this...
Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -AllUsers -PackageName -NoSeriouslyRemoveThisThing..Fuhrealzies Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_18.1910.1283.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Because hey, what have you got to lose? But you still feel empty inside and pine for the days when uninstalling a piece of software wasn't phrased like a lecture on quantum physics.
I put it in a box with the removal command. Is the App dead or alive? We can't know until we open the bo- Oh wait it's alive...
More delightful frolicks!
Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Office* | Remove-AppxPackage
Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF1, Package was not found. Windows cannot remove Microsoft.Office.OneNote_16001.12430.20120.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe because the current user does not have that package installed. Use Get-AppxPackage to see the list of packages installed. NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] b8e0c42c-db91-0003-a139-e2b891dbd501 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID b8e0c42c-db91-0003-a139-e2b891dbd501 At line:1 char:38 + Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Office* | Remove-AppxPackage + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Offic...__8wekyb3d8bbwe:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], PSInval idOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF1, Package was not found. Windows cannot remove Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_18.2001.1241.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe because the current user does not have that package installed. Use Get-AppxPackage to see the list of packages installed. NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] b8e0c42c-db91-0003-a739-e2b891dbd501 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID b8e0c42c-db91-0003-a739-e2b891dbd501 At line:1 char:38 + Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Office* | Remove-AppxPackage + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Micro...__8wekyb3d8bbwe:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], PSInval idOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand
I mean, on the bright side the *office* wildcard seems to be finding at least some of the things I'm trying to purge.
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'AllUsers'. At line:1 char:36 + Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online -AllUsers | Select PackageName -Al ... + ~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-AppxProvisionedPackage], ParameterBindingException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NamedParameterNotFound,Microsoft.Dism.Commands.GetAppxProvisionedPackageCommand
Okay, so I think I've found the answer. It's the "best answer" in the following thread:
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2152460-stop-windows-10-pro-bloatware-installing-for-new-user...
This comes from NathM
you probably have an OEM preinstall of Office (the Store packaged Win32 version)1. Get-AppXPackage %s -allUsers | Remove-AppXPackage -allUsers
2. Get-AppXPackage %s -PackageTypeFilter bundle -allUsers | Remove-AppXPackage -allUsers
3. Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -online -PackageName %s -allUsers
where %s is Microsoft.Office.Desktop
Now- just like the user who responds to him in that thread, the third command goes borky- errors/doesn't work.
BUT! Upon Logging in a new user, the apps are in fact missing after running at least the two first commands- which is the result I was looking for.
I can't say what is qualitatively different about this approach here, though. It's throwing an -allusers switch (as I'd expected one would have to to accomplish this). The only real difference I see is that his Get and Remove commands (at least in the first two, working commands) make no mention of Provisioned Apps.
I'm somewhat new at this, but my understanding of what makes an App "Provisioned" is that it's installed per user profile- which is exactly how the Apps I've been trying to excise behave.
Yet that's not what this appears to be going after. Not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth here- I'm happy it worked- but I'd also love to know WHY it worked any better than what I've been trying.
I think if I had a guess at this, the reason those first two commands work and the third does not is because the Apps I've been trying to remove are not, in fact, Provisioned.
But again, that defies my current understanding of what a Provisioned App behaves like. These were jumping into new user profiles with no input from me- and despite having been excised by the Administrator (or at least from the local admin's profile? I don't know).
Do ALL Apps do this? If so what makes a Provisioned App different from an "Unprovisioned" one?
I have a theory that everything was working as it does (whether or not as it should is a more philosophical question :D), and you were on the right track, but your process may have led to some aggravating results for you.
csand wrote:
How were you deleting the test user profile?
Control Panel (Legacy)>System>User Profiles.
Pretty much the same place you'd do this in nearly any version of Windows since XP or so. It typically results in subsequent logins being subjected to the "new user experience"- and in 10 that of course takes the form of the mouse-in-your-pocket/royal-we nonsense of the computer "talking" to you whilst it sets up things for your first login.
Setup that I realize includes the slipping in of these apps, among other things.
Did you do all your testing on a single machine, using the same account (deleting the account and trying again?)
My process usually goes:
- Isolate the problem.
- Define the problem.
- Solve the problem.
Typically that first step involves limiting the pool of possibility as much as can be done. In my mind that usually means trying it with a single machine first, then expanding one's approach to encapsulate more "exotic" circumstances.
Unless of course there's a specific purpose in testing it under different circumstances. In this case I couldn't see one, and there were far too many unknowns about how this is meant to work in just one scenario.
Still are, if you ask me.
I have a theory that everything was working as it does (whether or not as it should is a more philosophical question :D)
My theory is that no one discipline is truly separate from another. Philosophy is as valid a discipline to systems design as any other. If you count it out, you're arbitrarily introducing a blind spot that you'll almost inevitably be paying for later.
Like when Microsoft suddenly and inexplicably decided that the vast majority of it's user base "obviously" interacted with their product through a touch-enabled device and Windows 8 R1 rolled out. Though I think that one is equally down to confusing what one wishes were reality and what actually is.
Philosophically speaking (if it wasn't already obvious), I feel like "the direction" Microsoft is taking with stuff like this (Apps) is a bad one. I realize why they're doing it. I realize it's a business model that works for other successful big tech companies, but I think the hell-to-leather charging towards it ignores any value in maybe being the one guy in the room who does things a little differently.
I don't say that out of any fear of change, but rather that there's a failure to recognize existing, meaningful equity in the design of past products.
Then again my position requires me to be a lot more "agile", and affords me a lot less luxury in being a specialist. You'd be surprised how many "technical" issues can be solved with a judicious application of, oh say- Psychology, for example.
csand wrote:
Do you want the long version, or the short version? :D
I'd like to read both please :-)
OKEDOKE
Long version:
Depending on some factors, this experience with Windows 10 and guest accounts can provide some good info:
Consider a domain guest account, on a public use PC. In our org we had 1 AD guest user, that was used on a ton of public use PCs as the login ID. AS a domain guest, it deletes itself after logout, so when the next person logs in it is a brand new default profile with none of the previous users' personal info left behind. Worked well in Windows 7 but in Windows 10 there was an unforeseen problem:
- guest logs in
- guest uses the calculator (or ANY appx), it works
- guest logs out, account deletes
- guest logs in again (same account, new profile).. previously used appx, don't work! They appear for a second, and then disappear.
So I made a logoff script that uninstalled all the appx for that profile, so (in theory) they installed again as usual on the next login as provisioned apps do. Testing this out, I found that they never came back - blank start menu, no appx present on any subsequent login. This was confusing because as far as I knew the account profile is removed each time, so why weren't the provisioned apps being... provisioned?
(OT a bit - So I tried additionally re-registering the appx at login (login script), and that actually fixed it all. I ended up switching them all to shared PC mode which is more elegant solution:D )
What does this have to do with SkunkWerks' problem? Well, the database in charge of appx provisioning status and installation etc... is not being adjusted in a timely manner for the account in question, using traditional (legacy) account management, and is a separate entity from the rest of Windows' account management it seems.
Given the situation above, I did some testing. Let's just use the calculator app as the example.
Using get-appxpackage *calc* -allusers | FL we can see the full details of the appx package in question, including its installation state for users on the PC.
The attribute is "PackageUserInformation".
I log in as a new user, and calculator is installed as usual.
I log in as an admin, and delete that user using the advanced system settings menu per OP's procedure. I log out, give the computer a couple minutes, then log back in as admin. I then run the above Powershell... well guess what, our recently deleted user, whose profile has been completely removed, was still listed (under packageUserInformation) as having the app installed!! So, in my case with our guest account, Windows isn't provisioning the calculator app at logon, because according to Windows' own database,. it's already there!
This is some good information. Though I have an even shorter version:
It sounds like the Database managing these app installs is an Eldritch Horror.
That is not Uninstalled which can eternal lie...
SkunkWerks wrote:
This is some good information. Though I have an even shorter version:
It sounds like the Database managing these app installs is an Eldritch Horror.
That is not Uninstalled which can eternal lie...
I don't think Legacy/Artifact elements being in windows are going away any time soon (I still see some from XP and Win2K). After all, how could they do such a sloppy job with the new UI elements if they couldn't just lean on the older, more reliable interfaces? But yes, I wish they could straighten out the mess.
Edited Feb 10, 2020 at 18:03 UTC
I have a golden image I use for install and a script to obtain all of the AppxApps, provisioned or not.
1. I run Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Select Name, PackageFullName in PS
2. I then build a PS1 script and parse all the app names into it so it looks something like this:
a. Get-AppxPackage PackageFullName | Remove-AppxPackage (where PackageFullName is the name of the package you are trying to remove).
3. I have this set up as a script in GPO under Comp Config--Admin Templates--Windows Components--Store, in conjunction with a startup script. Basically the script I am using repeats 2.a. thru all of the apps I want removed.
4. I also disabled Edge using the Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge*| Remove-AppxPackage
I never have issues with users picking up AppxApps after this. I have users that switch endpoints daily, multiple users per endpoint per day. Never an issue.
I always update on a lab machine for every major release. Usually I have to add a couple of things.
Good luck @Skunkworks!
I do want to note that MS is trying to push drivers thru the MS store. A couple of vendors have complied. If I remember correctly, Realtek is one of them. Also, Windows Store Apps such as Photos and Calculator have to be updated, so you want to disable the store in GP, NOT remove it.
I chose to leave photos, music, calculator, sticky notes, Movies and a couple of other things, but I removed Edge, Holo, XBOX, and all the games,
If you follow a proper process, your apps do not return for any user, Past, Present, or Future. You do have extra legwork when a Major Release of Windows comes out.
If you want to know more about how I do this, let me know!
Good luck @Skunkwerks!
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What Does Removed Apps And Users Mean
Source: https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2255886-how-do-i-remove-apps-from-windows-10-for-all-users-past-present-and-future
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