Windows Store App Maintenance

[siliconman01]

If you are like me, you prefer to keep your software updated.  This includes the Windows Store Apps that are installed on your system.  As you know, you can go to Windows Store, click on the ... in the upper right corner, select Downloads and Updates>Get Updates, and Microsoft will update all the Apps installed on your system with the latest and greatest versions.

To remove Windows Apps that you do not use, you can go to Settings>Apps and uninstall the undesired Store Apps.  However you might/will find that some of the Apps will not let you uninstall them via Settings>Apps.  Okay, then go to the link below and it will provide you an alternate procedure to remove those stubborn Apps via PowerShell

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/uninstall-restore-windows-10-builtin-apps

Below is a list of Apps that you can remove via the PowerShell method.  This list applies to Windows 10 (although it may also work on Windows 8/8.1).  

Viewer 3D:                         Get-AppxPackage *3dviewer* | Remove-AppxPackage
Alarms and Clocks:         Get-AppxPackage *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppxPackage
Calculator:                        Get-AppxPackage *windowscalculator* | Remove-AppxPackage
Mail and Calendar:          Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage
Messaging:                      Get-AppxPackage *messaging* | Remove-AppxPackage
Paint 3D:                           Get-AppxPackage *mspaint* | Remove-AppxPackage
People:                             Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage
Sticky Notes:                   Get-AppxPackage *stickynotes* | Remove-AppxPackage
Voice Recorder:              Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder* | Remove-AppxPackage
Xbox:                                Get-AppxPackage *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage
Xbox Game Speech:     Get-AppxPackage *xboxspeech* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get Help:                        Get-AppxPackage *gethelp* | Remove-AppxPackage
App Installer:                 Get-AppxPackage *desktopappinstaller* | Remove-AppxPackage
Movies & TV:                 Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage
Your Phone:                   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.YourPhone -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage
Camera:                          Get-AppxPackage *windowscamera* | Remove-AppxPackage
Maps:                             Get-AppxPackage *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage
Groove Music:               Get-appxpackage *Microsoft.ZuneMusic* | remove-appxpackage   
Microsoft Photos:        Get-appxpackage *photos* | remove-appxpackage 

[hazelnut]

Don't you just use CCleaner to uninstall them?

[siliconman01]

48 minutes ago, hazelnut said:

Don't you just use CCleaner to uninstall them?

Holy Toledo!  Completely overlooked that feature in CCleaner.  That works too.  

[Andavari]

I've seen that site and used their PowerShell method.

Either method CCleaner or PowerShell still leaves behind allot of left-overs, too many in my opinion and they're all over the place not just in ProgramData so full removal isn't possible unless you start hunting down left-overs manually but... ...they also exist in the registry too.

When uninstalling them you can end up with an orphaned link to a App that's uninstalled, you can right-click that app link choose uninstall and nothing happens, and you can't delete the link either. The link will just sit there in the Start Menu that Windows luckily after a few days or weeks nukes all on its own whim from what I experienced with the Weather app that never worked on my laptop.

Geek Uninstaller can also remove some of them (not all) by clicking in it: View > Windows Store Apps

[APMichael]

There's also a brand-new tool for that: AppBuster

[Andavari]

AppBuster looks like the most promising way to deal with those apps, I also use their freeware portable tool ShutUp10.