In this blog post I will show a method to remove the unwanted Windows 10 modern (inbox) applications using Microsoft Intune and the Microsoft Business Store.
I started this method to remove unwanted applications from Windows 10 after using a PowerShell script before. I found the method using a PowerShell script deployed with Intune wasn`t always reliable as I wanted.
The applications I mean which we can remove using Intune are for example; Skype, Xbox, Game bar and My Office.
Blocking applications like Candy Crush can be done by deploying an Intune Configuration policy and block Consumer Features under the Windows Spotlight settings.
Admin setup
I assume you have already connected the Microsoft Business Store with Intune, if that is not the case have a look at this article first.
- Logon to the Business Store via businessstore.microsoft.com
- Search for the application you want to remove, in this case Game bar
- Click Get app
- Logon to the Microsoft 365 Device Management portal via devicemanagement.microsoft.com
- Click on Client Apps, Microsoft Store for Business
- Click Sync, to perform a new sync between Intune and the Business Store.
Click on Apps, locate the new application in the list and select the application.
Usually it takes just a few minutes before the new app is present in the application list
- Click Assignments
- Click Add group
- Select Uninstall under Assignment type
- Click Included Groups
- Select Yes behind Uninstall this app for all users
- Click OK twice and click Save
User-experience
Move over to one of your Windows 10 devices. The Game bar application is there on the Startmenu.
Now just sit back, relax and wait for the application is removed, or perform a manual MDM sync to speed up this process.
After the sync is completed, the Game bar application is removed.
Great article
Unfortunately I can’t find Microsoft Solitaire Collection in the Store so we still have to deploy a PowerShell script to get rid of this app.
Yes you`re correct, I can`t find it either.
Never noticed that before, have no clients whit the request to remove it.
I found it by browsing to all apps made by Microsoft: https://businessstore.microsoft.com/en-gb/store/details/microsoft-solitaire-collection/9wzdncrfhwd2
Great, thank you very much for your time!
It is weird that we can’t find the app using the search field, it seems MS really wants us to play Solitaire at work 🙂
Here is the process I came up with to find all provisioned apps:
1. Identify the app with Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Format-Table DisplayName, PackageName
2. Let’s pick Microsoft.ZuneVideo Microsoft.ZuneVideo_2019.18111.17311.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
3. Construct the link to see it in Windows Store by PFN: ms-windows-store://pdp/?PFN=Microsoft.ZuneVideo_8wekyb3d8bbwe when pasting this into browser on Windows 10 machine it will open a Microsoft Store app
4. In that app, click “Share”, then copy link – it will return something like this: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9WZDNCRFJ3P2
5. Replace it making it pointing to business store: https://businessstore.microsoft.com/en-us/store/details/productId/9WZDNCRFJ3P2
6. This will open business store, now you can do “get app” and sync with Intune and then uninstall it using the approach from this article
Great info Alexey!
Thanks for sharing with us.
This works like a charm.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to rename the InTune display name of the App in the App list iIntune? In the full app list, their not way to distinguish apps that are published to the Company Portal or Required installs, from those that are set tp Uninstall. Would love to be able to add the word “Uninstall” or “Remove” in front of the app name.
Right now, you have to drill down into the Assignments blade for each to look for the “Uninstall Assignments” configuration.
That differs per app type. For a Microsoft Store for Business app, for example you cannot change the Display name. A win32 app is named as you want to name it.
i configured a shared multi user device and i used self driven so no user action was taken.
When i apply an app uninstall to my device/group it doesn’t do anything.
That`s probably because Windows 10 (UWP) apps are installed under the user context and you now try to uninstall it by assigning this to a device group.
I don’t suppose you can block specific Win32 apps can you? For example if I wanted to block Zoom, it’s not a modern app so the client gets thrown on the PC from the web.
The win32 app type also supports the Uninstall assignment. You could give that a try. Wrapp the installer from Zoom and assign it to all devices as Uninstall. But I have never tried it. I assume Intune will remove Zoom, but if the user is admin he can install it again and probably takes a while until Intune removes the package again.
There might be better ways to block an app.
Hi Peter,
this solution was working gr8 for year.
But now Business Store isn’t supported any longer – what do you use now?
Thx
Werner
I revisited this article which I had bookmarked to say the same as you. This has worked great up until now. What should I use now? I’m assuming I need to use scripts, but maybe there’s a better alternative?
I found my answer at Peter’s new article, https://www.inthecloud247.com/new-microsoft-store-integrated-in-intune/. New store works the same to remove apps, tested and confirmed with “Mail and Calendar”. However, I cannot find “Solitaire & Casual Games”.