Windows 11 built-in apps removal

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meineomma

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Hello everyone
For Windows 10 images it was enough to disable pre-installed apps and preinstalled oem apps in ntlite - image - settings - privacy
Now I have a deployed a Windows 11 image with the same settings and am greeted with
  • LinkedIn
  • Solitaire & Casual Games
  • Office 365
  • Outlook (new)
  • Teams
How can I remove them from the image before deployment?
 
Hi,

yes, Microsoft became much more aggressive with those.
Remove Content Delivery Manager component, and when Windows returns it with Windows Update, run NTLite - Tools - Remove Reinstalls to cleanup - it does that once.
You can also disable/remove Windows Update and update with NTLite - Tools - Install Updates, then it doesn't install those apps.
 
nuhi said:
Hi,

yes, Microsoft became much more aggressive with those.
Remove Content Delivery Manager component, and when Windows returns it with Windows Update, run NTLite - Tools - Remove Reinstalls to cleanup - it does that once.
You can also disable/remove Windows Update and update with NTLite - Tools - Install Updates, then it doesn't install those apps.
Click to expand...
This is what I do... remove windows updates but I keep the store since there are a few apps I need from it. Using Ntlite for my updated works well "when" I want them.
 
This .reg file will block most of Content Delivery Manager's content.
Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent]
"DisableCloudOptimizedContent"=dword:00000001
 
outlook (new) is still there, but at least start is clean
 

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DisableCloudOptimizedContent blocks Outlook (New) from appearing on Start Menu & Taskbar.

But the app is still installed unless you remove the hidden UsoScheduler task that tries to update the normal Outlook app.
Settings / Tasks (UScheduler) / OutlookUpdate -> Delete
 
I've found out that removing content delivery manager also disable windows spotlight. So, yeah, that's not ideal.
 
You can integrate the previous reg file from the Registry screen, and add a Post-Setup (After logon) reg file to reverse the change. This skips over the updates that OOBE tries to push out.

After logon:
Code: 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent]
"DisableCloudOptimizedContent"=dword:00000000
 
can someone clarify what this linkedin app is? How to prevent windows 11 from attaching it to the start menu?
 
By default, Content Delivery Manager will pin 3rd-party "suggested apps" to your Start Menu. Those apps are not actually installed on your system, unless you double-click the icon. If you highlight and delete the pinned icon, then it permanently disappears.

Linked In is a company owned by MS, which helps users find social contacts working in professional companies.
 
Alright. Thank you for clarifying.
I would like to have an AD environment where spotlight is generally enabled without new users getting those pesky icons like linkedin shoved into their start menu without consent.
Yet I fail to come up with a reliable solution.

I have thought of setting HKLM DisableCloudOptimizedContent to 1 and 0 on every workstation prior and after a new user signs in to the domain for the first time. But I fail to see a way to realize it. Users don't have admin-rights and cannot automatically enable or disable the policy by script or RunOnce.
Another way around would be to have the system check, whether a user already exists (i.e. the local profile path is present) and then setting DisableCloudOptimizedContent to 0, resetting it to 1 upon logoff.

However the check and set routines would have to be the first task upon logon, before the profile actually gets created or loaded, and I don't know yet whether that can be achieved and how.

Any other approach to keep spotlight but prevent bloatware?
 
The alternative is to create a GPO to push a default Start Menu layout to user accounts, since no 3rd-party apps will be pinned.

Prior to W11 24H2 (Aug. 2025) or 25H2, this was sometimes a headache because the GPO method didn't allow users to change their Start Menu layouts (because it was always enforced again on the next logon). But now MS has finally permitted users to make updates after it's been rolled out ("applyonce").

Customize the Start layout
 
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