Create a Windows 11/10 Lite ISO
Build a Windows 11 or 10 lite ISO from an official image: remove bloat, Copilot, and telemetry, keep updates working. Safer than any prebuilt lite download.
Build your own Windows lite ISO - Windows 11 or 10 - from an official Microsoft image: remove preinstalled apps and unwanted components, turn off telemetry, keep updates working, and reuse the whole configuration as a preset for every future build.
Prefer the recipe over the download. A prebuilt lite ISO cannot show you what changed inside it - you inherit someone else's choices, update state, and distribution chain. Building your own from an official Microsoft ISO keeps you in control, and if you admire someone's build, ask for their preset instead: replaying it on a clean source reproduces its NTLite configuration, verifiably, in minutes.
What a Lite Windows Means
A lite install is a stock Windows with less in it: fewer preinstalled apps, fewer background services and scheduled tasks, no consumer promotions, and optionally whole feature stacks removed (Copilot, Recall, OneDrive, Xbox, telemetry). The result installs faster, boots with fewer processes, and uses less memory and disk - how much less depends entirely on how far you go.
NTLite does this at the image level, so every install from your ISO comes out clean - nothing to script or debloat after setup.
What You Need
- An official Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft (Media Creation Tool or direct download)
- NTLite - app removal, tweaks, unattended setup, and ISO creation work in the free edition; the deepest component removals are premium (any paid tier)
- A virtual machine or spare device to test the result before real use
Build It Step by Step
1. Load the Image
On the Image page, load the ISO and pick the edition you actually deploy (usually Pro or Home). Fewer editions kept = smaller ISO; see Multi-Edition Images if you want several in one ISO.
2. Remove Apps and Components
On the Components page, first set Compatibility options for what must keep working - Windows Update, printing, USB, video playback, and your hardware. Then start from a Template (toolbar menu): one click unchecks a curated component set per level - Privacy → Gaming → Lite, each removing more than the last, with Lite the deepest. Fine-tune from there: uncheck what the template left that you do not want - preinstalled Store apps, Copilot, Recall, OneDrive, Xbox, media and consumer features. The compatibility safeties lock protected components so a removal cannot silently break something you rely on.
Trim background load on the Scheduled Tasks page as well - telemetry collectors and promotion tasks are safe removals on a lean build.
3. Privacy and Behavior Tweaks
The Settings page covers telemetry level, advertising ID, suggestions and tips, and hundreds of other defaults - applied into the image, so they are live from first boot.
4. Automate Setup
On the Unattended page, preconfigure the installer: skip the out-of-box questions, create a local account without a Microsoft account, set locale and partitioning. A lite ISO that also installs itself is the real time saver.
5. Apply and Create the ISO
On the Apply page, review the pending changes, enable ISO creation, and start. If the goal is a FAT32-formatted USB drive (the safe default for UEFI booting), SWM splitting is the first choice: it splits the install image into parts guaranteed under FAT32's 4 GB per-file limit, with far less processing than recompression. ESD compression produces the smallest ISO overall but is slower and heavier on the system. Save the preset - your entire lite configuration replays on any future Windows build in a few clicks.
Updates and Removal Depth
How you update a lite install later comes down to one choice at removal time: servicing stack compatibility. Both modes remove the same active components - they differ in how deep the cleanup goes, and which update path remains.
- Servicing stack compatibility enabled - preserves Windows Update compatibility by keeping most WinSxS store files (passive files, no runtime cost). Each cumulative update installs directly, through Windows Update or NTLite. After updating, run Tools → Remove Reinstalls (or
ntlite.exe /CleanCU) to re-clean what the update brought back. - Servicing stack compatibility disabled - deep removal that cleans WinSxS as well, for the smallest possible install. Cumulative updates no longer apply directly; keep Host Refresh compatibility enabled when removing, then update monthly with the Host Refresh Wizard - it re-applies a refreshed image of the same type over the live install, keeping files and settings. Reinstalling from a refreshed ISO also works.
Either way, integrate the latest cumulative update into the image before deploying - see Download Windows Updates.
Windows 10 Lite and Extreme Minimal Builds
The exact same flow applies to a Windows 10 (or older) ISO - load, remove, tweak, apply. For an extreme minimal build aimed at virtual machines, a few extra levers help:
- Start from an LTSC edition - the leanest official base, no Store apps to remove
- Push the Lite template further by hand, testing in a VM between rounds
- Post-setup:
Compact /CompactOS:alwayscompresses the installed OS,powercfg /h offdrops the hibernation file - Trim the pagefile in Settings if the VM has a fixed small disk
Slim Down an Existing Install
No reinstall needed: NTLite loads the running system (live install) with the same toolset - remove apps and components, apply the privacy tweaks, and trim scheduled tasks directly on your current Windows. Load it from the Image page like any other source.
Tip: Test image-level removals in a VM first, then replay the same preset on the live system once you are happy with it. And back up the live system (system image or restore point) before editing it - removals on a running install are not as reversible as rebuilding an ISO.