Work in Progress: Documentation is a work in progress. Some pages may be incomplete.

Windows Apps & Features

Winhance allows you to deeply customize your Windows experience by removing built-in apps, legacy capabilities, and optional features that are often difficult to uninstall through standard Windows settings.

Removing Built-in Apps

To remove apps from your system:

  1. Use the Search Bar at the top to quickly find specific applications.
  2. Select the checkboxes for the apps you want to remove.
  3. You can select apps that are "Not Installed" to ensure Windows doesn't try to reinstall them later.
  4. Click the Remove Apps button.
🛡️ Continuous Removal Mechanism

Winhance features a Continuous Removal system. When you remove a Windows App, Capability, or Optional Feature, Winhance doesn't just uninstall it once; it ensures it stays uninstalled.

To achieve this, Winhance creates PowerShell scripts and registers them as Windows Scheduled Tasks that run automatically at every system startup.

Edge & OneDrive Removal

In Winhance v25.11.03 and later, the Edge removal process has been significantly improved:

  • Edge WebView: The script no longer removes the Edge WebView component, ensuring that third-party apps that depend on it continue to function correctly.
  • Web Search Redirect: Since Microsoft Edge is uninstalled, Winhance includes a redirect mechanism (based on OpenWebSearch) that ensures web links from the Start Menu open in your default browser instead of erroring out.

How it Works (Technical Details)

Winhance uses official Windows features to maintain your preference:

  • Task Scheduler: Management tasks are created in a dedicated Winhance subfolder within the Windows Task Scheduler.
  • SYSTEM Context: These tasks run under the SYSTEM account to ensure they have the necessary permissions to modify system-wide components.
  • Dual Targeting: Although running as SYSTEM, the scripts are intelligently designed to apply changes both system-wide (using -AllUsers flags for Appx packages) and to the currently logged-in user (by detecting active sessions and modifying user-specific registry hives).

Removal Scripts

The persistent removal is handled by three primary scripts:

  • EdgeRemoval.ps1: Specifically handles the persistent removal of Microsoft Edge (Legacy and Chromium).
  • OneDriveRemoval.ps1: Specifically handles the persistent removal of Microsoft OneDrive.
  • BloatRemoval.ps1: Handles all other selected apps, capabilities, and features.
📂 Where are the scripts?

You can find these scripts on your system at: C:\ProgramData\Winhance\Scripts

Alternatively, in the Winhance application, you can click the More button in the left navigation pane and select Winhance Scripts to open this folder directly.

Status Indicators

The Windows Apps & Features view uses several visual indicators to help you understand the current state of each component.

Installed
Not Installed
Can Reinstall
Cannot Reinstall

Installation Status: A Green dot indicates the app is currently present on your system. A Red dot means it is uninstalled.

Reinstallability: The Sync icon indicates if the application can be restored via Winhance. Some system components or retired apps (Red Sync-Off icon, like Skype) cannot be reinstalled once removed because they are no longer available from Microsoft's servers.

🔄 Reinstalling Apps

If you decide you want an app back, you must reinstall it through Winhance. This is because Winhance will automatically detect the installation and update your persistent removal scripts (BloatRemoval.ps1) to ensure the app is no longer targeted for removal at startup.

Managing Persistence (Winhance Status)

When you click the Help (?) button, you will see the Winhance Status indicators. These represent the active Continuous Removal tasks on your system.

Winhance Removal Status
✅ Continuous Removal Active
(Scripts Exist and Run at Startup)
Bloat
Edge
OneDrive
⚫ Continuous Removal Inactive
(Scripts Don't Exist and Don't Run at Startup)
Bloat
Edge
OneDrive

These icons serve as both indicators and toggle switches:

  • Lit Up Icon: The persistent removal script and scheduled task are active. Winhance will automatically re-remove this component if it reappears.
  • Grayed Out Icon: The script/task is disabled or has been removed.

To stop the persistent removal, simply click the colored icon in the app. This will delete the removal script and unregister the scheduled task, allowing you to reinstall the application normally.

⚠️ Setting Persistence Note

Please note that only the Windows Apps & Features section uses this persistent mechanism. Settings found in other sections like Power or Taskbar are applied once and do not use background scripts to re-apply themselves. This is to respect any manual changes you might make in the Windows Settings app later.