Why the terminal beats hunting through Settings
Settings shows each app on its own page, with scrolling and confirmation dialogs; winget gives you a searchable list and one-line removals that work identically for every app. Because it matches packages by ID, it also removes apps whose entries hide from the Settings list, such as per-user tools and older installers. The command works in any terminal — Windows Terminal, PowerShell or the classic console — and elevation is requested only when the app itself needs admin rights.
winget uninstalls three kinds of software: MSIX and Store packages, which it removes directly; classic programs with a registered uninstaller, where it quietly runs that uninstaller; and portable apps it installed itself, stored under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages. Each kind has its quirks — silent mode depends on the uninstaller supporting it, and some vendor setups show a progress window regardless.
- winget list — everything installed for the current user, with IDs
- winget uninstall 7zip.7zip — remove by exact ID
- winget uninstall --id Git.Git -e --silent — exact match, no dialogs
- winget uninstall Microsoft.BingWeather — Store packages go by their Appx ID
- winget uninstall --id <id> --purge — portable apps: delete the package folder too
Uninstalling an app step by step
Open Windows Terminal and run winget list to see what is installed; the ID column is what you feed to the uninstall command. Type winget uninstall followed by the ID, for example winget uninstall VideoLAN.VLC, and confirm the prompt if winget asks. When several apps match a partial name, winget lists them with numbers and waits for your choice — add -e for an exact match and skip the interrogation.
Use --silent to ask the vendor's uninstaller to run without its windows: most modern installers honor it, a few stubborn ones still flash their UI. Machine-wide installs trigger a UAC prompt or require an elevated terminal. If winget cannot find an app at all, it is either installed only for another user or registered in a way Windows does not expose — such apps uninstall through Settings or their own tools.
Limits, leftovers and the after-cleanup
winget runs the app's own uninstaller, and uninstallers decide what to delete — most leave configuration files and caches behind in %APPDATA% and %LOCALAPPDATA%. That is by design, so settings survive reinstalls, but on cleanup day the megabytes hide exactly in those folders. Portable packages are the exception: --purge removes the whole package directory instead of leaving the executable behind.
For a proper after-cleanup, delete the leftover folders you recognize, or run a dedicated cleaner: Kleaner PRO sweeps the app leftovers it knows about in the same pass as temp files and caches. Reboot once after a big uninstall session — some installers schedule file deletions that only complete at the next start.
Questions and Answers
Can winget uninstall built-in Windows apps?
Yes, the Appx-based ones: winget uninstall Microsoft.BingWeather removes the Weather app, for instance. System-critical packages refuse to go, and some need PowerShell's Remove-AppxPackage with -AllUsers instead.
What does winget uninstall --purge do?
It deletes the entire package folder of a portable app winget installed, instead of keeping the executable in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages. It applies to portable packages only.
Why does winget say no installed package found?
The app is either installed for another user account, or it registers no uninstall entry — some vendor tools do this. Check Settings → Apps, or run winget list --name with part of the app's name.
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