[Windows 10 Tip] Remove Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Contact Support and Feedback Apps

This exclusive Windows 10 tutorial will help you if:

  • You want to remove Cortana Search app completely from Windows 10 (UPDATE)
  • You want to get rid of SearchUI.exe service running continuously in background
  • You want to remove Microsoft Edge web browser, Contact Support and Feedback apps in Windows 10
  • You want to remove Lock Screen app completely
  • You want to permanently disable Action Center and don’t want any notification in Windows 10
  • You want to disable new modern (metro) style Start Menu and Taskbar jumplists in Windows 10
  • You want to disable new fly-out UI of icons in Taskbar notification area (system tray)

All these things can be done with the help of a few simple steps which we are going to tell in this detailed tutorial.

We know that Windows 10 comes with lots of built-in modern (metro) apps such as Calculator, Mail, Messaging, Phone, Skype, Bing, etc. By default Windows 10 doesn’t allow you to uninstall or remove any of these default apps but you can remove these apps using Powershell commands as given in following tutorial:

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[Guide] How to Remove All Built-in Apps in Windows 10

Although Powershell commands help us in removing built-in apps but following 4 apps can’t be removed using Powershell:

Cortana Search – This app provides Microsoft’s personal digital assistant Cortana in Windows 10. Cortana app uses the SearchUI.exe process which continuously runs in background and can’t be disabled. Even if you kill or end task of SearchUI.exe process using Task Manager, it comes back again within few seconds.

Microsoft Edge – Its a new web browser from Microsoft which supports modern web standards and technologies. If you use Internet Explorer or a 3rd party web browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera, you might want to remove this new web browser.

Contact Support – This app can be used to contact Microsoft support team for help and assistance.

Windows Feedback – This app can be used to provide feedback about Windows 10 to Microsoft. Its said that this app regularly collects data and sends it to Microsoft but we can’t confirm it.

If you want to remove any or all of the above mentioned system apps in Windows 10, this guide will definitely help you. Today in this tutorial, we are going to share an easy way to disable or remove these system apps in Windows 10.

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Windows 10 Modern (Metro) Apps Storage Location

Lets tell you first about these apps location in Windows 10. Actually all modern (metro) apps are divided into following 2 categories by Windows:

  • Standard Windows apps
  • System apps

All apps which you install from Store and all built-in apps such as Mail, Messaging, etc which can be uninstalled using Powershell method are called Windows apps and can be found in following location:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps

This folder is restricted and you can’t access this folder. But if you take ownership of this folder, you can open it. To take ownership of this folder, add the “Take Ownership” option in file/folder context menu with the help of following article:

[Tip] Add “Take Ownership” Option in Files / Folders Context Menu in Windows

Now right-click on “WindowsApps” folder and select “Take ownership” option. It’ll take some time in taking ownership of the folder and in granting you permission on the folder. Once the process completes, you can double-click on “WindowsApps” folder and can see its content.

Windows_Apps_Folder_Windows_10.png

This folder contains several sub-folders which contain files of all modern apps installed in your computer. We have already told you about this folder in past in following tutorial:

How to Change Metro Apps Default Installation Location in Windows 8?

The other category “System Apps” contains essential apps which are required by Windows to provide several UI elements to users. System apps include Microsoft Edge web browser, Cortana search app, Contact Support, Windows Feedback, Lock Screen app, Action Center, Parental Controls, etc. You can find these system apps in following location:

C:\Windows\SystemApps

System_Apps_Folder_Windows_10.png

There is also another folder which contains both Windows apps as well as System apps. You can find it in following location:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages

Replace username term in above mentioned path with your user account name in Windows 10. You can launch this folder directly using following command in RUN dialog box:

%userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages

Local_Packages_Folder_Windows_10.png

This “Packages” folder is used to install apps for user accounts that’s why it contains all apps files.

Now lets come back to our main article!

If you want to remove Cortana Search, Microsoft Edge, Contact Support and Windows Feedback apps in Windows 10, you just need to either delete or rename their respective folders present in “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder. We’ll not recommend to delete any app folder. Just rename the folder and it’ll do the same job. Once you rename any app folder, Windows will be unable to find that app’s folder and executable file, thus it’ll not be able to run that app in your computer.

Remove Microsoft Edge Web Browser

If you want to remove Microsoft Edge web browser, go to “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder and rename “Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe” folder. Just add anything before the original folder name. For example you can add BACK or ! (Exclamation mark) or any desired text before folder name.

Remove_Cortana_Edge_Contact_Support_Feedback_App_Windows_10.png

We renamed the folder to “BACK_Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe” and it disabled Microsoft Edge web browser completely in Windows 10.

Now if you try to launch the Edge browser from Start Menu, it’ll do nothing as Windows will not find the folder and files related to Edge browser.

Remove Contact Support App

If you want to remove Contact Support app, go to “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder and rename “ContactSupport_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder to “BACK_ContactSupport_cw5n1h2txyewy” or any desired name. It’ll disable the app completely from running in your system.

UPDATE: Now you can easily uninstall “Contact Support” app in newer Windows 10 builds by opening Settings app and go to “System -> Apps & Features -> Manage Optional Features” page. On that page, you can uninstall Contact Support app.

Remove Windows Feedback App

If you want to remove Windows Feedback app, go to “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder and rename “WindowsFeedback_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder to “BACK_WindowsFeedback_cw5n1h2txyewy” or any desired name. It’ll disable the app completely from running in your system.

Remove Cortana Search (SearchUI.exe) App

Removing Cortana Search app is a tricky task as Cortana app always runs in background using SearchUI.exe service. To remove Cortana app, you’ll need to rename “Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder in “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder.

But since SearchUI.exe file runs in background, Windows will not allow you to rename this folder. You’ll get an error message that “The action can’t be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program. Close the folder or file and try again.”.

Remove_Cortana_Search_App_Windows_10.png

Keep the error message dialog box opened and then open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys together or by right-clicking on Taskbar and select “Task Manager” option. Now select Cortana from the background processes list and press Delete key or click on “End Task” button.

Kill_Cortana_Process_Windows_10.png

Now immediately click on “Try Again” button present in “Folder in Use” error message dialog box. Now you’ll be able to rename Cortana folder and SearchUI.exe file will no longer run in background.

Once you remove Cortana, you can remove the Search box from Taskbar using following tutorial:

How to Remove Cortana Search Box and Other Icons from Windows 10 Taskbar

Also Check:

[Did You Know] Windows 8 “Search Everywhere” Feature Still Works in Windows 10

BONUS TIP 1: Disable or Remove Lock Screen App

As we know Windows 10 shows Lock Screen just before the Login Screen (or Sign-in Screen) and you can disable the Lock Screen using Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor as mentioned in following tutorial:

How to Disable Lock Screen in Windows 8 and Later

If you don’t want to restrict Lock Screen using the methods given in above mentioned link, you can remove Lock Screen completely in Windows 10 using following steps:

In “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder, just rename “Microsoft.LockApp_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder to “BACK_Microsoft.LockApp_cw5n1h2txyewy” or any desired name. Now Windows will not show Lock Screen whenever you log out or lock your computer. It’ll directly show Login Screen.

More Info: [Tip] Disable or Remove Windows 10 Lock Screen

BONUS TIP 2: Disable or Remove Action Center and Notifications

If you don’t like the new Action Center and its regular notifications in Windows 10, you can disable them using following tutorial:

[Tip] Disable Notifications and Action Center in Windows 10

But still you’ll receive a few notifications regularly in Windows 10. If you want to completely disable and remove Action Center and notifications, you can open “ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder in “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder and then rename “Windows.UI.ActionCenter.dll” file to “BACK_Windows.UI.ActionCenter.dll” or any other desired name.

Disable_Shell_Experience_Host_Windows_10.png

BONUS TIP 3: Disable Metro Start Menu, Taskbar Jumplists and New Fly-out UI

Similarly if you want to disable Start Menu or Jumplists,Β open “ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder in “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder and rename “StartUI.dll” and “JumpviewUI.dll” files respectively.

Following 4 DLL files are responsible to show new fly-out UI of Battery, Clock, Volume and Network icons in Taskbar notification area:

  • BatteryFlyoutExperience.dll
  • ClockFlyoutExperience.dll
  • MtcUvc.dll
  • NetworkUX.dll

You can rename these DLL files to disable the new fly-out UI of these icons. Alternatively you can restore classic UI of these icons with the help of following tutorial:

[Tip] Restoring Classic Programs and User Interface in Windows 10

PS: If you rename the “ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy” folder and restart your computer, it’ll disable Start Menu, Jumplists and right-click on Taskbar Notification area. It’ll also stop “ShellExperienceHost.exe” process running in background as this process is responsible for showing the new modern (metro) UI of all Taskbar and Start Menu stuff.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. You can safely rename “C:\Program Files\WindowsApps” folder to any name to prevent any installed app from running.

2. You can safely rename “C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages” folder as well to prevent any built-in app from reinstalling itself in future.

3. DO NOT rename “C:\Windows\SystemApps” folder as it’ll break down Windows functionality. You can rename sub-folders present inside it. But keep following 2 folders unchanged:

  • ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy
  • Microsoft.LockApp_cw5n1h2txyewy

As we told above, the first folder “ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy” is responsible to show modern UI of Start Menu and Taskbar so renaming this folder will not allow you to use Start Menu and right-click on Taskbar items and system tray icons. [Related]

Related: [Tip] Do This When Start Menu Not Working in Windows 10

The second folder “Microsoft.LockApp_cw5n1h2txyewy” will disable Lock Screen, so if you want to use Lock Screen, do not rename it.

4. If you find any difficulty in renaming any file or folder, take ownership of the file or folder first as mentioned in the beginning of the tutorial and then rename the file/folder. You can also take the ownership manually as described in following tutorial:

[Guide] How to Take Ownership of a File or Folder Manually in Windows

5. You may need to restart your computer to take effect.

6. In future, if you want to restore any app, just restore the original name of the file/folder.

Also Check:

[Tip] Disable or Remove “Windows Defender Security Center” App in Windows 10

[Tip] Disable or Remove “Mixed Reality Portal” App in Windows 10

Published in: Microsoft Edge, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Thank You So Much for the Info on adding ( Back_ ) to the begining of File Names to stop Cortana and Microsoft Edge Completely!

    I still have trouble removing thier Icon from the Start Menu.. Any helpful Insight would be greatfully welcome:-)

    WindowsPowerShell will not remove it like others because, its inbeded with Windows 10.

  2. I have stopped Cortana background from registry:

    Delete CortanaUI inside ContractID in HKCU

    No memory occupped. Search works fine.

  3. Hello. Great information. I had one primary question though. If I attempt to rename this one: “C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages” folder it gives me this error message:

    Folder In Use

    The action can’t be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program

    Close the folder or file and try again.

    Already I have verified that I have full permissions by already taking ownership; to make it easy I just used a reg file to take ownership. So when I view permissions for this folder under Security tab it shows that my account has full control. If I try to view the offending process in Task Manager I don’t see anything related to this problem. I would like to rename this folder so built in system apps are not reinstalled in a future Windows update. I am using the latestRedstone build 1607 non insider version. Do I use the same renaming procedure also for the metro apps folder as well? Is it c:\windows\apps Can’t recall the path for that folder now. I don’t want any apps reinstalling themselves. Any help is appreciated VG. Thank you.

  4. My silly mistake about the path to the metro apps. I found the path which I already renamed to C:\ProgramFiles\BAK_WindowsApps. Original path directory name folks is C:\ProgramFiles\WindowsApps. Just rename by placing some characters in front of the path directory name to prevent any metro apps from reinstalling on your Windows 10. Hope this helps. I realize it may have been mentioned in this article or another askvg article. Please treat it as reclarification to the original facts.

    I still need assistance with renaming the local packages folder in my previous question. Tried some other methods without success but it remains unchanged so I have not messed up any vital part of the OS files. Thank you again for your support guys and especially VG!

  5. One last related question. Is it possible to remove the Connect icon from the Windows 10 start menu? Have renamed the matching folder under system apps so it is disabled. What if I delete the folder? Probably not a good idea. But is there a way to remove the icon from the start menu? There must be a way to accomplish this little feat. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you again, guys!

  6. ^^ I’ll not advise you to rename “C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages” folder directly as it contains some system apps. Better rename unwanted sub-folders inside it.

  7. Ok. That is maybe why Windows will not let me rename the folder then. That is good enough for me. Ok. I will just rename the subfolders in that directory path. Thanks VG! I can see that will help me out more. So if I rename the subfolders it should prevent installation? Maybe that is not necessary. Do you know? I am sure I am good to go. I have disabled anything metro related. Any clarification is appreciated. Thanks VG!

  8. When I rename Program Files/WindowsApps, next new logged user cannot press start button πŸ™ Shell in system apps is not renamed. When I rename Program Files/WindowsApps back , everything becomes ok, but all apps are back too πŸ™ Somehow Start app is related with Program Files/WindowsApp

    MS should let Pro version configure via gpo Applocker, now I must to think how to deal with these apps! New computers are comming, but i thing i will make downgrade to 8.1, where everyting is more clearer.

  9. Windows feedback app folder does not show in my C:\Windows\SystemApps”” folder so how to disable it or uninstall it altogether? It does not show in CC uninstaller either. I also want to remove Connect App but can’t mange that either. Any advice anyone?

  10. I read through the entirety of the article and comments (Windows 10 tip: Remove Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Contact Support and Feedback Apps). I wonder if all of the information is still valid as of March 23, 2017? Particularly since the Anniversary Update? Am I correct in understanding that once the Cortana main file is renamed, it no longer operates on your computer, and stops occupying / eating up computer memory in the background?

    Secondly, somewhat unrelated, I want to install a 3rd party privacy program for Windows 10 called O&O ShutUp10. Any comments?

  11. ^^ Yes. The tutorial is up to date and if you rename the file, it’ll stop running in background. Regarding privacy program, you can try it.

  12. Looks like Start Menu in Windows 10’s Creators Update now requires searchui.exe for it to work properly. When you kill searchui.exe, the start menu will be greyed out and you can’t click anything inside Start Menu.

  13. I used some of your tips in cleaning unused stuff but removing unneeded display languages (CH,DE,IT etc…) did not remove the relevant ~400mb files of the speech engines. Can I just delete them?

    Thank you

  14. Windows 10 Pro 1703 15063.296 Posted 20170531 21:40 +8

    My PC is dual boot, I booted into Linux and renamed the folder without issues.
    I renamed this folder Cortana was stopped πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚
    C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy

    As Luqman also notes …
    Unfortunately the “Windows” Menu was also stopped. I could only see items A – C and scrolling was “stopped” the tiles were NOT working. This removed easy access to Windows Acessories, Windows System tools etc … The folder name has been restored and Cortana is running again- yeugh!

    My other concerns are along the lines of Sonya. What is the point of bitlocker and encryption if “print files” are copied to wherever as they are “open text or graphics”?

    PACS9000 thank you for the netplwiz tips

  15. I also echo the comments of Luqman and Willem. Killing searchui.exe now appears to not work properly ever since the Creators Update came along.

    Hoping you will update this article, thanks.

  16. Hello VG,

    yesterday I installed Creators Update and now I am cleaning up. πŸ™‚

    After reading this and another article of yours (“How to Remove All Built-In Apps) I still have three questions:

    1) while removing all Apps there was A LOT OF RED lines in the Power Shell window. Is it supposed to be like that?

    2) LockScreen. I renamed the App and followed PACS9000’s advice. But I still see the Lock Screen while booting (although I do not have to type in anything). I just thought “gone” means gone.

    3) Renaming the Cortana folder makes Start Menu unusable. It is greyed out and nothing happens here. Would it be possible to disable Cortana and keep Start Menu working properly?

    Thanks a lot.

  17. ^^ 1. Yes. It happens with all.

    2. In newer Windows 10 Insider Preview builds, Microsoft has re-enabled group policy and registry tweak to disable Lock Screen which was shared in following article:

    https://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-lock-screen-in-windows-8/

    So Fall Creators Update will again allow disabling Lock Screen using above methods. In the meantime you can use following:

    https://www.askvg.com/tip-disable-or-remove-windows-10-lock-screen/

    3. It happens in new builds. You can use following method:

    https://www.askvg.com/tip-disable-cortana-and-bing-search-results-in-windows-10/

  18. Thank you for your reply Vishal!

    Now I have:

    – Lock Screen with Picture which I cannot change because the “Browse” button is greyed out and there is a message: “Some settings are disabled”. Huh? πŸ™

    – LogIn Screen with a blue solid background because I cleared the checkbox “Use the same picture for both Lock Screen and LogIn Screen”.

    1) How do I change the Lock Screen background? Why is the “Browse” button disabled? (I am User and Admin in one person).

    2) Is it possible to change the blue LogInScreen background using for example the standard Windows 10 wallpaper (is it called “Harmony”?)

    Once again: Thanks

  19. ^^ You can either have Lock screen background or a blank background on Login Screen.

    Regarding changing lock screen background, did you rename lock screen folder?

  20. Regarding the lock screen background which I was not able to change: it is my fault since I noticed that I had applied a Registry hack (“noLockScreen”) which led to the greyed out “Browse” button and additional error message. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa … πŸ™‚

    Do you also experience problems with icons, png files with transparency and thumbnails? I very often see black plain background in the back of those files instead of transparency. Also the icons of many programs are not displayed properly. Many times I just see a white blank icon.

    Have a nice week Vishal!

  21. I have a Connect app on the All Apps list. If I right click it has an uninstall, after clicking uninstall an hourglass appears for a moment but nothing happens. The icon is white and under the More submenu there are links to Rate, Share, and Pin to Taskbar.

    Is there a way to remove this icon?

    Thanks

  22. Hi VG!
    Recently I tried to uninstall Cortana, but I forgot that by doing that, I also killed off “Cortana Search”. Now I’m unable to search using the search bar anymore.
    When I’m uninstalling Cortana, I was actually deleting the files in WindowsApps.

    So, is there any place that I can get into downloading Cortana package files? Thanks in advance

  23. Thank you so much for this article i personally hate all the bloatware that came with my windows i just want a smooth clean system with nothing running that i don’t want to run. If only Microsoft can bring out a edition that has all of this stuff removed from the get go i would definitely buy it. But now i have to jump through all these hoops just to get a clean system.

  24. Sonya: I don’t know if it’s too late… but it may help anyway… Find TinyWall… It’s not really a firewall, but a controller for the Windows firewall… It will make all the ports in your computer invisible (except the ones you allow, such as web browsers, etc), so the spies won’t be able to sneak in πŸ˜‰

  25. Renaming the Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe is a bad idea.

    If this folder does not exist, you will run into problems when you try to change the default browser.

    Just wait till microsoft replaces the Edge with chrome based software.

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