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Removed apps still sit in Start Menu

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Tuesday, April 4, 2017 3:52 PM | 2 votes

I have an issue where I've removed default apps via Powershell, but some of them are still sitting in the start menu. Has anyone else came across this? If I click on them, nothing happens. I don't have the option to show file location when I right click. I've attached a photo of the start menu below:

All replies (9)

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 5:15 PM | 1 vote

Which PowerShell command did you use to remove the apps?   Please show a full command line for one of the zombie apps.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 6:05 PM | 1 vote

In my case it was Get-AppxPackage -allusers *maps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 6:22 PM | 1 vote

In my case it was Get-AppxPackage -allusers *maps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Try ...........windowsmaps..................

Get-appxpackage -allusers *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 6:26 PM | 1 vote

Receive an error because the package already deleted

PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-appxpackage -allusers *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage
Remove-AppxPackage : Échec du déploiement avec HRESULT : 0x80073CF1, Le package est introuvable.
Windows ne peut pas supprimer Microsoft.WindowsMaps_5.1611.3342.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe, car l’utilisateur actif ne
dispose pas du package installé. Utilisez Get-AppxPackage pour consulter la liste des packages installés.
REMARQUE: pour obtenir des informations supplémentaires, recherchez [ActivityId] 1b1d474e-ad59-0000-2834-1e1b59add201
dans le journal des événements ou utilisez la ligne de commande Get-AppxLog -ActivityID
1b1d474e-ad59-0000-2834-1e1b59add201
Au caractère Ligne:1 : 43

  • Get-appxpackage -allusers *windowsmaps* | Remove-AppxPackage
  •                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Windo...__8wekyb3d8bbwe:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], PSInval
       idOperationException
        + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 6:35 PM | 1 vote

Sorry, I don't know French.

I have a suggestion. It may be a "long way around" for such a trivial matter. You decide if you want to try it.

Do a system restore. Pick a date BEFORE you removed maps as your restore point.
When done, go to Start Menu list and open Maps > does it open ?
If yes, open the Powershell again and use my command line to remove it.

After that, see if it is still listed in Start menu.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 6:53 PM | 1 vote

I just reinstall all Apps with this command : Get-AppxPackage -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode}

The firewall service need to run to complete installation of all apps

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 7:13 PM | 1 vote

I just reinstall all Apps with this command : Get-AppxPackage -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode}

The firewall service need to run to complete installation of all apps

I don't know if this will make a difference.

Your command line is different in the way  instructions are listed.

Go to this tutorial .

Scroll down to How to Reinstall All Built-in Apps.
Use the command listed there.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 2:22 AM | 1 vote

Hi Craig McCarten,

For removing all the built-in apps, please try the following powershell command line(run as administrator).
For present users:
Get-appxpackage  -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsMaps* | Remove-AppxPackage
For new users:
Get-appxprovisionedpackage –online | where-object {$_.packagename –like "*MicrosoftStickyNotes*"} | remove-appxprovisionedpackage –online
Please note that those apps will be installed for new users if you didn't remove the provisionedpackage.

Please remember to run "get-appxapckage >C:\appxpackages"confirm that those apps has been removed.

I have tried to use that command to remove the packages and the icon will be removed from the start menu, too.

If the issue persists, try to restart the machine then check the symptom again. Try to test with another account. There is a possibility that present user account has been corrupted.

Best regards

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Tuesday, April 18, 2017 1:03 PM | 1 vote

Are you sure there aren't any tiles in the Start menu (to the right of what you show in your image) or pinned to the taskbar that still point to these apps?   If there are, then Windows will (AGAIN) try to download and install the apps automatically.   That's why you see the progress bars under the icons.

The default tile layouts and taskbar icons are designed with home users in mind, not business users.  In order to prevent Windows from attempting to download the apps every time, you have to remove the tiles that point to apps you don't want.

I reduce the tiles to the bare minimum, export the LayoutModifications.xml file, and then copy the resulting file to 

C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

When a new user logs in to the computer for the first time, only the most basic tiles and taskbar icons will be displayed. Users can then pin what they want to Start Menu tiles and/or taskbar.  

Although YMMV, my most basic LayoutModifications.xml looks like the following. Other deployment images (with, say Office installed) have a few more things pinned:

<LayoutModificationTemplate Version="1" 
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"      
    xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
    xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
    xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout">
  <LayoutOptions StartTileGroupCellWidth="6" />
  <DefaultLayoutOverride>
    <StartLayoutCollection>
      <defaultlayout:StartLayout GroupCellWidth="6" >
        <start:Group Name="Life at a glance" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout">
          <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="0" Row="0" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge" />
          <start:Tile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" AppUserModelID="Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App" />
        </start:Group>
        <start:Group Name="Play and explore" >
          <start:DesktopApplicationTile Size="2x2" Column="2" Row="0" DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Remote Desktop Connection.lnk" />
        </start:Group>
      </defaultlayout:StartLayout>
    </StartLayoutCollection>
  </DefaultLayoutOverride>
 <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection PinListPlacement="Replace">
    <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
      <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
        <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk" />
      </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
    </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
  </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
</LayoutModificationTemplate>