Solved Removing via PowerShell removes Win UI3 Explorer?

moonglade · Oct 23, 2023

For years I have used this command on Windows clean installs to remove bloatware:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} | Remove-AppxPackage

However I just did a clean install of Windows 11 22H2 Moment 4, and now after running this command, my file explorer is the Windows 10 version and the Windows 11 right click menu is completely gone.

Does anyone know what package would have been removed that is responsible for these components?

johnlgalt · Oct 23, 2023

Hi, @gamererz, and welcome to the Eleven Forums (11F for short).

When you run that script, does it give you a list of what was removed (I'm guessing not, I think there is an added -verbose switch needed for the Remove commandlet).

Right off the top of my head, I don't know, but I guess a good place to also ask might be at the GitHub repositories for either Sofia Script, or Explorer Patcher, as I'm betting someone has already run into it when using a generic remove all not matching Store command like that.

We have lots of folks here that also remove stuff, though, and one of them might be able to chime in soon.

moonglade · Oct 23, 2023

Hi, it took some manual work but after comparing packages before and after, the answer is: *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS*

This package is responsible for Web UI3. Solved for anyone wondering in the future.

dacrone · Oct 23, 2023

Out of curiosity, was your file explorer the full windows 10 version - ie launching control panel and going up two directories - after you ran that?

Also, was your context menu still functional or completely gone - ie nothing happened when you right clicked?

moonglade · Oct 23, 2023

Well the WinUI3 elements are just a cover for the original UI elements. I guess without this runtime installed they just didn't run. My file explorer and right click menu worked perfectly fine - and was faster as it wasn't running the new UI. But yes it was as though I didn't have the new parts. You can test yourself by removing that packaging and re-adding it back via PowerShell.

Edwin · Oct 23, 2023

Threw an error for me... Unexpected token

johnlgalt · Oct 23, 2023

gamererz said:
Hi, it took some manual work but after comparing packages before and after, the answer is: *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS*

This package is responsible for Web UI3. Solved for anyone wondering in the future.

Excellent news.

Edwin said:
Threw an error for me... Unexpected token

Just the one package removal? There might be a combination that needs to be removed, and when adding it back in, maybe it brings those back as well?

@gamererz anything on this, regarding additional / side packages that may need to be installed / removed to not throw the error?

Edwin · Oct 23, 2023

johnlgalt · Oct 23, 2023

You missed the - before notlike

Get-AppxPackage -allusers | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} | Remove-AppxPackage

And you'll most likely need to run PowerShell as admin, too.

Edwin · Oct 23, 2023

johnlgalt said:
You missed the - before notlike

Get-AppxPackage -allusers | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} | Remove-AppxPackage

And you'll most likely need to run PowerShell as admin, too.

Fail..., on all counts..., dozens, if not 100's

johnlgalt · Oct 23, 2023

Try using Terminal / PowerShell 7 - run as admin.

dacrone · Oct 23, 2023

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} |
Remove-AppxPackage

Idk why your asterisks are so low but just copy/paste that ^ and try

johnlgalt · Oct 23, 2023

Uh, that is what I posted. I copied the OP's and simply added the incline code tags so it can be copied :)

dacrone · Oct 23, 2023

copy and paste and run anyway

garlin · Oct 23, 2023

Copy & paste is failing, because this forum (like others) is converting plain dashes to long dashes.

johnlgalt said:
Get-AppxPackage -allusers | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} | Remove-AppxPackage

dacrone said:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | where-object {$_.name –notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} |
Remove-AppxPackage

-notlike isn't really a short dash in both examples. When you run the copied text thru a hex editor, you'll see the difference.

I've seen many websites which alter dashes and single/double-quotes in the wrong way.

johnlgalt · Oct 24, 2023

Ahhh, yeah, I noticed that from the OP, thought it was a double dash, but when I pasted it it looked odd so I made it a single dash. Looking back and my post it's harder for me to see, but you're right - it is converting it to a different dash type. I copied mine to Notepad, and then copied each dash and compared, and the one before notlike is definitely larger.

Powershell:

 Get-AppxPackage -allusers | where-object {$_.name -notlike "*Microsoft.WindowsStore*"} | Remove-AppxPackage

Let's see is this codebox set to PowerShell works.

Yes, it *does* work - checked all 5 dashes.

Great catch, @garlin

Also reported this in the site bugs thread.

moonglade · Oct 24, 2023

Just for those reading this thread, here are commands you can use to test. In my own testing, it's only this package that dictates whether Win UI3 elements are active.

Remove:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS* | Remove-AppxPackage

Add:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

moonglade · Oct 24, 2023

Also for reference, my original command in the first post removes ALL Windows packages excluding the Microsoft Store. For testing this, I'd recommend using the command above that only removes this specific package rather than all packages.

Edwin · Oct 24, 2023

In the original post, the hyphen is actually an em-dash, when viewed in ANSI...

johnlgalt · Oct 24, 2023

Yes, Garlin mentioned that and we verified it.

moonglade said:
Just for those reading this thread, here are commands you can use to test. In my own testing, it's only this package that dictates whether Win UI3 elements are active.

Remove:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS* | Remove-AppxPackage

Add:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Please use the Codebox (not inline code), and set the language to Powershell, when pasting PS commands. It's not your fault, it is the system that is converting some dashes to em-dash, rendering your code useless when copy and pasted into PS by other users. These two, thankfully, did not exhibit the random - replacement, but it's just better to be safe.

That being said, a huge thank you @moonglade for discovering this, finding the actual package related to it, and posting the new commands to both remove and reinstall it.

For everyone - here are the commands needed in a non-destructive codebox.

Powershell:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS* | Remove-AppxPackage

Powershell:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.CBS* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}