Unable to remove Xbox app from start menu in Windows 11 22H2

ijalabs · Mar 28, 2023

Hi Experts,

I am creating image for Windows 11 22 H2 in that one of the requirement is to remove Xbox shortcut from the start menu. I was using the PowerShell commands to remove the shortcut given below.
get-appxpackage -allusers *xboxapp* | Remove-AppxPackage
get-appxprovisionedpackage –online | where-object {$_.packagename –like “*xboxapp*”} | remove-appxprovisionedpackage –online
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage
get-appxprovisionedpackage –online | where-object {$_.packagename –like “*xbox*”} | remove-appxprovisionedpackage –online

these same commands did the job in Win11 21H2 as well but in Win1122H2 the shortcut still remains in the start menu as per the attached.

I have tried to uninstall from start menu and under apps in settings, after capturing and applying the image using sysprep the shortcut still shows up again.

Kindly suggest on how to get this removed from the start menu for all users.

Thanks
Bala

OAT · Mar 28, 2023

I don't see Microsoft.GamingApp* stated anywhere.

ijalabs · Mar 28, 2023

Hi OAT,

Thanks for the reply i wanted to remove only the xbox app so i use the PowerShell command to get that that's why i have included "microsoft.gamingapp"

what i want is to remove the shortcut from the start menu.

Thanks
Bala

OAT · Mar 28, 2023

All the icons for Xbox are located in Microsoft.GamingApp_version_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe in Assets folder.
Short of modifying the manifest.xml and the <uap:VisualElements> tag within that file, I don't see how else to do it.
This is not ideal as one would have to modify rights, at least temporarily.
I have not checked the Group Policies, there might be one to prevent its display.
I am sure someone else will chime in.

garlin · Sep 6, 2023

You can remove all Xbox features except for XboxGameCallableUI, because it's a protected inbox app.

Code:

> Get-AppxPackage * | Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'xbox|gam' -and $_.Name -notmatch 'Callable' } | Select Name

Name                            
----                            
Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay
Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay       
Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI             
Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider  
Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay     
Microsoft.GamingApp             

> Get-AppxPackage * | Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'xbox|gam' -and $_.Name -notmatch 'Callable' } | Remove-AppPackage -AllUsers

> Get-AppxPackage * | Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'xbox|gam' } | Remove-AppxPackage
Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.22621.1.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_cw5n1h2txyewy failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not
be possible to uninstall the app.

But your Xbox shortcut is gone.