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How can I force uninstall programs that won't uninstall on windows 10?
Every time I attempt to uninstall a 3rd-party antivius through the standard Settings menu or the Control Panel, I either get a cryptic error message or the uninstaller simply hangs and never complete...
You can force uninstall a program on windows 10 or windows 11 via Powershell.
PowerShell is a built-in command-line tool in Windows 11 that allows you to uninstall apps, especially Microsoft Store (UWP) apps that don’t appear in the traditional Programs list. It’s a useful option when standard uninstall methods fail, but it requires using commands, which can feel a bit technical for beginners.
First, right-click Start → Windows Terminal (Admin)
Next, list all installed apps on your computer:
Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, PackageFullNameFinally, get rid of an app that will not let me uninstall:
Get-AppxPackage *appname* | Remove-AppxPackageCons:
- Not beginner-friendly and requires typing commands correctly
- Mainly works for Microsoft Store apps, not all desktop programs
- Difficult to identify the correct package name for some apps
- No visual interface, making it easy to remove the wrong app
- Limited ability to clean leftover files and registry entries