How to unpin Windows 10 Application automatically after every update?

Windows Desktop Windows 10
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Good evening,

All of our computers are upgraded from Windows 7 PC to Windows 10 version 1503 a few years back. Whenever Microsoft releases a new version update we always upgrade to that version to have all of our computers up to date and to have all of the features.

But after every update, Microsoft reinstall some of the unwanted applications like Microsoft Store, games etc., To remove this we have a common script which we run every month on the system to remove all of those unwanted applications. But out major problems is we are not able to unpin the application from the start and task menu like Microsoft Store, Edge, and outlook App. We have always manually unpin Microsoft Store and Mail from the taskbar, remove the Task View icon, and set Search to icon only.

Is there a way I can automate this via script or Group Policy Editor?

3 Likes
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The search bar can be applied via GPO. For the taskbar, you create a customlayout.xml file that can be applied via GPO or can be applied during deployment if you’re using a tool like MDT.

An XML that simply removes the default apps and lets the user customize looks like this (from
Configure Windows 10 taskbar - Configure Windows | Microsoft Learn):

XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LayoutModificationTemplate
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
    xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
    xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
    xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
    Version="1">
  <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection PinListPlacement="Replace">
    <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
      <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
        <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="#leaveempty"/>
      </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
    </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
  </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
</LayoutModificationTemplate>]
1 Like
3

Hi @Evans,

To unpin the Apps in Windows 10 please follow the below steps:

  • Open the Start menu, then find the app you want to pin in the list or search for it by typing the app name in the search box.
  • Press and hold (or right-click) the app, then select Pin to Start .
  • To unpin an app, select Unpin from Start .