Windows adds some bloat, installing several apps that you may or may not want, and they take up sometimes quite a lot of disk space. Depending on the size of your device's hard disk/SSD, that can matter, while some folks just don't like the idea of wasting disk space for something they'll never, ever use. In Win10 & 11 you can uninstall many, but not all apps by going to the App section of Settings, which may or may not show you the size of the app on-disk. Default apps are stored in the protected, and by default hidden Windows Apps folder, so you can't simply check a folder's properties to find out how much space whatever app uses, though note that that checking that folder size can be deceiving, as some software also stores one or two copies of its setup file and sometimes media [e.g. clipart] collections elsewhere.
One way to check the amount of space used by the WindowsApps folder is to copy it elsewhere, then take ownership of that copy so you can browse it normally. You'll have to 1st make it visible -- if it's not already -- going to the View tab in Windows/File Explorer -> Options, then the View tab in the pop-up window. The quickest/easiest way to take ownership of that *copy* of WindowsApps is to add a Take Ownership option to the right-click context menu in File Explorer. To do that, create a new Text Document [right-click empty space in File Explorer, select New -> Text Document], then copy paste the following, saving & naming the file something like takeown.reg. Double clicking that file lets you add it to Windows registry.
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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"
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You can also check the amount of disk space used per app useing the Get-AppxPackage cmdlet in Windows PowerShell [You may see a shortcut to PowerShell right-clicking the Start Button, it should be in the Start Menu, you can use search, & in Win11 it's in Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Windows Tools]. The reference for the Get-AppxPackage cmdlet is here:
docs.microsoft[.]com/en-us/powershell/module/appx/get-appxpackage?view=windowsserver2022-ps
Neowin published a script using the cmdlet to list all the installed apps included with Windows:
neowin[.]net/news/windows-11-default-apps-apparently-take-up-more-than-15gb-of-your-disk-space/
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Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | % {
# Get the main app package location using the manifest
$loc = Split-Path ( [Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables($_.InstallLocation) ) -Parent
If ((Split-Path $loc -Leaf) -ieq 'AppxMetadata') {
$loc = Split-Path $loc -Parent
}
# Get a pattern for finding related folders
$matching = Join-Path -Path (Split-Path $loc -Parent) -ChildPath "$($_.DisplayName)*"
$size = (Get-ChildItem $matching -Recurse -ErrorAction Ignore | Measure-Object -Property Length -Sum).Sum
# Add the results to the output
$_ | Add-Member -NotePropertyName Size -NotePropertyValue $size
$_ | Add-Member -NotePropertyName InstallFolder -NotePropertyValue $loc
$_
} | Select DisplayName, PackageName, Version, InstallFolder, Size
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You can also use the Get-AppxPackage cmdlet to uninstall those apps, e.g. for Cortana:
SEE FOLLOWING POST
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage
shell:appsfolder
Another option, which shows you every app installed -- not just Windows' own -- is to use Windows Package Manager, which lets you uninstall apps, but will not show you how much space an app takes up. The link to the winget reference is 1st [note the TOC on the left with sections for using the Pkg Mgr to install apps etc.], followed by a Neowin article on how to use Winget to uninstall an app.
docs.microsoft[.]com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/list
neowin[.]net/news/guide-how-to-uninstall-default-windows-11-apps-here039s-how/