Over a period of time, you may find that you may have installed several programs or software on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 computer. And it may also happen that some of the programs may have been uninstalled without your knowledge. It is, therefore, a good idea to take a look at the programs that may have been installed on your computer and delete, remove or uninstall the programs that you do not want.
How to uninstall a program in Windows 11/10
Uninstall program or app via Windows Settings
You can uninstall programs and apps using the Windows 11/10 Settings panel:
- Open Settings
- Select Apps > Apps & features
- Select the app you want to uninstall
- Click on the Uninstall button that appears.
That’s it. Windows will have uninstalled the program or app!
In Windows10, the settings look like this:
Read: How to Bulk Uninstall Programs and Apps.
Uninstall a Program using Control Panel
To uninstall a program using the Control Panel in Windows 11/10/8/7, you have to carry out the following steps:
- Open Control Panel
- Open Programs and Features applet
- Locate the program you wish to uninstall
- Double-click on it to uninstall it.
Let us see the procedure in detail.
Search for Control Panel in the Start Search and select it to open it.
Now look for Programs and Features and click on it to open the applet that lets you Uninstall or change a program.
Locate the program you wish to uninstall and double-click on it.
You will be asked for confirmation. Confirm by pressing the Uninstall button, and the uninstallation process will commence.
You can also right-click on the icon and select Uninstall from the context menu that appears, or you could simply select the program icon and click on the Uninstall link.
If the program offers this option, you may also be offered a link to Change or Repair the program.
Once the removal process is complete, you will receive a confirmation. You may also be asked to restart your computer to complete the uninstallation process. Do so.
How do I completely uninstall a program in Windows?
If you are a little familiar with the working of Windows, additionally, after you have uninstalled the app or program via Settings or Control panel, you could do the following to completely uninstall programs:
- Check the Programs folder where the program was installed, and delete the uninstalled programs folder if you still find it there.
- You could also Show hidden files via the File Explorer Options, and search for the uninstalled programs’ name. Say you uninstalled McAfee – then search for McAfee and delete all folders and files that may be found.
- Do the same in the Windows Registry. Create a System Restore Point and the Run regedit, press Ctrl+F, and search for McAfee. Delete the keys found. Do this only if you are familiar with working with the Registry.
If for some reason you are unable to uninstall programs, you may find the following links helpful:
- Uninstall apps with a greyed-out Uninstall button in Settings.
- Uninstall a program using Command Prompt
- Uninstall Programs not listed in Control Panel
- How to uninstall programs in Safe Mode
- Uninstall programs using Registry
- Free Uninstallers for Windows.
