How to use Win11Debloat, step by step

#Before you start: a 60-second checklist

• Use an administrator account. The script asks for elevation, so a standard account would need an admin password.
• System Protection does not need to be on already. If it is off, Win11Debloat turns it on for drive C: and then makes the restore point. If you already made a restore point in the last 24 hours, it does not make another.
• Save your work and close apps, especially the ones you plan to remove. Win11Debloat may restart Explorer, so your taskbar and open folders will flash.
• Know what you are removing. Default mode never touches Photos, Calculator, Notepad, the Microsoft Store, Edge or OneDrive. In Custom Setup, read the rating dot next to every app.
• Allow a few minutes. Default mode took 108 seconds from start to finish on our Windows 11 test machine, with 84 apps checked and 17 actually installed and removed.

#Step 1: start Win11Debloat

Pick one of the three official methods. The download page covers each in depth.

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/")))

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
cd C:\Win11Debloat
.\Win11Debloat.ps1

#Step 2: choose the user, then Default Mode or Custom Setup

The home screen asks one question: What user do you want to apply changes to?

Then choose a path:

• Default Mode selects the project's recommended apps and tweaks and jumps straight to the last step. See exactly what it selects.
• Custom Setup walks you through three pages: apps, tweaks, then deployment settings.

#Step 3 (Custom Setup): choose apps to remove

The App Removal page lists all 141 apps the script knows how to remove. Nothing is ticked until you choose. Useful controls:

• Quick Select offers ready-made selections: Default apps (the 84 that Default mode removes), Previously selected apps, and presets for Xbox gaming apps and OEM software from Dell, HP, Lenovo and LG.
• Only show installed apps hides apps that are not on this PC. It is the fastest way to see what you could actually remove.
• The coloured dot is the project's own rating. Green means Recommended to remove, yellow is Optional, and red is Not Recommended.
• Search apps filters by name, description or app ID. Click a column header to sort.

#Step 4 (Custom Setup): choose tweaks

The System Tweaks page groups all 95 tweaks into 12 areas. Hover over a setting, or click the (?) next to a heading, for an explanation.

• Detect applied tweaks is on by default. It ticks settings that are already in effect on this PC. In our test, Disable fast start-up came pre-ticked because Fast Startup was already off on that machine.
• Drop-downs are settings with several choices, such as taskbar search style or Remove pinned apps from the start menu. Leaving one on its first value changes nothing.
• Quick Select and Clear Selection work as on the app page, and Search tweaks filters the whole page.

Our tweak reference lists every tweak with the exact registry values it writes and whether it locks a setting with a policy.

#Step 5: Deployment Settings, review, apply

This page is where Default Mode lands, and it is the last page of Custom Setup.

Changes will be applied to

The user you chose on the home screen.

Apps will be removed for

Shown only when apps are selected. All users also removes them from the Windows image, so new accounts do not get them; this is the default. You can also choose Current user only, or Target user only when you picked another user.

Create a registry backup

Ticked by default. It saves the current value of every registry setting about to change, so you can restore them later from Options → Restore backup. Keep it on.

Create a system restore point

Ticked by default. Turns on System Protection for drive C: if needed. Skipped if a restore point from the last 24 hours exists.

Restart the Windows Explorer process

Not ticked by default. Tick it to see taskbar and Start menu changes immediately instead of after the next sign-in.

Click Review selected changes for a plain list of everything about to happen. On our test machine, Default mode listed 84 apps and 13 tweaks. The 3 other default tweaks do not apply to that Windows build, so they were left out.

Close the list with OK and click Apply Changes. A progress window shows each step ("Step 3 of 16") and a Cancel button. When it finishes you see Changes Applied, a list of changes that need a reboot (if any), and a Close button.

#Step 6: restart and check

1. Restart your PC, even if no reboot list appeared. Policy changes and some Start menu settings only fully apply after a sign-out or restart.
2. Check the things you use. Open Start, search for an app, sign in to the Microsoft Store and run a game launcher if you have one.
3. Expect one new message. Default mode sets several Group Policy keys, so pages such as Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback now say Some settings are managed by your organization. This is expected. Why it happens.
4. If something broke, check troubleshooting, or undo with Options → Restore backup. Undo guide.

#The Options menu

The ☰ button at the top right of every page opens:

• Import config / Export config saves your selection to a file and loads it on another PC. Config files.
• Restore backup restores a registry backup, or a backed-up Start menu layout.
• Documentation, Report a bug and About open the project's GitHub pages.
• Logs opens the log folder. Each run is recorded in Logs\Win11Debloat.log, which is the file to attach to a bug report.

#Prefer a terminal? The CLI menu

Add -CLI to any launch method to skip the window. Win11Debloat shows a text menu instead:

1. Default mode: quickly apply the recommended changes.
2. App removal mode: select and remove apps, without making other changes.
3. Quickly apply your last used settings: repeat what you did last time.

For no questions at all, combine a mode with -Silent, for example -RunDefaults -Silent. In silent mode, a failed restore point does not stop the run. Every switch is listed in the command-line reference, and the command builder writes the command for you.

#Common mistakes

#Questions

Something wrong or out of date? Email hello@win11debloat.dev and we will fix it.