Win11Debloat vs Talon

#Side by side

#What Talon runs, step by step

1. Checks the PC. It stops unless Windows reports itself as Windows 11, or as Windows 10 with build 22000 or newer.
2. Its own removal scripts. Edge, then Outlook and OneDrive.
3. Installs a browser of your choice through Chocolatey, and optionally other programs.
4. WinUtil with 13 tweaks: Activity History, ConsumerFeatures, Background Apps, Telemetry, WPBT, Widgets, Services, File Explorer Automatic Folder Discovery, Visual Effects set to performance, the old right-click menu, OneDrive removal, Windows AI removal, and Store search results.
5. Win11Debloat with the 34 switches below, silently.
6. Registry tweaks and Windows Update settings of its own, optional Group Policy settings, and a desktop background.

If WinUtil or Win11Debloat fails, Talon shows an error and carries on with the next step.

#The 34 Win11Debloat switches Talon uses

Talon passes these to Win11Debloat 2026.08.24, from step_catalog.py in its source:

-Silent -RemoveApps -RemoveGamingApps -DisableGameBarIntegration -DisableTelemetry -DisableBing -DisableStoreSearchSuggestions -DisableSuggestions -DisableLockscreenTips -RevertContextMenu -TaskbarAlignLeft -HideSearchTb -DisableWidgets -DisableCopilot -ClearStartAllUsers -DisableDVR -DisableStartRecommended -ExplorerToThisPC -HideHome -DisableMouseAcceleration -DisableDesktopSpotlight -DisableSettings365Ads -DisableSettingsHome -DisablePaintAI -DisableNotepadAI -DisableEdgeAI -DisableStickyKeys -DisableEdgeAds -DisableBraveBloat -DisableRecall -DisableAISvcAutoStart -DisableClickToDo -DisableSnapLayouts -DisableSearchHistory -DisableDeliveryOptimization

Compared with Win11Debloat's own Default mode:

• Talon adds 23 things, including the Xbox app and Game Bar removal, game recording off, the old context menu, left-aligned taskbar, hidden search box, an emptied Start menu for every account, Snap Layouts off, mouse acceleration off and Sticky Keys off. Those are personal taste, not bloat. If you like Snap Layouts or record games, Talon turns them off without asking.
• Talon leaves out six, most importantly the restore point. The others are small: the drag tray, network use in Modern Standby, the Chat button, the 3D Objects folder and showing file extensions.
• -DisableSearchHistory does nothing. In 2026.08.24 it is an old switch that is still accepted but no longer does anything.
• Build limits are not checked. Because Talon passes switches on the command line, Win11Debloat 2026.08.24 applies them on any Windows 11 build. For example, Sticky Keys off is meant for 24H2 and later. See build limits.

#What Talon does to Windows Update

Older Talon documentation says it blocks non-security updates for 365 days, or permanently on Pro. The current source does this instead:

Security updates still install, a few days later. These are policies, so Windows Settings will say Some settings are managed by your organization. Win11Debloat's Windows Update tweaks are milder: they stop Windows getting updates as soon as they come out, and stop automatic restarts while you are signed in. See Windows Update tweaks.

#Undoing Talon

Talon's own answer is to reinstall Windows. If you would rather not, most of it can be reversed, because the work was done by tools that can undo:

1. The Win11Debloat part: run Win11Debloat, open the tweaks page with Detect applied tweaks ticked, untick what you want back and apply. Removed apps come back from the Microsoft Store. See undo.
2. The WinUtil part: run WinUtil, tick the same tweaks and use Undo Selected Tweaks. For its Services tweak, that puts the five services back to their original start types.
3. Windows Update: delete the values listed above, then restart. In PowerShell as administrator: Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate" -RecurseCopy This also removes any update policy you set yourself.
4. Edge: reinstall it from microsoft.com/edge. Talon's documentation warns that even Reset this PC does not bring Edge back.

#The Defender exclusion step

For the downloadable Talon.exe, Talon's README asks you to add your whole C: drive as a Microsoft Defender exclusion first, and to remove it afterwards. If you do this, do not forget the second part: while it is there, Defender does not scan anything on the drive. The PowerShell method in the same README does not need it. Win11Debloat never asks for a Defender exclusion.

#Questions

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