How to remove Chat from Microsoft Teams on Windows 11

By Mauro Huculak
published

If you don't care about the new Chat app on Windows 11, you can remove it quite easily, and here's how.

Chat for Microsoft Teams on Windows 11
Chat for Microsoft Teams on Windows 11 (Image credit: Windows Central)

On Windows 11, alongside the redesigned experience, you will also notice that the new Taskbar has a purple button, which is the icon for the new Chat app.

The experience is actually part of the consumer version of Microsoft Teams that comes integrated by default on Windows 11. The idea with this integration is to bring an easy-to-use interface to quickly connect with family and friends with video calls and text messages without downloading another application.

Although the feature may work for many users, Chat from Microsoft Teams is not for everyone since many people already have their chat platform of choice. If you are among those who do not need another communication app, you can hide or remove the app to make more space in the Taskbar and prevent the app from running in the background every time you start the computer.

In this Windows 11 guide, we will walk you through the steps to remove the Chat button from the Taskbar and uninstall the consumer version of Teams.

How to remove Chat from Teams button from Taskbar on Windows 11

To hid the Chat button from the Taskbar, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Personalization.
  3. Click the Taskbar page on the right side.Quick note: You can also right-click the Taskbar and select the Taskbar settings option to access the settings page.
  4. Under the "Taskbar items" section, turn off the Chat button.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

Once you complete the steps, the button will no longer be available in the Taskbar, but the application will still be available.

If you never set up the application, you don't need to do anything else. Otherwise, after removing the Chat button, the Teams app will continue to run in the background. If you want to keep the app, but you don't want to run in the background, open the Microsoft Teams app, click the three-dotted menu button, select the Settings option, and clear in the General tab the Auto-start Teams option.

How to uninstall Chat from Teams on Windows 11

On Windows 11, there are at least two ways to uninstall the Chat from Microsoft Teams integration using the Settings app and PowerShell commands.

Settings app method

To completely remove the Chat from Microsoft Teams with the Settings app, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Apps.
  3. Click the Apps & features page on the right side.
  4. Select the Microsoft Teams app.
  5. Click the three-dotted button next to the app and select the Uninstall button.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Click the Uninstall button again.

After you complete the steps, the app will be removed from the system, and the last thing left to do is remove the Chat button from the Taskbar with the instructions outlined below.

PowerShell command method

To uninstall Teams with commands, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.
  2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
  3. Type the following command to uninstall Teams and press Enter:Get-AppxPackage MicrosoftTeams* | Remove-AppxPackage

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

Once you complete the steps, the consumer version for Microsoft Teams to use Chat will be removed. You will still need to use the instructions below to hide the Chat button from the Taskbar.

Remove Chat button from Taskbar

To hide the Chat button from the Taskbar, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Personalization.
  3. Click the Taskbar page on the right side.
  4. Under the "Taskbar items" section, turn off the Chat button.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

After you complete the steps, the Chat from Microsoft Teams integration will no longer be available on Windows 11.

If you ever want to revert the changes, enable and click the Chat button and click the Continue button. This action will reinstall it again on the computer.

More Windows resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the following resources:

Mauro Huculak
Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.

2 Comments
  • Thanks for the step by step instructions. I removed 'Teams' (95MB), couldnt see myself ever using it. It was curious why MS even promotes it considering the cost they spent buying Skype in 2011
  • This is actually easy to answer. The key reason why MS bought Skype was because back in 2011, at the time, Skype had communication IP that they wanted to integrate into their enterprise tools, and since, again, at the time it was popular with consumers, they decided it was a good buy. The IP I'm talking was their proprietary codec for video and audio compression. The thing is, after awhile, that technological advantage waned, especially in the consumer space as competing products emerged, Zoom, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Discord, etc. Microsoft eventually developed a better compression codec, that allows for even better quality video and audio calls under low speed internet connections. That's Teams. That's why on the enterprise level, Skype for Business, formerly known as Microsoft Lync, before the acquisition, was done away with more than a year ago and replaced with Teams. It terms of it's core function, it's just leagues better than Skype, there's also the fact it's AI and sharepoint powered, so I can do live translation on the fly and team collaboration with microsoft office.
    That lives us with Chat, and Skype, and why MS is trying to push us to the former and away from the latter. Chat is powered by teams, it uses the same codec. As an app, it's superior to Skype in every way. I get that those who are still on skype don't see that, but that is the case, and it's been hemorraging users. MS has gotten everything it could out of Skype and needs to move it, thus it's trying to.