Uninstalling apps on Windows 11 is about to get much easier — and it’s long overdue

Windows 11's Microsoft Store will soon make it easier to uninstall apps from your PC. A new feature that is currently being tested among Windows Insiders lets users uninstall Store-managed apps from the Microsoft Store's library page.

The feature feels so natural that you may have assumed it was already available. But I assure you that clicking the three-dot menu in the library does not show the option to uninstall an app (unless you're an Insider testing the experimental feature).

The change is rolling out gradually to Windows Insiders running Microsoft Store version 22510.1401.x.x and higher. Microsoft outlined the change in a recent blog post. Since that same post also discussed the future expansion of the Xbox full screen experience for PC, the Microsoft Store change was almost a footnote.

Of course, you can uninstall apps through the Settings app or using other methods, but it's nice to be able to remove store-managed apps through the Microsoft Store.

The Microsoft Store has improved over the years. It launched in a rough state, but the team behind the store has done a great job improving the Microsoft Store's feature set and reliability.

Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden went as far as to say the Microsoft Store is "now a must-use app store in 2025."

Arguably the biggest change to the store was when Microsoft allowed legacy and desktop-class apps to be added. Originally, developers had to make code changes before getting an app into the Microsoft Store. Now, the Microsoft Store supports Win32, UWP, PWA, .NET MAUI, or Electron apps.

Other changes, such as allowing developers to host their apps on their own servers, drew big-name app developers to the store. Adobe Creative Cloud, Discord, Slack, and Spotify are all available through the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft dropped the fee for individual developers to join the Microsoft Store earlier this year. The fee, which used to be a one-off payment of $19, was already lower than that of Google (one-time fee of $25) or Apple ($99 per year).

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