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Windows 11 includes many apps, but some are better than others.
Some apps receive top billing and will boost your everyday productivity.
Other apps can be dumped, but delete tools with care.
Every installation of Windows 11 includes a long list of preinstalled apps. Some tools are there because they're necessary for the operating system to do what it does. Others are there to help Microsoft make more money, because every Windows PC is valuable for its ability to bundle and promote Microsoft's collection of paid services, including Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Xbox, and Copilot. A handful are actually useful.
Also: How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 in 2025
Want to see the entire collection? On a brand new PC, go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps and scroll through the list. If you've already installed a bunch of third-party apps, type Microsoft in the search box at the top of the page to filter the list. When I tried that on a relatively new installation of Windows 11 version 25H2 just now, that list included 32 apps, some essential and others completely unnecessary.
Thanks to a 2023 decision by European regulators, you can now uninstall most of those apps. But should you? These built-in apps take up little disk space and use no CPU or graphics power unless you choose to run them. The real issue is simple: if you don't want an app on your PC, you have the right to remove it. You also have the right to ignore it.
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