Kevin’s Picks: Windows Toolbox
Windows 11 comes bundled with several Microsoft apps that you may not need. It's a real pain and can be very time-consuming to either manually remove the ones they will allow you to remove or simply disable the others.
I typically recommend methods built into Windows, especially for non-tech-savvy folks, but I'm inclined to recommend this third-party program because I honestly find it does a much better job of clearing out those apps, despite some effort being involved.
You can prevent many of them from being installed at all during a clean install of Windows 11 (NOT a reset), but that involves technical steps like partitioning you probably want to avoid.
The best alternative I've found so far is the Windows Toolbox from Chris Titus Tech. It costs $10US, but I consider that a very fair bargain for what it does.
Of course, this shouldn't have to be necessary if Microsoft could just gives users the CHOICE, but they don't, so we must do things like this.
I have used the Windows Toolbox many times now, and it works very well! It will open in Windows Power Shell first, but you'll quickly see an easy-to-use program with options. I mainly use the "Tweaks" tab.
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Here are exactly the settings I change, and Windows Toolbox makes these changes in real time.
- Disable telemetry (tracking, reporting anonymous usage to Microsoft)
- Disable Hibernation
- Remove ALL MS Store Apps
- Remove OneDrive
- Set Classic Right-Click Menu
Under "Customize Preferences" on the right:
- Disable Bing Search in Start Menu
- NumLock on Startup
- Show File Extensions
- Disable Snap Assist Flyout
I leave the rest alone. Change other items if you'd like, but I recommend only changing items you recognize.
My Only Frustrations With It
The creator of this third-party tool has decided to compress relatively small files into ZIP files that you must extract before you can use the program. Here's a quick guide to help you do that.
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Please double left click on "CTT-Windows Utility" to view the contents of that ZIP file.
Then right-click "CTT-Windows Utility" and choose the "copy" symbol.
Next, right-click on the desktop and choose the "paste" symbol.
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Double-left click the "CTT Utility" icon to open the application.
Many independent developers cannot afford Microsoft's fees to digitally "sign" their applications to make them appear more "legitimate" to users. Thus, Windows prompts users to make sure they really want to open such an application.
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I assure you that Windows Toolbox is legitimate and is safe to run. Please click the "more info" link.
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Then click the "Run now" button that appears at the bottom of that window.
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