Debloat Windows 11 the Right Way: Managing Default Store Apps with Microsoft Intune

We all know the drill: we roll out a new Windows 11 device with Microsoft Intune, but what about all those default apps that have no place in a corporate environment? Apps such as Feedback Hub, Xbox Gaming, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, and MSN Weather. How can we quickly remove these without manually removing the apps from each device or adding every Microsoft Store app to Microsoft Intune and assigning them to uninstall?

Introduction

Microsoft Intune now has the Remove Default Microsoft Store Packages from the system option in the Settings Catalog, which means that from now on, we can remove certain default apps via a Configuration Policy. Please note that this setting is only available for Windows 11 Enterprise/Education, build 25h2. The list of available apps to remove can be found below:

Which apps should you keep?

The first thing we need to ask ourselves is, do we want to remove all available apps? Or which ones do we want to keep, and which ones don’t we? Below, I have created a personal overview of which apps we can keep and which ones we can’t in a corporate environment:

Now that we know which applications to remove and which ones to keep, we can get to the fun part: creating our Configuration Profile! Let’s go.

Microsoft Intune

Go to Microsoft Intune admin center | Devices | Windows | Configuration, and choose Create, and New Policy

Select Windows 10 and later as Platform, and as Profile type choose Settings Catalog. Then choose Create.

Create a Configuration Policy with the following details, and choose Next.

• Name: WIN – DVC – OS – Remove Default Store Apps
• Description: This policy will remove the selected default Microsoft Store apps on Windows 11 devices

In the Configuration settings blade, choose +Add settings, then search for Remove Default Microsoft Store Packages from the system and select the corresponding setting.

In the Configuration Settings blade, enable the Remove Default Microsoft Store Packages from the system setting and select the apps you want to remove/keep by setting the toggle to False (Keep) or True (Remove). After that, choose Next.

Choose Next, until you are at the Assignments blade and assign your policy to your desired device group. I use the all Windows Autopilot device group (don’t pay attention to the naming, time to update it.). Once you assigned your group, choose Next.

Review the policy settings and choose Create.

That’s it, nothing more than creating a Configuration Policy to remove those default apps from our Windows 11 device.