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Created January 10, 2020 14:38
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Remove the Xbox Game Bar with Powershell on Windows 10
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remove-gamebar-powershell-win10.md

You've probably stumbled upon this researching how to remove the Xbox Game Bar. This gist includes a few different methods you can try. Note you might not have some of these options depending on the version of Windows 10 you're using. And eventually I suspect we may not be able to remove the Game Bar in future builds.

Uninstalling/Removing the Game Bar

(This does not seem to be an option on any recent Windows 10 build)

  1. Press Windows Key or click on the Start menu.
  2. Start typing Xbox or Game Bar, until you get the Xbox Game Bar app to appear in the results.
  3. Right-click on the app and pick Uninstall. Answer Yes to the prompt, and wait for the process to finish.

Windows Build 19H1 (uninstall moved into Settings)

You might not have an Uninstall option in the right-click context menu. Try drilling into Settings and looking there.

  1. Press Windows Key or click on the Start menu.
  2. Start typing Xbox or Game Bar, until you get the Xbox Game Bar app.
  3. Right click on Xbox Game Bar and click Settings
  4. Scroll down and click Uninstall. Wait for the process to finish.

Windows Build 19H2 (uninstall button is now grayed out)

On my machine running Windows Build 10.0.18362 (19H2) the uninstall button is grayed out. The button I'm referring to is here: Xbox Game Bar > Right Click > App Settings > Uninstall.

# Removing the Game Bar (using PowerShell)

Try this to remove the Xbox app with PowerShell:

1. Open Windows PowerShell as an administrator (Windows Key > Start typing "PowerShell" > CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER) 2. Type or paste, and then run this command: Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage 3. Let the process complete (it will likely throw some errors, it did for me and others, but hopefully it removes it!)

If that doesn't work, give the DISM tool a try.

Removing Microsoft.Xbox* AppXPackage using PowerShell and DISM (short version)

Can't find a way to uninstall the Game Bar using the GUI? DISM and PowerShell might do the trick.

DISM is a Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool. You can use DISM from an elevated PowerShell prompt.

1. Open Windows PowerShell as an administrator (Windows Key > Start typing "PowerShell" > CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER)

2. First run dism /Online /Get-ProvisionedAppxPackages | Select-String PackageName | Select-String xbox to see what xbox packages are actually on your system.

You can try to run the following command which will get the AppXPackages matching on xbox and then attempts to remove them. There are several commands stringed together (thanks @bashenk).

3a. DISM version:

dism /Online /Get-ProvisionedAppxPackages | Select-String PackageName | Select-String xbox | ForEach-Object {$_.Line.Split(':')[1].Trim()} | ForEach-Object { dism /Online /Remove-ProvisionedAppxPackage /PackageName:$_}

3b. PowerShell cmdlet version:

Get-ProvisionedAppxPackage -Online | Where-Object { $_.PackageName -match "xbox" } | ForEach-Object { Remove-ProvisionedAppxPackage -Online -PackageName $_.PackageName }

4. Verify

Search for the xbox packages again to check that there are no results (successful removal of the xbox appxpackages)

dism /Online /Get-ProvisionedAppxPackages | Select-String PackageName | Select-String xbox

Removing Microsoft.Xbox* AppXPackage using PowerShell and DISM (long version)

This is essentially the short version but instead of stringing commands together running commands separately.

Step 1. Remove AppxPackages from current user.

Open PowerShell as your current user (not as an administrator). If your administrator account is different from your logged in user, this is important.

Identify user by running $env:Username:

PS C:\Users\josh> $env:Username
josh

Get list of xbox AppxPackages using Get-AppxPackage:

PS C:\Users\josh>  Get-AppxPackage | select-string xbox

Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI_1.24.10001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_3.34.15002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Step 2. Build your remove script using package names discovered in Step 1.

Which might look something like this:

Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI_1.24.10001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_3.34.15002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Run:

PS C:\Users\josh> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI_1.24.10001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\Users\josh> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\Users\josh> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor.
(Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package
Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from:
C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_cw5n1h2txyewy failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be
uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows
Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 1e9e759c-9d2e-0000-74d3-a31e2e9dd501 in the Event Log or use
the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID 1e9e759c-9d2e-0000-74d3-a31e2e9dd501
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neut ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (Microsoft.XboxG...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\Users\josh> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\Users\josh> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_3.34.15002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\Users\josh> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

You may notice one or more attempts to remove a package failed. We can clean that up using an administrator account.

Step 3. Check AppxPackage list again

PS C:\Users\josh> Get-AppxPackage | select-string xbox

Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

Step 4. Launch PowerShell as an administrator

Now that we have an elevated command prompt. Let's look at the AppxPackage list again. We should see a few more:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-AppxPackage | Select-String xbox

Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.15063.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Let's remove them:

Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.15063.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Results:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.15063.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Remove-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073D19, An error occurred because a user was logged off.
error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package
Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.15063.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from:
C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_cw5n1h2txyewy failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be
uninstalled on a per-user basis. An administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows
Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 1e9e759c-9d2e-0001-5455-a21e2e9dd501 in the Event Log or use
the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID 1e9e759c-9d2e-0001-5455-a21e2e9dd501
At line:1 char:1
+ Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.15063.0.0_neutra ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (Microsoft.XboxG...l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

We see one failed. Let's try to use DISM to remove them.

Step 5: Get a list of DISM packages that match on xbox

Search provisioned packages, you might see more packages than what you found via the Remove-AppxPackage cmdlet.

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> dism /online /get-provisionedappxpackages | select-string packagename | select-string xbox | ForEach-Object {$_.Line.Split(':')[1]}
 Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
 Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_3.34.15002.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
 Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
 Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Step 6: Remove the DISM packages that match on xbox

Build your script based on output found in step 5.

dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_3.34.15002.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Example Result:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay_1.47.14001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1

Image Version: 10.0.18362.476

The operation completed successfully.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_3.34.15002.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1

Image Version: 10.0.18362.476

The operation completed successfully.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_12.58.1001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1

Image Version: 10.0.18362.476

The operation completed successfully.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> dism /online /remove-provisionedappxpackage /packagename:Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay_1.21.13002.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1

Image Version: 10.0.18362.476

The operation completed successfully.

Step 7. Verify

Run DISM as an administrator:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>  dism /online /get-provisionedappxpackages | select-string packagename | select-string xbox
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>

Run AppXPackage as a normal user:

PS C:\Users\josh> Get-AppxPackage | select-string xbox

Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.18362.449.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

Run AppXPackage as an elevated user:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-AppxPackage | Select-String xbox

Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI_1000.15063.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

So...I had difficulty getting XboxGameCallableUI to remove. I'm not sure why. It appears this didn't actually remove the Game bar.

You could also try changing the Game bar settings. Go to Search > "game bar settings"

  1. For the option that says Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcasting using Game Bar move the slider to the Off position.

  2. (Optional) Uncheck the checkbox for Open Game bar using this button on a controller

Third-Party App Suggestion: O&O App Buster

Thanks @MajorGeek for letting us know about O&O AppBuster as another option to try.

Notes

YMMV.

If these none of methods work for you and you end up using a different way to remove the Xbox Game Bar, please comment and let us know how you accomplished it, and if applicable include what version and build of Windows you're using (to find your build run systeminfo | findstr OS in PowerShell or cmd.exe).

And I'll try to update the gist accordingly to help other people landing here.

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