How to get rid of Candy Crush Saga on Windows 10

The game comes preinstalled on some Windows 10 systems. But don't worry, you can uninstall it.

The game comes preinstalled on some Windows 10 systems. But don't worry, you can uninstall it.

Want it or not, your Windows 10 computer might have Candy Crush Saga installed--and yet, if it is, you won't find the program in the Add/Remove Programs control panel. Here's how to remove it. First, though, not everyone seems to have it preinstalled. When I search for the game on my upgraded laptop, the app is in the Windows App Store and says that I own the game and can install it if I wish. Others, however, find it on their system automatically. (Microsoft announced it would be automatically installed for those who upgraded or downloaded Windows 10 during launch.)

If you don't want the app on your system, you can remove it in PowerShell. StackOverflow user Doktor J offers these instructions, adapted from an article on GHacks.net:  

1. Click in the search box in your Taskbar and type powershell; select "Windows Powershell" (not "Windows Powershell ISE" if that shows up).
2. At the prompt, type Get-AppxPackage -Name king.com.CandyCrushSaga and press Enter (TIP: to copy/paste that command, copy as usual, then just right-click in the PowerShell window to paste).
3. Look for the "PackageFullName" line in the result that comes up; it should be something similar toking.com.CandyCrushSaga_1.540.1.0_x86__khqwnzmzfus32.
4. Copy the PackageFullName by left-clicking and dragging to highlight it, then right-click in the PowerShell window to copy the selected text.
5. Type Remove-AppxPackage (include trailing space) and paste the PackageFullName that you copied in step 4, then press Enter.
6. A teal-colored text dialog should come up showing the removal process, and then uninstall should be complete.
7. Repeat step 2 to verify that it uninstalled successfully (the command should now return nothing).
8. Lastly, confirm that Candy Crush Saga is no longer in your Start Menu.
9. Enjoy a Candy-Crush-Free computer!

There are other default, built-in apps in Windows 10 that you can remove, including Xbox, Groove Music and Film & TV, and Money, Sports, News, and Weather. You'll find the commands for these at Thomas Vanhoutte's site.

Removing apps should be easier than this!