In this weeks ‘What’s new in Microsoft Intune’ it was announced that the ability to uninstall built-in apps with an Intune configuration policy was now available, and it’s long overdue!
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/fundamentals/whats-new#app-management
However, it does come with some caveats:
- You cannot specify which apps to uninstall
- It’s a specific set of apps
- It’s all or nothing, i.e. it’s either the whole set of apps or nothing
But – it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Before this setting was available there was a limited number of ways to remove apps:
- Using a Powershell script (But who likes scripting!?)
- Asking the vendor to remove them before delivering the machine
- Adding the applications to Intune, and then assigning the Uninstall program to machines
The list of specific apps that can be removed using this policy is:
- Mixed Reality Viewer
- MSN Weather
- App Installer
- Microsoft Tips
- My Office
- Microsoft Solitaire Collection
- Mobile Plans
- Feedback Hub
- Xbox
- Groove Music
- Calendar
To create this policy, go to Endpoint Manager Admin Center (or the Intune Portal for the hardcores ;-)), select Devices > Configuration profiles > Create profile. Then, select Windows 10 and later as the Platform. Select Device restrictions as the Profile type. Select App Store in the Device restrictions pane. At the bottom of the pane next to Remove built-in apps, select Remove.
You can then save the policy and assign it to the required machines via the relevant group(s). You can also enable the above setting in an existing device configuration policy.