How to uninstall Cortana on Windows 10

Cortana is one of the major new additions Microsoft made in Windows 10. If you’ve been wondering how to uninstall Cortana, you’re not alone — this virtual assistant did not exist in previous versions of Windows and never really took off. Cortana is terribly limited in its capabilities, and often, it doesn’t work as expected. Its availability is also limited geographically. It has not been popular, and users have wanted to get rid of it for a long time.

Cortana is what one would call a core OS feature, which means removing it can break other features on Windows 10. With the Windows 10 May 2020 update, users can finally uninstall Cortana without breaking their Windows 10 installation. This guide walks you through the entire process step by step.

How to Uninstall Cortana on Windows 10 2004

The Windows 10 May 2020 or Windows 10 2004 update made a major change to how Cortana works. For one, it separated the virtual assistant from Windows search. In doing so, Cortana has now become a stand-alone app on its own. Now that it is a separate app, removing it from Windows 10 is easier, and the fallout from it is almost non-existent. Removing this app won’t break anything on the OS anymore, and it’s fairly easy to undo.

Before the 2004 update, Cortana was deeply integrated into the operating system, making it nearly impossible to remove safely. The separation of Cortana from Windows Search was a significant architectural change that Microsoft made in response to user feedback. This means the steps for how to uninstall Cortana described below only apply to Windows 10 version 2004 and later.

Check Windows version

In order to uninstall Cortana on Windows 10, you need to first make sure you’re running Windows 10 version 2004 or later. Windows 11 users are also supported — see the dedicated Windows 11 section below. If you’re on Windows 10 version 1909 or earlier, the uninstall method in this guide is not supported on your build; skip to the disable section instead.

1. Tap the Win+R keyboard shortcut to open the run box.
2. In the run box, enter ‘winver’ and tap the Enter key.
3. In the window that opens, look for the version number. It should be 2004 or later. If you’re on Windows 10 version 1909 or earlier, the uninstall method in this guide is not supported — use the disable method below instead.

How to Uninstall Cortana Using PowerShell

Now that you’ve confirmed you’re running the correct version, you can uninstall Cortana. DO NOT follow these instructions if you are not running Windows 10 version 2004 or later.

1. Open PowerShell with admin rights. You can do this by right-clicking the Start button and selecting “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.
2. To remove Cortana for the current user only, enter the following command.

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

3. To remove Cortana for all users i.e., from the entire OS, run the following command. This action applies system-wide and requires that PowerShell is running as administrator (see step 1).

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

Once the command finishes, Cortana will be uninstalled from the system. The process typically completes within a few seconds. You won’t see a confirmation dialog — the command will simply finish executing, and Cortana will no longer appear in your app list or taskbar.

How to Uninstall Cortana on Windows 11

Microsoft officially discontinued Cortana in late 2023, which means many Windows 11 systems no longer ship with it installed at all. Before running any removal command, it’s worth checking whether Cortana is actually present on your machine.

Step 1: Check if Cortana is installed

1. Click the Start button and search for Cortana. If no result appears, Cortana is already gone and no further action is needed.
2. Alternatively, go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps and scroll through the list or search for Cortana. If it does not appear, it is not installed.

Step 2: Remove Cortana with PowerShell (if present)

If Cortana does show up as an installed app on your Windows 11 system, you can remove it using the same PowerShell method described above.

1. Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin).
2. Run the following command to remove Cortana for all users on the system.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

Once the command completes, Cortana will be removed. Because Microsoft no longer actively supports or updates Cortana on Windows 11, there is very little reason to reinstall it after removal.

How to Disable Cortana Instead of Uninstalling It

If you don’t want to remove Cortana entirely — or you’re on a Windows 10 build that doesn’t support the uninstall method above — disabling Cortana is a safe and fully reversible alternative. Here are the most practical methods depending on your version of Windows.

Disable Cortana at startup on Windows 11

If Cortana is installed on Windows 11 but you simply want to stop it from running in the background, you can turn off its startup behavior without uninstalling it.

1. Open Settings and go to Apps > Installed apps.
2. Find Cortana in the list and click the three-dot menu next to it, then select Advanced options.
3. Scroll down to the Runs at log-in toggle and turn it off.

Cortana will remain installed but will no longer launch automatically when you sign in.

Disable Cortana on older Windows 10 builds (1909 and earlier) via Registry

On Windows 10 builds where uninstalling Cortana is not supported, you can prevent it from running by setting a policy value in the Windows Registry. This does not remove Cortana but stops it from functioning.

1. Press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following path (create the key if it does not exist):
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
3. Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it AllowCortana.
4. Double-click the new value and set its data to 0, then click OK.
5. Restart your PC for the change to take effect.

To re-enable Cortana later, return to the same Registry location and either delete the AllowCortana value or change its data back to 1, then restart.

Install Cortana

To install Cortana again, follow these steps;

1. Visit the Cortana app page in the Microsoft Store.
2. Click Get, and when prompted to, open the Microsoft Store app.
3. Click Install in the Microsoft Store app next to Cortana, and it will be installed again.

Since Cortana is now a standalone app available through the Microsoft Store, reinstalling it is straightforward and takes only a minute or two. This is one of the key advantages of the post-2004 architecture — you have full control over whether the app is present on your system.

Conclusion

If you’re on an older version of Windows 10, you can use the given command to remove Cortana, but it may cause problems, and you won’t be able to get it back unless you’ve created a system restore point or you’re willing to reset the PC. For those reasons, it’s strongly recommended to update to Windows 10 2004 or later before attempting removal.

If you need to remove Cortana but want an easy way to get it back, consider removing it for one user only. When you want to get the feature back, you can create a new user, and Cortana will be available for the new user. Knowing how to uninstall Cortana gives you greater control over your Windows 10 experience and helps keep your system lean and focused on the tools you actually use.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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