How to Uninstall Microsoft Teams When It Fails To
Uninstalling apps on a desktop is a fairly simple process; you need administrative rights to remove an app but beyond that, there is little else that a user needs to do to remove an unwanted app.
Not all apps are installed the same way though and sometimes, the way an app is installed will impact how it can be uninstalled. Portable apps, for example, can be removed by simple deletion and often, you won’t even need admin rights to do the job. For other apps, things may be more complicated.
Microsoft Teams won’t uninstall
Microsoft Teams comes bundled with Microsoft 365 if you use a corporate/company account to install it. As such, uninstalling it isn’t simple especially if you’re using an AD account, or your desktop is a corporate-issued one. It will likely have policies in place to ensure you have access to Microsoft Teams and these policies can prevent the app from uninstalling. Here are a few things you can try to remove the app.
1. Uninstall Microsoft Teams from Settings
When you’re uninstalling Microsoft Teams, you may need to remove one other app to keep the app from installing again.
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to the Apps group of settings.
- Select the Apps and features tab.
- Select the following two apps (one-by-one), and click Uninstall.
-
- Microsoft Teams
- Machinewide Teams Installer
2. Uninstall Microsoft Teams via PowerShell
If you cannot find the Machinewide Teams Installer app listed in the Settings app, or the first solution doesn’t work, you can uninstall Microsoft Teams from PowerShell.
- Open PowerShell with admin rights.
- Run the following command to change the script execution policy. Tap A when prompted to.
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
- Once the execution policy has been set, copy the following script into the PowerShell window to remove Microsoft Teams. This script has been written by Reddit user wdomon.
# Removal Machine-Wide Installer – This needs to be done before removing the .exe below!
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.IdentifyingNumber -eq “{39AF0813-FA7B-4860-ADBE-93B9B214B914}”} | Remove-WmiObject
#Variables
$TeamsUsers = Get-ChildItem -Path “$($ENV:SystemDrive)Users”
$TeamsUsers | ForEach-Object {
Try {
if (Test-Path “$($ENV:SystemDrive)Users$($_.Name)AppDataLocalMicrosoftTeams”) {
Start-Process -FilePath “$($ENV:SystemDrive)Users$($_.Name)AppDataLocalMicrosoftTeamsUpdate.exe” -ArgumentList “-uninstall -s”
}
} Catch {
Out-Null
}
}
# Remove AppData folder for $($_.Name).
$TeamsUsers | ForEach-Object {
Try {
if (Test-Path “$($ENV:SystemDrive)Users$($_.Name)AppDataLocalMicrosoftTeams”) {
Remove-Item –Path “$($ENV:SystemDrive)Users$($_.Name)AppDataLocalMicrosoftTeams” -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Ignore
}
} Catch {
Out-Null
}
}
3. Uninstall Microsoft 365
If you’re using a corporate account with Microsoft 365, you may have to uninstall it and reinstall it with your own personal account. Doing so will allow you to keep the Microsoft Teams app off your system.
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to Apps>Apps and features.
- Look for, and select Microsoft 365.
- Click Uninstall.
- Once it has been uninstalled, download it again using a personal account and license to get our Office apps back but still exclude Microsoft Teams.
Conclusion
Using company-issued hardware and software licenses comes with certain problems i.e., a lack of control. If the above solutions aren’t suitable for you, you can ask your system admin to remove the app from your system. You should also be aware that if the app serves as the main communication tool within your organization, removing it may mean you miss important messages.
