In this article, we’ll look at how to uninstall software on a local or remote Windows computer using PowerShell. Quite often, the system administrator uses scripts to uninstall Windows applications. You can use several approaches to remove programs from the command prompt or PowerShell scripts.

Using WMI to Uninstall Programs in Windows

The most common way to remove installed programs on Windows is to use commands that refer to the WMI namespace. For example, you can query the WMI namespace and get a list of installed programs with the wmic command.

wmic product get name,version

To silently uninstall an application from this list, you may use the command below:

wmic product where name="VMware vCenter Converter Standalone" call uninstall /nointeractive

The command calls an app (vCenter Converter) uninstallation WMI method through the Windows Installer.

Executing (\\COMPName\ROOT\CIMV2:Win32_Product.IdentifyingNumber="{PROGRAM_GUID}",Name="VMware vCenter Converter Standalone",Version="6.2.0.8466193")->Uninstall()

If the program is successfully uninstalled, it will return:

Method execution successful. Out Parameters: instance of __PARAMETERS {
ReturnValue = 0; };

Here are similar PowerShell commands to display and uninstall apps via WMI:

Get-WmiObject Win32_Product | ft name,version,vendor,packagename
(Get-WmiObject Win32_Product -Filter "Name = 'XXX'").Uninstall()

In order to remove a program on a remote computer, add the -ComputerName option. For example, to uninstall Microsoft Office on a remote computer, run the command below:

$apps = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product -ComputerName wkmn-man23 |where name -Like "Office 16 Click-to-Run*"
$apps.uninstall()

However, this method of removing applications is not universal enough for all possible cases. If you compare the list of programs returned via the WMI namespace and the list of apps in the Windows Control Panel/ Apps & features list in Settings (use the MS-Settings quick access command: ms-settings:appsfeatures), you will see that they differ. The wmi command only displayed a list of programs installed through the Windows Installer. The list doesn’t include most user apps (browsers, for example).

In addition, UWP programs from the Microsoft Store, and PowerShell modules (via PowerShellGet) are not displayed.

Uninstall Apps on Remote Computer with PowerShell Package Manager Module

In modern Windows 10/11 builds and Windows Server 2022/2019/2016, you can use the built-in PowerShell Package Management cmdlets to install or uninstall apps. Originally, the module was used to install/uninstall PowerShell modules. However, you may use it to uninstall Win32 programs, MSU updates, and apps installed using MSI installers as well.

To display a complete list of installed apps on a local computer, run the command below:

Get-Package

The command returns several classes of programs installed through the different providers (ProviderName). You can display a list of providers on a computer as follows:

Get-PackageProvider

• Programs
• Msi
• Msu
• PowerShellGet
• NuGet

To show a list of programs installed via a specific provider, run this command:

Get-Package -ProviderName Programs -IncludeWindowsInstaller

Use the Uninstall-Package cmdlet to remove the program:

Get-Package -Name "Notepad++*" | Uninstall-Package

You can remove the installed PowerShell module. For example, to uninstall all VMware.PowerCLI modules: