HELP. I CAN'T UNINSTALL POWERTOYS

Question

HELP. I CAN'T UNINSTALL POWERTOYS

abdocat 5

The uninstaller is not in the control panel.

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4 answers

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Answer 1

FOSSA Mauro (Iveco Group) 0

winget uninstall is just a frontend for the old appwiz.cpl thing, both run the same commands and both fail

Removing files is not an option

So....? who's in charge to fix errors (no AI please - useless)

(1/2) Found PowerToys (Preview) x64 [Microsoft.PowerToys]

Starting package uninstall...

Uninstall failed with exit code: 2180251649

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Answer 2

abdocat 5

i use the windows 10 ver. how do i fix the uninstall problem?

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Answer 3

Thomas4-N 23,505 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello abdocat, welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Your issue is mentioned here: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/41187.

In that thread, other users have suggested some fixes you can try:

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Thomas4-N 23,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-18T14:04:34.3+00:00

Hello abdocat,

Just checking in to see if the above information was helpful.

Have you had a chance to check the answer provided? Any update would be appreciated.
abdocat 5 Reputation points

2026-03-06T14:40:45.0733333+00:00

I tried those before, PowerToys is not in the menu..
Thomas4-N 23,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-07T11:05:33.0866667+00:00
Hi abdocat,

I understand PowerToys isn't showing up in your installed apps list. I'd like to confirm which specific methods you've already tried. From that GitHub thread, did you try:

Registry hunt for the MSI installer:

Open Registry Editor (Win+R > type regedit)

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Installer

Look for a PowerToys entry that points to an MSI file (something like C:\Users[YourName]\AppData\Local\Package Cache{GUID}\PowerToysUserSetup-[version]-x64.msi)

Run that MSI file if you find it > should give you an uninstall button

MS troubleshooter:

Download and run: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed-cca7d1b6-65a9-3d98-426b-e9f927e1eb4d

Upgrade PowerToys first:

Download latest version from GitHub and install over the broken installation

Check if it then appears in Settings > Apps so you can uninstall normally

Try these methods and let me know what happens with each one.
Thomas4-N 23,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-08T13:02:00.1966667+00:00

Hi abdocat,

Just check in to see how things are going. Let me know if you need anything.
Chris Armstrong (RUN STUDIOS LLC) 10 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-03-11T17:38:21.3766667+00:00

Thanks. This worked, except that I found the cached installer by :
-checking my version by hovering over the system tray icon (mine was 0.90.1)
-searching for "powertoys" in C:\Users<your user name>\AppData\Local
-opening the .log file for my installed version
-finding the C:\ProgramData\Package Cache{<your string>}\PowerToysSetup-0.90.1-x64.exe
-running that cached installer with right click>elevated access (under our security policies this was needed)
-installer modal had an uninstall version

Once the old version was uninstalled, I was able to install the new version through the MS store.
abdocat 5 Reputation points

2026-04-02T04:54:00.62+00:00

the problem is that im using windows 10 (probably outdated ig) bec the last time i updated it got stuck on the update an had to fix it my self(also this my mom's laptop not mine)
abdocat 5 Reputation points

2026-04-02T04:56:54.77+00:00

also, what could the string be? powertys is litteraly taking over the c drive and i want uninstall so that i could use turbowarp freely again without lags
Thomas4-N 23,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-02T14:19:23.12+00:00

Hello abdocat,

I see you're asking about the GUID string in the Package Cache path — Chris Armstrong's reply above actually walks through exactly how to find that string on your machine. It's unique to each installation, so you'll need to locate it yourself by checking your PowerToys version (hover over the system tray icon) and searching for "powertoys" in C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local to find the log file, or by searching directly for PowerToysSetup*.exe in C:\ProgramData\Package Cache.

That said, I'd like to confirm: did you actually try any of the three methods I outlined (registry hunt, MS troubleshooter, or reinstall-over), and if so, what happened?
Thomas4-N 23,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-04T11:22:56.9333333+00:00

Hello abdocat,

Just check in to see how things are going. Let me know if you need anything.

Answer 4

If you're having trouble uninstalling PowerToys and the uninstaller is not appearing in the Control Panel, you can use the command line to uninstall it. Here’s how:

Open Command Prompt as an administrator.

Use the following command to uninstall PowerToys:

   winget uninstall --name powertoys

You can also specify a version if needed:

   winget uninstall --name powertoys --version <version_number>

If you encounter issues with the uninstaller, you can also check the PowerToys releases page for the installer and use the command to extract the MSI if necessary. This can help in cases where the uninstallation process is problematic.

Additionally, if you are still facing issues, consider using cleanup scripts available on the PowerToys GitHub repository to assist with the uninstallation process.

References: