How to Uninstall Microsoft Teams on Windows 10 Correctly

A C.A. by profession and a tech enthusiast by passion, Gaurav loves tinkering with new tech and gadgets. He used to build WordPress websites but gave it all up to develop little iOS games instead. Finally, he dropped out of CA to pursue his love for tech. He has over 5 years of experience as a writer covering Android, iOS, and Windows platforms and writes how-to guides, comparisons, listicles, and explainers for B2B and B2C apps and services. He currently divides his time between Guiding Tech (writer) and Tech Wiser (editor).

Uninstalling apps from Windows PC is pretty easy and you can use more than one way to remove apps. However, some programs are a bit tricky to get rid of from your Windows PC. One such app is Microsoft Teams. Certain users tried uninstalling Microsoft Teams, and found thatTeams app was auto-installedthe next day. That can quickly get annoying.

Microsoft is really forcing the Teams app on users, and this is not cool by any standard. I am not sure why this peculiar behavior either, but this is not how uninstallation works. In fact, this will only infuriate users and repel them towards other apps or even ecosystems.

Let’s find out how to uninstall Microsoft Teams so that it doesn’t come back to haunt you.

1. Uninstall Microsoft Teams From Settings

There are two components to Microsoft Teams, and it’s the second one that’s worth noting. In fact, Microsoft has mentioned this in one of theirsupport documentsthat most users don’t read or can’t find independently.

The first component is the Teams app itself, and the second one is called ‘Teams Machine-Wide Installer’ that most users overlook. What this app does is look for the Teams app and if found missing, reinstall it. Again, this is weird, but it is what it is.

Here is the correct order to uninstall Microsoft Teams completely.

Step 1:Press Windows key+I to open Settings on your Windows 10 computer and go to Apps > Apps & features. Search for Teams in the search.

Step 2:Click on the app name and then select Uninstall button.

You will have to repeat the same steps to uninstall ‘Teams Machine-Wide Installer’ app.

Here are some interesting points that you should note.

This brings us to the next part. TheOffice suite of appsthat you have installed as part of your Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft seems to be installing the Teams app for every user, which means you have to uninstall it for every user. Repeat the above steps as is, but for every user you have created, including the guest profile. Do not reboot your computer until you finish that. Otherwise, Teams will be reinstalled, and you will have to begin from scratch.

2. Uninstall Microsoft Teams Using PowerShell

Microsoft provides aTeams deployment clean-up scriptthat you can run in PowerShell to uninstall Teams app. Here it is:

Here are the steps.

Step 1:Search for and open PowerShell with admin rights from the Start menu.

Step 2:Copy-paste the above script and hit Enter. Wait for it to run its course.

Step 3:You will now switch user and run the script again for each user profile you have on your Windows computer. Don’t reboot the computer unless you have done it. When the script is run for each user, you can safely reboot.

How Teams MSI Package Works

This is for nerds or those who understand how MSI packages work. You are wondering what’s up with Teams being installed for every user. I wondered the same until I found Microsoft’s support documents on the Endpoint Configuration Manager,explaining the deployment procedure.

Microsoft uses something called MSI for installing and uninstalling most packages (apps and software) on Windows. The way Teams MSI works is every time a user signs in to his/her account. It will look for the Teams app and install a copy if found missing automatically. It uses Teams Machine-Wide Installer for the installation part, as we noted earlier. The app is installed in the user’s AppData folder, which is usually hidden by default.

And this is why the Teams app is reinstalled again and again even though you just uninstalled it. Though not mentioned anywhere, it seems that the ‘search and find’ script runs only when the computer is rebooted, which is why I recommended finishing the uninstallation process before you reboot. Otherwise, it will run again and do what it was programmed to do. Computers are dumb in that sense. They don’t understand human emotions, like when you are angry and frustrated.

Go Solo

Not everybody needs the Teams app. Not everyone using the Office suite has a team. Some of us work alone, while others use different project management and video calling apps. Different people have different needs. Forcing an app down users’ throats is not cool, but maybe, Microsoft had a reason that we don’t know. Either way, now you know how to uninstall the Teams app the right way.

Was this helpful?

Last updated on 13 July, 2021

The article above may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. The content remains unbiased and authentic and will never affect our editorial integrity.

More in Windows

5 Ways to Fix Spacebar Not Working in Windows 11

2 Ways to Fix Microsoft OneDrive Not Loading in Browser

JOIN THE NEWSLETTER

Get Guiding Tech articles delivered to your inbox.

© 2024 Guiding Tech Media. All Rights Reserved.