How to Uninstall Microsoft Teams on Windows 10 Correctly

Uninstalling apps from Windows PC is quite straightforward and there are several methods you can use to remove apps. However, some programs are a bit difficult to remove from your Windows PC. One of those apps is Microsoft Teams. Some users have tried uninstalling Microsoft Teams and found the Teams app to install automatically the next day. It can quickly get boring.

Microsoft is really forcing the Teams app on users, and that’s not cool in any way. I’m not sure why this particular behavior is either, but that’s not how uninstallation works. In fact, it will only exacerbate users and push them to other applications or even ecosystems.

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

1. Uninstall Microsoft Teams from Settings

There are two components in Microsft Teams, and it’s the second one that is worth noting. In fact, Microsoft mentioned this in one of its support documents that most users either don’t read or can’t find independently.

The first component is the Teams application itself and the second is called the “Teams Machine-Wide Installer” which most users ignore. This app searches for the Teams app, and if it’s 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. Look for teams in the search.

2nd step: Click the name of the application, then select the Uninstall button.

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

Here are some interesting points to note.

• Uninstalling Office will also uninstall the Teams app even if you don’t want to. You will then need to reinstall Teams separately by downloading the executable file. This is the standalone version.
• If you ever repair the Office app from Control Panel, it will reinstall the Teams app because, according to Office, it should be part of the suite. Because this is no longer the case, it must be remedied.

This brings us to the next part. The Office app suite that you installed as part of your Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft seems to install the Teams app for every user, which means you need to uninstall it for every user. Repeat the above steps as is, but you have created yourself for each user, including the guest profile. Do not restart your computer until you are finished. Otherwise, Teams will be reinstalled and you will have to start from scratch.

2. Uninstall Microsoft Teams using PowerShell

Microsoft provides a Teams deployment cleanup script that you can run in PowerShell to uninstall the Teams app. It’s here:

<#
.SYNOPSIS
This script uninstalls the Teams app and removes the Teams directory for a user.
.DESCRIPTION
Use this script to remove and clear the Teams app from a computer. Run this PowerShell script for each user profile in which Teams was installed on the computer. After you run this script for all user profiles, redeploy Teams.
#>

$TeamsPath = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($env:LOCALAPPDATA, 'Microsoft', 'Teams')
$TeamsUpdateExePath = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($env:LOCALAPPDATA, 'Microsoft', 'Teams', 'Update.exe')

try
{
 if ([System.IO.File]::Exists($TeamsUpdateExePath)) {
 Write-Host "Uninstalling Teams process"

 # Uninstall app
 $proc = Start-Process $TeamsUpdateExePath "-uninstall -s" -PassThru
 $proc.WaitForExit()
 }
 Write-Host "Deleting Teams directory"
 Remove-Item –path $TeamsPath -recurse
}
catch
{
 Write-Output "Uninstall failed with exception $_.exception.message"
 exit /b 1
}

Here are the steps.

Step 1: Find and open PowerShell with administrator rights from the Start menu.

2nd step: Copy paste the above script and hit enter. Wait until he has taken his course.

Step 3: You will now switch users and run the script again for each user profile that you have on your Windows computer. Do not restart the computer unless you have done so. When the script is executed for each user, it is safe to restart.

How the Teams MSI package works

This is for nerds or those who understand how MSI packages work. Wondering what happens with Teams being installed for each user. I was wondering the same thing until I found Microsoft’s support documents on Endpoint Configuration Manager, explaining the deployment process.

Microsoft uses something called MSI to install and uninstall most packages (apps and software) on Windows. How Teams MSI works is every time a user logs into their account. It will search for the Teams app and install a copy if it is automatically missing. 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 that’s why the Teams app gets reinstalled over and over again, even if you just uninstalled it. Although it is not mentioned anywhere, it seems that the “search and find” script only runs when the computer is restarted, which is why I recommended that you complete the uninstall process before restarting. Otherwise, it will work 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 everyone needs the Teams app. Not all Office suite users have 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 people’s throats isn’t cool, but maybe Microsoft had a reason we don’t know about. Either way, now you know how to uninstall the Teams app the right way.