WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Permanently remove Microsoft Edge from your PC
• Banish the new Copilot tool from Windows 10 and 11
• Open files in RAR format without using WinRAR
• Edit and sign PDFs without paying for bloated software
• Ditch ‘free’ programs that keep nagging you to pay
• Stop using useless video downloaders and ad blockers
• Uninstall dangerous mobile apps that spy on you
In our ‘Best Free Downloads for 2024’ Cover Feature in Issue 672, we recommended lots of fantastic programs, apps and other freebies you’ll be able to download in the coming year. However, the start of a new year is also the perfect time to start planning what to get rid of – not only to make room for the good stuff, but to purge your PC and phone of junk.
In 2023, we’ve seen plenty of once great software become bloated with pointless tools, continually nag you to upgrade to a paid-for version and suffer serious privacy and security flaws. Browser extensions and mobile apps have been secretly injected with malicious code to spy on users and steal their data, and hackers have capitalised on the AI craze by creating fake and dangerous copies of popular tools.
Sadly, these trends look set to continue into 2024, along with new types of scams – see our feature on page 62. This makes it all the more important to tackle potential annoyances, rip-offs and threats now – before it’s too late.
In this feature, we explain how to future-proof your computer and mobile devices by uninstalling everything that could compromise them in 2024. This includes unsafe programs, dodgy apps and useless extensions, and built-in Windows tools you never use. We also reveal the best free uninstallers to rid your PC of this rubbish.
WINDOWS TOOLS YOU CAN NOW UNINSTALL
Preinstalled Microsoft apps
One of the biggest annoyances in Windows 11 – and to a lesser extent Windows 10 – is the number of Microsoft apps that come already installed. These include tools such as Microsoft Photos, Xbox Game Bar, Paint 3D, To Do and Mixed Reality Portal, which you probably never use – or perhaps tried once before switching to a better alternative.
Although you can ignore these apps, they still clutter your hard drive and Start menu, so it makes sense to remove them. However, when you try to get rid of certain Microsoft tools through the Apps section of the Settings app (‘Apps & features’ in Windows 10), you’ll find their Uninstall buttons are greyed out – meaning you’re stuck with them.
