A new laptop arrives with thirty apps you did not ask for. The internet is full of scripts promising to strip it back. Some are fine. Some will break your keyboard.
The safe version of this job takes about twenty minutes and needs no downloads at all. I want to take it in order of risk, because that is what nobody else does.
Start with the part that is genuinely free of consequences.
The genuinely safe tier: manufacturer extras you do not use
Almost all of the clutter on a new machine is here, and almost all of it comes off cleanly.
Open Settings, Apps, Installed apps. Sort by name and read down the list. That is the route Microsoft documents for removing an app, and it is the one to use rather than hunting for a maker's own uninstaller.
⭐ Trial antivirus, media suites, photo organizers and shopping apps put there by the manufacturer are the easiest wins. None of them is load-bearing.
Reported by an adviser on Microsoft's board in July 2026, answering somebody with exactly this list on an HP laptop: "It is a personal choice what apps you want to remove, all apps you list if not required, can be safely removed unless I indicate it is required."
⚡ An owner on the same thread confirmed doing it and reported no ill effects. They added a useful reassurance: Store apps can be reinstalled later.
The three the adviser said not to touch
This is the part worth the whole page, because these names look exactly as removable as the rest.
Microsoft Update Health Tools. The adviser's words: "DO NOT remove, this is required to ensure Windows updates install correctly".
Microsoft Windows App Runtime Singleton. Again: "DO NOT remove, this is required for apps installed on your PC".
Your maker's system event utility, in that case HP System Event Utility: "DO NOT remove, this is required for the hot keys on your keyboard."
⛔ That last one is the trap. It reads like manufacturer clutter and it is what makes your brightness, volume and airplane mode keys work.
⭐ Ours, and marked as ours: search any name containing System, Event, Service, Runtime or Framework before it goes. Those words are how the load-bearing pieces get named.
The tier where it depends entirely on you
Not risky, but not free either. People delete something they wanted at this stage.
OneNote, Teams, Whiteboard and Microsoft 365 are all removable, and all of them matter if you use them. The adviser flagged Microsoft 365 specifically: keep it if you have an Office licence or subscription.
Your printer maker's app, such as HP Smart. Worth keeping if you have that printer, pointless if you do not.
Your graphics control panel, from Intel, AMD or NVIDIA, is where display and color settings live. If a TV picture ever looks washed out, that panel is the fix, so think before removing it.
⚠️ Quick Assist is the one people regret. It is how somebody you trust helps you remotely. Reinstating it on an already broken machine is a nuisance.
What Windows will not let you remove
Worth knowing so you stop hunting for a way.
Some inbox apps have no uninstall option at all. Windows has widened what you can remove over the years, so the list shrinks with each release. But a core always stays.
⭐ If an app has no Uninstall option, that is by design. It is not a permissions problem and running something as administrator does not reveal one.
⚡ Check the old list before you conclude anything. Some older software shows a proper uninstaller in Programs and Features and only a stub in Settings. Thirty seconds there saves a hunt.
The scripts, and what I actually think of them
The section most people came here for, so let me be plain about it.
Debloater scripts do in one run what the list above does in twenty minutes. They usually do more besides. Registry edits, service changes, telemetry settings, sometimes removing Store components entirely.
⛔ The risk is not that they are malicious. Most are not. The risk is that you cannot see what a script removed until something stops working weeks later. By then you cannot connect the two.
⚠️ The specific failure to worry about is the Store and its runtimes. Strip those and apps stop updating and installing, which is a hard state to diagnose and an annoying one to undo.
⭐ Ours, and marked as ours: if you run one, take a full backup first and note the date. Not a restore point, a backup. The value of a script is speed, and speed is only worth having if you can reverse it.
⛔ On a work machine, do not run one at all. It will not be your decision to undo.
What actually makes a new laptop feel faster
Being useful rather than just cautious, because the clutter is usually not the real problem.
⭐ Startup apps matter far more than installed apps. Open Task Manager, go to the Startup apps tab, and disable what you do not need running from boot. An app that is installed but never launched costs you nothing.
⚡ That single tab does more for how the machine feels than removing twenty apps, and it reverses in one click.
⚠️ And if the machine is genuinely slow rather than cluttered, two numbers explain most of it. Neither is the app list.
⭐ Ours: do the startup tab first, then the app list, and see whether you still care about the scripts afterwards. Most people do not.
Telemetry and the settings worth changing
The other half of what debloating usually means, and Windows exposes most of it.
Go to Settings, Privacy & security and work down the list. Diagnostic data, tailored experiences, advertising ID and app permissions all live there.
⭐ Turning off tailored experiences and the advertising ID removes the suggestions and promoted content people find most irritating. No script needed.
⚡ Recommendations in the Start menu have their own switch under Settings, Personalization, Start.
⚠️ Some diagnostic data cannot be switched off entirely on consumer editions. Any tool claiming otherwise is overpromising.
Putting a machine back
Worth knowing before you start, not after.
⭐ Store apps reinstall from the Store. That is the reassurance the owner on that thread gave, and it holds for most of what you will remove.
⚡ Manufacturer software comes from the manufacturer's support page, by model number. Note the model before you remove anything.
⛔ A script's changes are the ones that may not come back. Registry and service edits have no Store to reinstall from, which is the whole argument for doing this by hand.
⚠️ And if it all goes wrong, Reset keeps your files and is a lighter option than a USB stick.
Status: gone over the risk order 23 August 2026 on Windows 11. The safe, conditional and do-not-remove tiers come from a dated July 2026 Microsoft Q&A answer by a named independent adviser, quoted, with a second owner reporting no ill effects. The Settings routes are current Windows 11 paths. The position on debloater scripts and the startup apps recommendation are our own calls, labeled as such in the body.
What is safe to uninstall on a new Windows 11 laptop?
Manufacturer trials, media suites and shopping apps come off cleanly. An adviser on Microsoft's board named three not to touch. Microsoft Update Health Tools, Microsoft Windows App Runtime Singleton, and your maker's system event utility. That last one runs your keyboard hot keys.
Are Windows 11 debloater scripts safe?
Most are not malicious, but you cannot see what one removed until something breaks weeks later. The specific risk is stripping Store components and runtimes, which stops apps updating. If you run one, take a full backup first and note the date.
Why can I not uninstall some Windows apps?
Because they have no uninstall option by design. Windows has widened what you can remove over the years, but a core set stays. It is not a permissions problem, and running as administrator does not reveal an option.
What actually speeds up a cluttered new laptop?
The Startup apps tab in Task Manager, far more than the installed apps list. An app installed but never launched costs you nothing. One that starts with Windows costs you every boot.
The Short Version
- Manufacturer trials and extras are the safe tier. Almost none of it is load-bearing.
- Microsoft Update Health Tools and Windows App Runtime Singleton should stay.
- So should your maker's system event utility. It runs your keyboard hot keys.
- Anything with System, Event, Service, Runtime or Framework in the name deserves a search first.
- Quick Assist is the one people regret removing, because it is how somebody helps you remotely.
- Startup apps in Task Manager do more for how the machine feels than uninstalling twenty apps.
- Scripts are fast, and you cannot see what they changed until something breaks later.
- Store apps reinstall from the Store. A script's registry and service edits do not.
Where to Next
Open Task Manager and go to the Startup apps tab first. Five minutes there changes how the machine feels more than an hour spent uninstalling.
Then work down Settings, Apps, Installed apps and remove the manufacturer extras you will never open. Search any name containing System, Event or Runtime before it goes.
If you were about to run a script, do those two things first and see whether you still want to. Most people do not once the machine already feels right.
Putting software back afterwards has a cleaner route than a download page, and one command handles most of it.
And if a debloater script broke something specific on your machine, tell me what stopped working in the comments. That list is genuinely useful and almost nobody publishes it.
Isaac Smith is the founder and editor of PC Glance, a website that covers computers, laptops, and technology. He is a tech enthusiast and a computer geek who loves to share his insights and help his readers make smart choices when buying tech gadgets or laptops. He is always curious and updated about the latest tech trends.