Removing Windows Backup on Windows 10

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Anyone running Windows 10 may have noticed KB5029331 has added a Windows Backup application which doesn’t work on non-consumer accounts, but still forces itself onto the start menu.

I’m not a fan of any bloatware so want to add this to things to remove.

Fortunately I had some help from this Reddit thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Intune/comments/16i8arf/can_we_remove_the_new_windows_backup_start_menu

If I find anything better than killing the User Experience Desktop pack (or if anyone else does), I will update accordingly!

Bloat Script

The first thing I’ve done is included it into my Bloat Script which will check if it exists on Win10 and then remove it.

Remediation

Not that I don’t trust people, but I have a feeling it may well re-appear after a future update so that’s where remediations come into play.

These scripts can be found on GitHub here:

https://github.com/andrew-s-taylor/public/tree/main/Powershell%20Scripts/Intune/WindowsBackup

First we need to check if it’s there by looking for the Assets folder:

$filepath = "C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\WindowsBackup\Assets"
if (Test-Path $filepath) {
write-host "It's there, burn it"
exit 1
}
else {
write-host "All good, relax"
exit 0
}

If we find it, kill it:

Remove-WindowsPackage -Online -PackageName "Microsoft-Windows-UserExperience-Desktop-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.19041.3393"

Run as System in 64-bit mode

18 thoughts on “Removing Windows Backup on Windows 10”

  4. I haven’t tried removing this bloatware with any command yet, as I realized that it is part of the system. Microsoft is increasingly pushing bloatware and making it difficult to remove or block. There will be more and more ads and unnecessary apps inside the Windows ISO. The system is increasingly heavy and unusable.
    I tried blocking this app with Firewall, Local Security Policy and Edit Group Policy, but without success.

    You can try to remove it with this command:

    taskkill /f /im “WindowsBackupClient.exe”

    del /f /q /s “C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\WindowsBackupClient.exe”

    Thanks 😉

    Reply

  5. Worked like charm.
    Task Manager\App history listed this Backup as 2.nd from top when sorted by cpu time.
    And I’ve never used it or asked for it.

    Thanks again

    Reply

  7. Remediation error below is what i believe Lens was referring to? But detection finds it…. Pre-remediation detection output:”It’s there, kill it.”

    Remove-WindowsPackage : The specified package is not valid Windows package. At C:\WINDOWS\IMECache\HealthScripts\026298fc-59b5-4040-b123-f4cf9f4e8536_1\remediate.ps1:1 char:1 + Remove-WindowsPackage -Online -PackageName “Microsoft-Windows-UserExp … + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Remove-WindowsPackage], COMException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Dism.Commands.RemoveWindowsPackageCommand

    Reply

  8. Freshly imaged, bare machine. I have the Windows Backup app. I can no longer remove it as of 11-13-23.
    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Remove-WindowsPackage -Online -PackageName “Microsoft-Windows-UserExperience-Desktop-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.19041.3393” Remove-WindowsPackage : The specified package is not valid Windows package.
    At line:1 char:1
    + Remove-WindowsPackage -Online -PackageName “Microsoft-Windows-UserExp …
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Remove-WindowsPackage], COMException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Dism.Commands.RemoveWindowsPackageCommand

    I can see the files but unable to delete. Taskkill = no running processes.
    C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy

    Reply

  9. dism /online /Get-Packages | Select-String “Microsoft-Windows-UserExperience-Desktop-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~.*$” | ForEach-Object { $_.Matches[0].Value } | % {dism /online /remove-package /PackageName:$_}

    Reply

  10. I am needing to move my Dropbox folder from C: to E: but every time I try to do this it states that I need to turn off Windows Backup first. I am struggling to achieve this? I am not very confident about using command line commands – any ideas of how you can help me?

    Reply

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