Removing Windows Store and Mail icon from the Windows 10 v1703 Taskbar

Earlier today I got a question on how to remove the default Windows Store and Mail icons from the taskbar in Windows 10 v1703.

The answer is simply, use a  group policy.

Remove the Mail icon

Removing the Mail icon can be done by applying a custom taskbar XML file via group policy. Here is an example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LayoutModificationTemplate
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
Version="1">
    <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
        <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
            <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
              <taskbar:UWA AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge" />
              <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk" />
              <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Internet Explorer.lnk"/>
           </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
        </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
    </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
</LayoutModificationTemplate>

Then you configure the group policy, and it can be either a user policy or a computer policy. You find the Start Layout policy in the Policies / Administrative Templates / Start Menu and Taskbar node. Here is an example when it's configured for a computer.

image
Applying a custom taskbar via group policy.

Removing the Windows Store icon

To remove the Windows Store icon you set another group policy, it's a user policy named Do not allow pinning Store app to the Taskbar which you find in the User Configuration / Administrative Templates / Start Menu and Taskbar node. Here is the configured policy.

image
Removing Windows Store icon via group policy.

The result

Below is the default taskbar:

image

And here is the taskbar after applying the group policy:

image

Written by Johan Arwidmark

About the author

Johan Arwidmark

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
19 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Imdad Hussain
Imdad Hussain
21 days ago

Its not working for me. Anything changed recently?

Imdad Hussain
Imdad Hussain
21 days ago

Hmmm, I don't think its working anymore.
Or if there is any workaround to permanently uninstall the mail app for all users, please suggest me.

George
George
7 months ago

Will this stop other things from being pinned to the task bar?

Dre
Dre
1 year ago

If I copy the XML document and use it, all it does is add Internet Explorer to the task bar and does not remove the mail icon…

Last edited 1 year ago by Dre
Bri
Bri
1 year ago

Excellent article. Thank you

Johan Lysén
3 years ago

function UnPinFromTaskbar { param( [string]$appname )
Try {
((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name -like "Ta bort fr*" -OR $_.Name -like "Unpin from*"} | %{$_.DoIt()}
} Catch {$a="b"}
} #UnPinFromTaskbar
UnPinFromTaskbar "E-Post"
UnPinFromTaskbar "Microsoft Store"

Y's Guy
Y's Guy
3 years ago
Reply to  Johan Lysén

Love it, but for American computers, change E-Post to Mail

Charles O
2 years ago
Reply to  Johan Lysén

This is fantastic, do you have an example to add items to the task bar? Say I wanted to add Word, Excel, Outlook & Teams?

Rbert
Rbert
3 months ago
Reply to  Johan Lysén

Do you have one that unpins them for all users?

Name
Name
3 years ago

First picture is gone making this kinda useless

Ken Kennedy
Ken Kennedy
3 years ago

What happened to the example?


>