title: Can I remove Windows App Store from Windows 8.1?
body: <p>I was given the task of removing bloatware from a brand-new Acer laptop. My (and the laptop owner's) definition of bloatware includes all pre-installed Apps and the Winstore itself. You may disagree with that, but that's beside the point.</p>
  
  <p>I tried the <code>remove-appxpackage</code> Powershell command with Winstore's ID and got an error, the important part of which is</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An
    administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may not be possible to uninstall the app.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I didn't see any such option in the <em>Windows Features</em> menu. <strong>Can the Winstore be removed from Win8.1?</strong></p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>Here's the full error message (for reference):</p>
  
  <pre>
  remove-appxpackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFA, Removal failed. Please contact your software vendor.
  (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80073CFA)
  error 0x80070032: AppX Deployment Remove operation on package winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from:
  C:\Windows\WinStore failed. This app is part of Windows and cannot be uninstalled on a per-user basis. An
  administrator can attempt to remove the app from the computer using Turn Windows Features on or off. However, it may
  not be possible to uninstall the app.
  NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 83cee5eb-80ef-0001-3bc1-cf83ef80d001 in the Event Log or use
  the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 83cee5eb-80ef-0001-3bc1-cf83ef80d001
  At line:1 char:1
  + remove-appxpackage winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy -confirm
  + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (winstore_1.0.0....l_cw5n1h2txyewy:String) [Remove-AppxPackage], IOException
      + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.RemoveAppxPackageCommand
  </pre>