10 Pointless Windows Programs And Apps You Should Uninstall Immediately

While most Windows programs and applications provide enhanced productivity or entertainment, others overstay their welcome. These unneeded programs can hog precious system resources, slow performance, and clutter desktops with unnecessary icons. Such programs are commonly known as bloatware, and it is important for consumers to learn to recognize bloatware so they can remove it and open up space on their devices.

Of course, just because a program is seldom used does not automatically make it bloatware. For instance, all Windows operating systems come loaded with iTunes, an Apple audio application that was, for a time, one of the most sought-after apps in the space. However, the growing influence of Spotify has made a program once considered indispensable seemingly expendable, though there are still at least a few reasons to prefer iTunes over Spotify. 

The term bloatware is better reserved for programs that are simply empty calories on a hard drive or solid-state drive. Bloatware can range from programs that are totally superfluous to those that are no longer supported and have been abandoned by the creators. Either way, such programs can be safely removed in favor of more modern and useful applications. Here are 10 pointless programs and applications from Microsoft Windows you are encouraged to uninstall immediately.

Like Microsoft Silverlight, Java is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. Sun Microsystems designed Java to be platform-independent, meaning Java's code could be understood on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems so long as users had the latest version of Java installed on their devices. Java is known for its "write once, run anywhere" principle, which allows developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms without needing to recompile it. At its peak, Java was used for developing a variety of applications, including desktop software, web applications, and mobile apps.

Today, Java has worn out its welcome. In fact, it could even be deemed an unnecessary security risk as cybercriminals have been known to use Java as a conduit of attack, not to mention Java does not automatically install updates like most applications do. However, unlike Silverlight, the Java brand is not totally useless, as developers still use Java Development Kit (JDK) to develop new programs. However, Java Runtime Environment (JRE) can be safely removed as less than 0.1 percent of websites still incorporate Java.

Anti-virus software and hard drive management applications will always have a place on one's internal storage. However, users are encouraged to do their own research and download the programs best tailored to their needs. CCleaner is a utility software developed by Piriform that comes pre-installed on many modern Windows devices. The program is designed to optimize Windows and get rid of junk files. 

While Piriform developed the app, things took a turn for the worse when Avast swallowed the company in 2017, as the program would be hacked later that year to distribute unwanted malware to unsuspecting users. The program has proven in recent years not to be faithful to the needs of its consumers and has even bordered on harmful, and yet it continues to be included in most versions of Windows. Beyond that, Windows has a built-in alternative to file management that makes apps like CCleaner totally expendable. 

Disk Cleanup can be accessed through the start menu by searching for it and lets users clean up temporary files without installing any extra software. If users are in search of something with deeper, more expansive features, there are plenty of other programs that meet that criteria.

Adobe's Flash and Shockwave Player are companion applications with a similar function to programs like Java and Microsoft Silverlight. Both were widely used to play interactive content, animations, and mini-games on the internet. Both programs function similarly. Flash Player functioned primarily as a browser plug-in that allowed users to view and interact with multimedia content, including animations, videos, and games. Shockwave Player, meanwhile, was primarily used for offline gaming, namely more interactive, immersive games than what earlier versions of Flash could handle.

Both Flash Player and Shockwave Player played significant roles in the early days of the internet, enabling developers to create visually appealing experiences for Internet users. However, technological advancements have nullified the need for both programs, and Flash is no longer supported by modern browsers — or Adobe. 

As a result, the program could be susceptible to security risks, so it is in the best interest of users to uninstall it at their earliest convenience. Shockwave Player, meanwhile, was discontinued in 2019, and Adobe no longer offers it for download. Any Windows machine that still has Shockwave on it is likewise better off without it.

Windows Media Player, similar to QuickTime for Mac OS, has long been the go-to media player for start-up Windows machines. In its heyday, it could play a wide range of audio and video file formats, including MP3, WAV, WMA, MPEG, AVI, and its native file, WMV (Windows Media Video). However, beginning with Windows 10, Windows has pivoted from Windows Media Player to a newer media player called Movies & TV (also known as the Film & TV app). However, Windows Media Player still comes packaged with Windows 10, causing it to take up unnecessary and unwanted space on fresh storage drives.

At this point, there is nothing Windows Media Player or Movies & TV can do that a program like VLC cannot. Of course, it is at least reasonable for some to have a preference for Windows-developed programs on their Windows machine. Meanwhile, Microsoft has developed yet another media player for Windows 11, known simply as Media Player, which is an expanded version of their previous media player apps. 

For all of these reasons, Windows Media Player has completely lost its utility. There are better video players, there are better audio players, and its utility has long since dissipated. Feel free to remove Windows Media Player if it is still lingering on hard drives.

While all of the previously mentioned programs can be considered bloatware by many, there are a host of other programs specific to the PC manufacturer that can also be safely uninstalled as they primarily exist to eat storage space. These programs could look aesthetically different depending on the manufacturer, but the contents of the programs are largely the same. For instance, Toshiba is notorious for loading its laptops with utilities that most users will have no use for. Such examples of these programs include Toshiba App Place, Toshiba Laptop Checkup, and WildTangent Games — along with a slew of others.

Several other esteemed laptop manufacturers, such as Sony, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, and HP, are all guilty of loading their devices with needless commercial software. Each of these programs may be individually branded, but they are all equally useless for the vast majority of Windows users and only serve to confuse novice users. The best way to handle this is to bulk uninstall each of these programs, which can be time consuming. The end result is definitely worth it, however, as new users will have come upon a significant amount of additional space on their storage device they may have never realized they had.