Windows 8.1 and later include a number of applications that may not be required in a Horizon environment. These applications are referred to as Metro Apps in Windows 8.1, but have since been renamed to Modern Apps with the release of Windows 10.

Some of these applications, such as ones that are weather- and news-related, are active even if they are not being used by the end user. The resources required to operate these applications place unnecessary load on the Horizon infrastructure, which is why the applications should be removed unless explicitly required.

The following procedure outlines how to remove some or all of the Online Windows Store packages, which are those that will be installed for all new users of the desktop image:

1. Open an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt.
2. To review the Windows store applications that will be installed for all users of the desktop image, as shown in the following screenshot, use the following PowerShell command:

        Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Select DisplayName, 
        PackageName  

3. To remove all Windows Store applications except the Windows Store itself, execute the following command, as shown in the following screenshot:

        Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object 
        {$_.PackageName -notlike "*store*"} | Remove-
        AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

4. To remove a single Windows Store application, using the information obtained in step 1 for the application PackageName, execute the following command:

          Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object 
          {$_.PackageName -like "*BingFinance*"} | Remove-
          AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

Refer to the following Microsoft Windows IT Pro Center links for information about these and other PowerShell commands used to manage Windows Store applications:

• Get-AppxPackage (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/appx/get-appxpackage?view=win10-ps)
• Remove-AppxPackage (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/appx/remove-appxpackage?view=win10-ps)
• Get-AppxProvisionedPackage (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/dism/get-appxprovisionedpackage?view=win10-ps)
• Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/dism/remove-appxprovisionedpackage?view=win10-ps)