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 Windows OS Hub / Windows 10 / How to Hide Installed Programs in Windows 10 and 11?

December 23, 2021 PowerShellWindows 10Windows 11

How to Hide Installed Programs in Windows 10 and 11?

In this post, we’ll show how to hide any program from the list of installed apps in the Windows Control Panel. This guide is applicable to all Windows versions, starting with Windows XP and up to the latest builds of Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Contents:
  • How to Hide a Specific Program from Settings/Control Panel?
  • Hide Installed Apps Using PowerShell Script
  • How to Hide All Installed Apps from Other Users?

How to Hide a Specific Program from Settings/Control Panel?

Suppose our task is to hide an entry about the installed Gimp (image editor). Open the Control Panel and go to the Programs and Features section. Make sure that the Gimp 2.10.28 entry is present in the list of the installed apps.

Installed Programs are Listed in Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs

Also, you can find information about the installed program in the modern Settings UI (Settings -> Apps).

Windows shows installed programs in modern Settings UI

You can hide the entry about the installed application through the Windows registry. But first of all, you need to understand how Windows builds the list of installed programs that you see in the Control Panel. You can find information about the installed application in one of three registry keys:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall – a general list of programs for all users of a device;
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall – this registry key contains entries about x86 apps installed on x64 Windows builds;
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall – contains apps installed for the current user only.

Windows generates the list of installed programs that you see in the Settings or Control Panel based on the entries in these registry keys.

In my case, the GIMP is installed via the Winget package manager only to my user profile, so its entry is inside the user registry hive HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.

Find the application reg key (in my example it is GIMP-2_is1) and create a new 32-bit DWORD registry parameter with the name SystemComponent and value 1: SystemComponent = dword: 00000001

Registry parameter SystemComponent = 1 and Installed Software

Refresh the window with the list of the installed programs (press F5 key). The GIMP entry should disappear from the list.

Hide Installed App from Programs and Features ...

The app’s entry also disappears from the list of installed programs in the modern Windows 10 Settings panel.

Installed application is not showing in Settings app list

Tip. There is another way to hide an installed program in Windows. To do this, rename the DisplayName parameter to QuietDisplayName under the same reg key.

You can hide the program from the command prompt. Below is an example of such a command that can be used in your scripts and batch files (this command will hide the installed 7-Zip archiver):

REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\7-zip" /v SystemComponent /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

reg add SystemComponent

To make a program visible again, simply remove the SystemComponent parameter (or change its value to 0 with the command: REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\7-zip" /v SystemComponent /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f) or rename the QuietDisplayName parameter to DisplayName.

Tip. If you need to hide both the application and the corresponding service, you can use the steps described in the article “How to hide a Windows service from users?”.

System apps, such as C++ redistributable packages or versions of the .NET Framework, cannot be hidden this way.

Hide Installed Apps Using PowerShell Script

If you need to hide several applications from users at once, you can use the following PowerShell script. The list of programs to hide is specified in the AppsToHide variable. Then the script checks all registry keys, finds keys with program entries, and creates a SystemComponent registry parameter with a value of 1 in each of them (if the parameter already exists, its value is changed to 1).

For more information about managing registry keys and parameters from PowerShell, see the article How to Get, Create, Edit, and Delete Registry Keys with PowerShell?

$RegPaths = @(
"HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*",
"HKLM:\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*",
"HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*"
)
$AppsToHide = @(
"*GIMP*",
"*7-Zip*",
"*Teams*",
"*Firefox*",
)
foreach ($App in $AppsToHide) {
foreach ($Path in $RegPaths) {
$AppKey = (Get-ItemProperty $Path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue| Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like $($App) }).PSPath
if ($null -ne $AppKey) {
$SystemComponent = Get-ItemProperty $AppKey -Name SystemComponent -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if (!($SystemComponent)) {
New-ItemProperty "$AppKey" -Name "SystemComponent" -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord
}
else {
$SystemComponentValue = (Get-ItemProperty $AppKey -Name SystemComponent -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).SystemComponent
if ($SystemComponentValue -eq 0) {
Set-ItemProperty "$AppKey" -Name "SystemComponent" -Value 1
}
}
}
}
}

powershell script to hide program in windows

In my example, the script is used to hide the Teams, Gimp, Firefox, and 7-zip apps. You can run this PowerShell script on domain computers through the GPO.

How to Hide All Installed Apps from Other Users?

You can completely hide all installed programs from the user Control Panel. To do this, you need to edit the Local Group Policy parameter.

Open the Local GPO editor (gpedit.msc), go to the section User Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Control Panel –> Programs, and enable the policy Hide “Programs and Features” page.

policy Hide “Programs and Features” page

Update the Group Policy settings with the gpupdate /force command and check that the “Programs and Features” window in the Control Panel is not visible to the user. In the Control Panel, the message “Your system administrator has disabled Programs and Features” should be displayed.

Your system administrator has disabled Programs and Feature

You can also prevent the list of installed Windows programs from being displayed in the Windows Control Panel using the commands:

REG add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Programs" /v NoProgramsCPL /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
REG add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Programs" /v NoProgramsAndFeatures /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

26 comments
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26 comments

mahim February 1, 2016 - 12:50 pm

i want to hide the game bloons TD battles from the apps menu how do i do it pls give me steps as fast as u can please as fast

Reply
Eli Lee September 29, 2016 - 3:32 pm

I’ve actually found a really cool glitch in order to get the game out of the app section of windows 10. However, in order to hide the game, it needs to be a file, like GTA, Minecraft, League, etc. The first step is just installing it first. Then, when the game shows up in the app section, just move it out of a folder and into a new folder. Then go to the app section and click on it. You should get a message saying that the shortcut no longer exists, and now asking you whether if you want to get rid of it. Hit enter, and poof, it’s gone. 🙂

Reply
Someone July 18, 2017 - 12:59 pm

This is a pretty easy way (Most people possible already knew this) but it can be dangerous if the game itself(or a mod manager) directs to other files from the game.
For example you install a game in Documents/My Games but you move it to Documents/Games and there still can be files that direct the game to Document/My Games

Reply
VictoriousVIC June 14, 2016 - 2:19 pm

hey i want to hide GTA5 and i have installed it on drive F. And i am not able to find it in “Registry Program” using the above way. Please help me.

Reply
none October 1, 2016 - 4:25 pm

“QuietDisplayName” was enough to hide some unwanted programs listed there. Thank you.

Reply
telealex October 7, 2016 - 3:13 pm

not for all apps worked these methods
 
I can’t find my

Reply
telealex October 7, 2016 - 3:19 pm

it’s need to use other method
help me please

Reply
Someone July 18, 2017 - 1:04 pm

Download ccleaner and follow “Option 2” on this document

Remove Uninstall Entry using “CCleaner” Program

1. If you have not already, download and install the latest version of the CCleaner.

2. Click on the CCleaner shortcut icon either on your desktop or in the Start Menu to run the program.

3. Click on the Tools button on the left.

4. Select the uninstall entry and click the Delete Entry button to remove it from the Programs and Features uninstall list.

5. Click on the X in the upper right corner to close CCleaner when done.
This info is copied try it with CCleaner

Reply
Elijah October 9, 2016 - 12:18 am

I can’t find programs such as CoD MW2 or 3 and AC in these folders, please help!

Reply
Jane June 8, 2017 - 4:47 am

Opera browser / internet download manager / other softwares i installed dont show up in the registry. I need to hide them pls help??

Reply
Telealex June 8, 2017 - 5:43 am

Hehe, still not exist known method?

Reply
Dan B June 20, 2017 - 10:40 am

Thanks very much. It worked for me. I searched the whole internet but I still could not get what i needed.

Reply
Slavi June 29, 2017 - 2:21 pm

It’s working mate, thank you so much.

Reply
Ab July 1, 2017 - 3:05 pm

Hello,
This is a very useful information, thank you.
I have a question if you don’t mind.
How to ‘unhide’ after hiding these programs in case i want to uninstall it?

Reply
Someone July 18, 2017 - 1:05 pm

Just make the new entry 0 or delete the new entry

Reply
ITSMART January 12, 2018 - 9:56 pm

NICE

Reply
jumper January 17, 2018 - 12:13 pm

hi i founnd some apps in
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Reply
Emi October 15, 2018 - 8:20 pm

You’re absolutely right. It seems that x64 installed apps go here, and x86 go to folders, written in article.
BTW, it seems that hided apps are though displayed in “standard’ Programs & Features, from Control Panel. They may be situated here: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products
But I’m not sure. Test it out who’s brave enough 🙂

Reply
Ye Man February 26, 2018 - 7:50 am

Help Im trying To Get Rid Of Epic Games Launcher But It Won’t Work! Ive Tried Everything! It Worked For WinZip But Not Epic Games Launcher, Help?! (I Have A Windows 10 ASUS Laptop)

Reply
SOMEONE January 30, 2019 - 10:37 am

Thanks

Reply
soho April 6, 2019 - 12:00 pm

hi i have a problem . i cant find the program that i want to hide it please help me as fast as possible

Reply
alex troy August 17, 2019 - 7:24 am

nice……….

Reply
saskia January 10, 2020 - 7:25 pm

Hi i was just wondering, does the command said first actually uninstall the app?

Reply
wasd March 21, 2020 - 7:56 am

Anyone where the registry for Minecraft is located? Been searching for ages but can’t find it, any help would be great!

Reply
Alex June 7, 2020 - 12:45 pm

Works flawlessly. Thank you!

Reply
ABCGamer May 21, 2021 - 2:02 am

Wow it helped me play games without the notice of my father in his 50s

Reply

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