Windows 11 24H2 Debloat Script & GPO Telemetry Block

Quick Fix: Run PowerShell as Administrator. Filter packages with Where-Object DisplayName -notmatch 'DesktopAppInstaller|VCLibs|Calculator' to protect Winget and Calculator. Disable the DiagTrack service and set AllowTelemetry to 0 in HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection.

Our team deployed Windows 11 24H2 across eight office test laptops. A clean install ships with dozens of background consumer apps. You get TikTok promos, Xbox overlays, news widgets, and diagnostic trackers.

These apps chew through memory and wake up CPU threads. Many sysadmins turn to community debloat scripts on GitHub. We tested ten of the most popular tools. Almost all of them caused silent damage. They broke Winget, wiped out the Windows Calculator, and crushed WebView2.

Here is what went wrong during our workbench testing. We also share our safe PowerShell scripts that remove junk without breaking core Windows tools.

🛑 7 Mistakes in Popular Windows 11 Debloat Scripts

Community scripts often use wildcards like *Store* or *Calculator*. That tears down core dependencies.

Here is what our team found across ten popular GitHub scripts:

📊 Windows 11 24H2 Telemetry Levels Explained

Microsoft splits diagnostic data into four tiers:

1. Security (Level 0): Enterprise and Education editions only. Sends basic patch data.
2. Basic (Level 1): The lowest setting on Pro and Home. Sends hardware specs and driver crash codes.
3. Enhanced (Level 2): Deprecated in 24H2 in favor of Optional.
4. Optional (Level 3): The default out-of-the-box setting. Sends typing samples, web history, and app usage metrics.

[!IMPORTANT] Setting Group Policy to 0 on Windows 11 Pro does not work by itself. Windows bumps the level back to 1. To stop telemetry on Pro, you must stop the DiagTrack service and add local registry locks.

🛠️ Step 1: The Safe PowerShell Debloat Script

Our script strips consumer junk. But it protects Winget, WebView2, VCLibs, Calculator, Photos, Paint, and the Microsoft Store.

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

# =====================================================================
# Surgical Windows 11 24H2 Debloat Script — PraveenTechWorld
# Preserves: Winget, Store, Calculator, Photos, Paint, WebView2
# =====================================================================

Write-Host "Starting Surgical Windows 11 24H2 Debloat..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

# 1. List of Consumer Bloatware Package Patterns to Safely Remove
$BloatPackages = @(
    "Microsoft.BingNews",
    "Microsoft.BingWeather",
    "Microsoft.GamingApp",
    "Microsoft.GetHelp",
    "Microsoft.Getstarted",
    "Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub",
    "Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection",
    "Microsoft.People",
    "Microsoft.PowerAutomateDesktop",
    "Microsoft.SkypeApp",
    "Microsoft.Todos",
    "Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub",
    "Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI",
    "Microsoft.XboxApp",
    "Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay",
    "Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay",
    "Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider",
    "Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay",
    "Microsoft.YourPhone",
    "Microsoft.ZuneMusic",
    "Microsoft.ZuneVideo",
    "Clipchamp.Clipchamp",
    "Disney",
    "SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic"
)

# 2. Remove Provisioned Packages (Prevents creation for NEW user profiles)
foreach ($App in $BloatPackages) {
    $Provisioned = Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-PackageName -like "*$App*"
    if ($Provisioned) {
        Write-Host "Removing Provisioned Package: $($Provisioned.DisplayName)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
        Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName $Provisioned.PackageName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-Null
    }
}

# 3. Remove Installed Packages for ALL Current Users
foreach ($App in $BloatPackages) {
    $Installed = Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*$App*" }
    if ($Installed) {
        Write-Host "Removing Installed AppX: $($Installed.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green
        Remove-AppxPackage -Package $Installed.PackageFullName -AllUsers -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-Null
    }
}

Write-Host "Surgical AppX Debloat Completed Successfully!" -ForegroundColor Cyan

🛠️ Step 2: Block Telemetry & Recall via Registry

Next, lock down telemetry daemons, disable Windows Recall, and shut down Start Menu Bing web searches.

1. Group Policy Direct Paths (Enterprise & Education)

If you use Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education, open gpedit.msc:

1. Disable Diagnostic Telemetry:
   • Path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview Builds
   • Policy: Allow Diagnostic Data → Set to Enabled, Value: Diagnostic data off (not recommended) or Required.
2. Disable Windows Recall:
   • Path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI
   • Policy: Turn off Windows Recall → Set to Enabled.
3. Disable Start Menu Web Search & Bing Ads:
   • Path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search
   • Policy: Do not allow web search → Set to Enabled.
   • Policy: Don’t search the web or display web results in Search → Set to Enabled.

2. PowerShell Registry Override (Works on Pro & Home)

On Windows 11 Home or unmanaged Pro machines, apply these registry keys directly in PowerShell (Admin):

# =====================================================================
# Telemetry, Recall & Copilot Registry Hardening Script
# =====================================================================

Write-Host "Applying Windows 11 Hardening & Privacy Registry Keys..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

# Disable Diagnostic Data Service (DiagTrack)
Stop-Service -Name "DiagTrack" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Set-Service -Name "DiagTrack" -StartupType Disabled

# Telemetry Registry Keys
$DataCollPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection"
if (!(Test-Path $DataCollPath)) { New-Item -Path $DataCollPath -Force | Out-Null }
Set-ItemProperty -Path $DataCollPath -Name "AllowTelemetry" -Value 0 -Type DWord

# Disable Start Menu Bing Search
$SearchPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search"
if (!(Test-Path $SearchPath)) { New-Item -Path $SearchPath -Force | Out-Null }
Set-ItemProperty -Path $SearchPath -Name "DisableSearchBoxSuggestions" -Value 1 -Type DWord

# Disable Copilot & Windows Recall
$WindowsAIPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsAI"
if (!(Test-Path $WindowsAIPath)) { New-Item -Path $WindowsAIPath -Force | Out-Null }
Set-ItemProperty -Path $WindowsAIPath -Name "DisableAIDataAnalysis" -Value 1 -Type DWord

Write-Host "Privacy & Telemetry Hardening Complete!" -ForegroundColor Green

🛠️ Step 3: Stop Apps from Returning After Updates

Windows feature updates often re-install removed consumer apps. You can block this behavior with two registry keys.

Run this in PowerShell as Administrator:

# Prevent Windows Feature Updates from reinstalling consumer packages
$AppUpdatePath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent"
if (!(Test-Path $AppUpdatePath)) { New-Item -Path $AppUpdatePath -Force | Out-Null }

Set-ItemProperty -Path $AppUpdatePath -Name "DisableWindowsConsumerFeatures" -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $AppUpdatePath -Name "DisableCloudOptimizedContent" -Value 1 -Type DWord

🛠️ Step 4: The Emergency Restore Script (Restore-Appx.ps1)

What if a team member needs an app back later? You do not have to reinstall Windows.

Use our rollback script to re-register any removed package from the system manifest:

# =====================================================================
# Emergency AppX Package Restore Script — PraveenTechWorld
# =====================================================================

param (
    [string]$AppName = "Microsoft.WindowsCalculator"
)

Write-Host "Attempting to restore package: $AppName..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

# Re-register provisioned manifest for the specified package
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name "*$AppName*" | Foreach-Object {
    Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"
}

Write-Host "Restore operation complete for $AppName." -ForegroundColor Green

📈 Workbench Benchmark Results

We benchmarked our script on an Intel Core i7 test laptop with 16 GB of RAM running Windows 11 24H2 Pro.

Here are the real test results:

Summary & What to Read Next

Debloating Windows does not require reckless nuclear scripts. You can clean up background junk while protecting essential tools like Winget and Calculator.

Here are more guides from our workbench:

• Powershell log triage scripts for sysadmins
• BitLocker recovery screen loop troubleshooting guide
• How to Fix NVLDDMKM Event ID 153 GPU Crashes