Unpin icons from Taskbar in Windows 10 20H2

Question

Is there any reliable Powershell script to do this trick today? I managed these icons together with Start menu layout xml but since from 20H2 is has no effect anymore. I need to get rid of MS Store icon from Taskbar. I tried these scripts, they do process "Microsoft Store" but it not actually removed, so basically that script does not do anything.

Answer 1

Hi, I solved with this .BAT

DEL /F /S /Q /A "%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\skype empresarial.lnk"

REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband\ /v FavoritesRemovedChanges /f

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

start explorer.exe

:)

Answer 2

@Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko , Based on my test, I find in my environment, custom taskbar layout is working well. The "Microsoft Store" is not there when it is not included in the xml.


For our situation, I suggest to select one Windows 10 20H2 device, customize the taskbar, export the XML and choose the information between </StartLayoutCollection> and </LayoutModificationTemplate>. we can refer it to the one in the above picture. And then deploy it via the device restriction policy.

For the detailed steps, here is an article for the reference:
https://hmaslowski.com/home/f/customize-windows-10-start-menu-taskbar-with-mdmuem
Note: Non-Microsoft link, just for the reference.

For the Powershell script, I have done a lot of research and test. And find the following Powershell script can be used to unpin Microsoft store from taskbar

$appname = "Microsoft Store"
((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from taskbar'} | %{$_.DoIt(); $exec = $true}

Please try this and if there's any update, feel free to let us know.

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Answer 3

I have found that capturing the xml and deploying using device restriction policy is the best way to do it. If you understand the syntax well then you can make modifications in the xml directly. No need to capture every time.

Answer 4

Hi Crystal, The script you shared worked well, Thanks for sharing it. I tried different method to unpin internet explorer from taskbar, it may be useful for someone who looking for it.

Create internet explorer shortcut in desktop

$iepath = "$Home\onedrive\Windows 10 profile data\Desktop"
$WshShell = New-Object -comObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut("$iepath\Internet Explorer.lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
$Shortcut.Save()

Unpin internet explorer

(New-Object -ComObject shell.application).Namespace($iepath).parsename('Internet Explorer.lnk').verbs() | ?{$.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from taskbar'} | %{$._DoIt(); $exec = $true}

Delete internet explorer shortcut from desktop

Remove-Item -Path "$iepath\Internet Explorer.lnk" -Force

Answer 5

Great script to unpin from taskbar, but I need to unpin from start menu as well, but I cannot modify your script to do that. Give me "Access Denied" and it looks like it is not renaming 'un&pin' to 'unpin'.

This is my edited version (which does show an 'un&pin from start'):

((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() |
?{$.Name -eq $appname}).Verbs() | ?{$.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from Start'} | %{$_.DoIt(); $exec = $true}

I am confused why this is not working. Any suggestions are appreciated.