Windows 11 is the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, and it comes with a lot of new features and improvements. However, it also comes with a lot of unwanted apps that are pre-installed on your PC, such as TikTok, Instagram, ESPN, Spotify, and more. These apps take up valuable disk space and system resources, and they can clutter your Start menu and desktop.
Install Windows 11 Without Bloatware
If you want to install Windows 11 without bloatware, you don’t need to use any complicated scripts or third-party utilities. There is a simple trick that most users ignore when clean-installing Windows on their machines. All you need to do is choose a specific time and currency format during the setup process, and Windows 11 will skip installing the third-party apps.
In this blog post, we will show you how to install Windows 11 without bloatware using this simple trick. We will also explain why this trick works and what are the drawbacks of using it. Let’s get started!
How to Install Windows 11 Without Bloatware: The Trick
The trick to install Windows 11 without bloatware is to choose English (World) from the Time and Currency format drop-down menu during the setup process. This will prevent Windows 11 from installing the third-party apps that are bundled with the operating system.
To use this trick, follow these steps:
- Download and set up Microsoft’s ISO file for Windows 11 from the official website.
- Install Windows 11 on your PC using your preferred method—a dedicated PC, a dual-boot system, or a virtual machine.
- When the setup screen appears, select your language, keyboard layout, and input method as usual.
- From the Time and Currency format drop-down menu, choose English (World) instead of your own country or region.
- Proceed with the installation as usual.
Choosing English (World) as the time and currency format will cause some errors during the onboarding experience (also known as OOBE or out-of-box experience), especially if you use the oobe\bypassnro command. The operating system will take a while to load the initial region select screen and then throw the typical “Something went wrong” error with the OOBEREGION code.
To bypass this problem, click Skip—you can change your region and formats later in the Settings app. You may encounter similar errors on other steps, so keep pressing Skip or Try again until you reach the desktop.
Once you are on the desktop, you will notice that your Start menu is clean of third-party apps. You will only see the stock apps that come with Windows 11, such as Mail & Calendar, Climpchamp, Edge, Teams, Cortana (Windows 11 will soon let you uninstall it much easier), Maps, Weather, etc.
Now you can head to Settings > Time & Language > Language & region and set your own country and regional format. You can also install available Windows updates—they should not add any unwanted apps.
Why Does This Trick Work?
The reason why this trick works is that Windows 11 uses different installation packages for different regions. Each package contains different sets of apps that are tailored for specific markets. For example, the package for India may include apps like Flipkart or Hotstar, while the package for China may include apps like WeChat or QQ.
However, there is no specific package for English (World), which is a generic option that covers all English-speaking countries. Therefore, when you choose this option, Windows 11 does not know which apps to install for your region and skips them altogether.
This trick was discovered by @ThioJoe on X , who shared it with his followers.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we showed you how to install Windows 11 without bloatware by choosing a specific time and currency format during setup. This is a simple and effective trick that can help you get a clean and fast Windows 11 experience without any unwanted apps.
We hope you found this blog post helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below. Also, feel free to share this post with your friends and family who are interested in installing Windows 11 without bloatware.