How To Add Or Remove Windows Features

One of the good things about Windows 10, Is the array of built-In features that extend functionality to the operating system, without the need to opt for third-party tools. These are accessed In Control Panel, namely by selecting Turn Windows features on or off. Not every feature Is needed and you may find that the ones you do require, are disabled by default. As such, In this tutorial, I will show you how to add or remove Windows features In Windows 10.

Before I make a start, here's what I'm referring to. Navigate to Control Panel > Programs, and then click the Turn Windows features on or off link as shown below.

You will then see quite a number of features that you can enable & disable, by selecting their respective checkbox.

Depending on your computing environment and overall usability, I can confidently say that you will not use every feature that's already enabled as per It's default state. Moreover, you will have the need at some point, to enable those that're essential to the task at hand.

The process to add or remove Windows features Is extremely simple, so without further delay, let's get this tutorial started.

Step One:

Firstly, open the Run menu, enter control panel and then hit OK as shown below.

Step Two:

Next, make sure the Category view Is selected, and then click on the Programs link.

Step Three:

This Is where the Windows features will be accessed, by clicking on that very link, namely Turn Windows features on or off.

Step Four:

You will now see all the entries. Those with a check mark are enabled and the ones with a blank checkbox, are obviously disabled. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will disable Windows PowerShell 2.0 by unchecking both boxes as Illustrated below. To finalize the process, the OK button must be clicked.

Step Five:

Windows will now begin to remove the feature. Depending on the one you've selected, It can take anywhere from a few seconds, to a few minutes to complete. In this case, Windows PowerShell only took around 10 seconds or so.

Last Step:

On completion, a message of Windows completed the requested changes will be returned, so hit Close. If you wish to add the feature back, refer to Step Four above and simply reverse the process by marking It's checkbox.

Final Thoughts:

It doesn't get much easier than this, does It? Do note that depending on the feature that you wish to remove, It may require a system reboot, so be prepared by closing and (where applicable) saving all active sessions. Generally speaking, the amount of time It takes to remove a given feature, Is also the same duration when adding It.