Steps to uninstall WSL on Windows 10/11

• WSL is a feature of the Windows operating system that allows it to run alongside Linux
• But if you are not going to use Windows Subsystem for Linux, you may as well get rid of it.
• What are the steps to follow to uninstall WSL on Windows 10/11 correctly?

Windows Subsystem for Linux is a feature of the Windows operating system that allows you to run a Linux file system alongside command-line tools and GUI applications from that other environment. Thanks to this, it is possible to access the desktop and Windows apps. But if you are not going to make use of Windows Subsystem for Linux on your Windows PC, get rid of it with these steps to uninstall WSL easily.

And why should we dedicate an entire article to this procedure? Basically, because if you do that process in the wrong order, you can cause all kinds of problems for your Windows OS computer. In other words, it is not enough to click the uninstall button in the Settings Of the device.

Beyond that, the step by step is not difficult but you should follow a correct order to avoid problems.

How is the trick to uninstall WSL in Windows 10/11?

Regardless of which of the versions of the last two editions of Windows you have installed, we recommend that you follow all the details of the procedure that we describe below to the letter.

Remove all Linux distributions installed on Windows

Obviously this step is not for all users, but If you have any Linux distribution installed, first of all you should take care of uninstalling it. This helps ensure that there are no files related to the installation that could cause failures or errors in the system later.

1. Go to Settings, Apps and then Installed Apps
2. Look for applications associated with Linux, such as Ubuntu, and remove it

The interesting thing is that you can delete these applications in the same way that you delete any application.

Now, if your computer had pre-installed applications, you may not know what a Linux distribution is. Terminal, Tips and Ubuntu are some of the most common pre-installed Linux applications in these cases.

Whenever you are not sure about a specific app, you can search for its name on Google.

Uninstall WSL components

With all versions of Linux removed, you will need to remove the WSL application and its associated components. Just like in the previous step, you can remove WSL the same way you would remove any other app.

1. Go to Settings, Apps and then Apps & features
2. Find Windows Subsystem for Linux and click More, Uninstall
3. If you notice that there are additional WLS components, uninstall them as well

Uninstall WSL and the virtual machine platform

The final part is to uninstall the core WSL files and disable the option under Optional Features.

1. Open the Windows Features panel by going to Settings from Applications, Optional Features
2. Scroll down the list of features to find and uncheck Windows Subsystem for Linux
3. If you are not going to run any other virtual environment, you can also uncheck Virtual Machine Platform
4. Click OK and WSL will be completely removed from your PC so it won’t bother you anymore in the future

This means that you will not receive automatic updates nor will you be able to interact in any way with WSL. Therefore, you should think twice before deciding to uninstall WSL on Windows 10 or Windows 11. With that said, you have the opportunity to re-download WSL through the Microsoft Store.

Have you been able to follow the steps to uninstall WSL on Windows 10/11? How was your experience?