How to Uninstall Software via Command Line (Windows)

Uninstalling software via the Command Prompt (CMD) or PowerShell is an efficient way to manage applications, especially when the “Apps & Features” GUI is unresponsive or when you need to automate the process via scripting.

• Administrator Privileges: You must run CMD or PowerShell as an Administrator.
• Process Termination: Ensure the application and its background processes are closed.
• Installation Type: Determine if the app was installed via an MSI/EXE installer or if it is a “Portable” version.

The Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) is the most common method for identifying and removing software by name.

To see the exact name of the software as registered in the system, run:

wmic product get name

Use the following syntax (using MobaXterm as an example):

wmic product where "name like 'MobaXterm%%'" call uninstall

Note: The %% acts as a wildcard. Confirm the action by pressing Y when prompted.

If the software was installed using a Windows Installer (.msi) package, it is best removed using its unique Product GUID.

List all installed products and their identifying numbers:

wmic product get name, identifyingnumber

Once you have the GUID (e.g., {XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}), run:

msiexec /x {YOUR-GUID-HERE} /qn

• /x: Uninstall command.
• /qn: “Quiet” mode (no UI interaction).

PowerShell is more robust for Windows 10 and 11. It can often find packages that WMIC misses.

powershell -command "Get-Package -Name 'SoftwareName*' | Uninstall-Package"

Example for MobaXterm:

powershell -command "Get-Package -Name 'MobaXterm*' | Uninstall-Package"

If you have Winget installed (standard on modern Windows 10/11), this is the cleanest method.

winget list "Software Name"

winget uninstall "MobaXterm"

Portable software (like MobaXterm Portable) does not appear in the system's “Installed Programs” list because it doesn't write to the registry.

To “uninstall” these:

1. Close the application.
2. Manually delete the folder containing the executable (e.g., C:\Tools\MobaXterm\).
3. Clean up user-specific data in %AppData% or %LocalAppData% if necessary.

References:

• Microsoft WMIC Documentation
• Winget Tool Documentation