Native applications on Windows 11 will soon be divided into apps and system components. Microsoft introduced the change back in July in Insider builds and it looks as if it is going to roll out soon to stable versions of the operating system.
Windows 11 ships with a large number of apps. Some of these are classic apps, such as Paint, Notepad or Calculator. Others, including Game Bar and Phone Link, aren’t nearly as old. New apps are also introduced regularly.
Current versions of Windows 11 list all of these apps in a single listing under Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Soon, some of these apps are moved to another location instead. It is located under Settings > System > System Components.
Microsoft announced the change back in July 2023. Back then, the company’s message focused on the Start Menu. It said:
Under All apps in the Start menu, Windows 11 system components will now show a “system” label. This change is beginning to roll out and so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see it right away.
System Components in Windows 11
The following apps are tagged as system components in future versions of Windows 11.
- Game Bar
- Get Help
- Microsoft Store
- Phone Link
- Tips
- Windows Security
Twitter user Techosaurusrex discovered this and published two screenshots of the new menu.
Microsoft does not explain why it made the decision to separate this assortment of apps from the rest. Some of them fit the definition of a system app, for example, Get Help or Windows Security.
Others, especially Game Bar and Phone Link, look somewhat out of place here. What makes them a system component and apps like the Feedback Hub or Remote Desktop Connection not?
Clearly, Microsoft wants to distinguish this particular assortment of apps from the rest. Maybe, and this has not been confirmed by Microsoft, it is an attempt to make it difficult to remove these apps from the system. Or, at least highlight to users that these apps are more important than others, even if that may not be true for all of them.
Note that the listed apps can’t be uninstalled in the Settings app even on today’s systems. Only Advanced Options are displayed when users select the three-dots menu next to these apps.
Microsoft could make more apps System Components in the future. Some of the apps listed as System in Start are not included (yet) in System Components in Settings. This is the case for instance for Get Help and File Explorer.
Not Microsoft’s only attempt to protect apps
The recently launched Windows Backup app is another example of a new approach to releasing apps for Windows. This app, which is not a real backup app by any definition, is not listed as an app.
When you try to uninstall it, you will notice that it is not listed in All Apps in the Settings. Microsoft made the decision to integrate it into an Experience Package. While it is possible to remove that, doing so will also remove other apps and features from the system.
Others have noticed this as well and no one seems to be particularly happy about this change.
To be fair, Microsoft announced plans in August 2023 to drop the blocking of uninstalls of several apps. These apps — Camera, Cortana, People, Photos and Remote Desktop — aren’t system components. Cortana is on its way out, but the other four apps remain a part of Windows in the foreseeable future.