How To Remove “Get Windows 10” Update Icon

Windows 10 has been creating ripples in the technology world. Microsoft has been slowly unveiling new features that will be included in the latest iteration of the Windows and turned quite a few heads when they announced that they will be giving this update free of cost to the owners of the copies of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. The software giant is claiming that the new Windows is the easiest to use yet and brings in new functionalities like the virtual assistant, Cortana, the replacement of Internet Explorer, integration of Xbox with Windows 10 and so on. All of this will be available to the users who reserve the newest version of Windows, the full version of which will be released on the 29th of July, 2015. Which brings us to the point of this article. To reserve the Windows update for your device currently running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 an update icon is currently available on your taskbar, which allows you to register for the update. It looks like this, as you probably would have seen:

Now, this is good as you don’t have to go anywhere to register for this update. But the crux is that even after registering for the update the icon won’t go away from your taskbar. Also, some don’t want this update and find this icon downright annoying. Now, if you want to get rid of this icon, you have come to the right place as we will be discussing 5 different methods to remove this update icon from your taskbar.

Method 1

In this method, we use the help of the ubiquitous task manager and bring it into play to kill the “GWX” process. This is the Get Windows 10 registration process which causes the update icon to be displayed.

Step 1: Right clicking the task bar will show a dialog box. Select the ‘Task manager’ option to toggle the task manger. The same can be achieved by pressing the well known combination of Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Step 2: Now the Task manger window will be visible to you. Here, press the ‘Details’ tab where the information about various running processes and the memory consumed by them will be displayed. Now go to the process named ‘GWX’.

Step 3: Now, we need to kill this process which can be by pressing down the ‘Delete’ key on your keyboard or by right clicking on the process and selecting the ‘End Task’ option.

And voila, the icon is removed from your taskbar. Though we would like to remind the viewer that this method is not permanent as only the responsible process has been killed but the application causing this is still in your system.

Method 2

In this method, we focus on the source. Here, what we are going to do this is delete the files responsible for the displaying of the icon. The Get Windows 10 is caused due to the GWX.exe file and we are going to find and get rid of that.

The GWX files are stored in the Windows directory in different locations based on the version of Windows you use.

The paths are:

C:\Windows\System32\GWX

OR

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\GWX

The second path mentioned here will be the one used in 64 bit systems.

Now that we have reached the folder, perform the ‘End Task’ procedure using Method 1 and then delete the GWX directory. The only issue that you may face with this issue is that you may find it difficult to delete the folder due to ownership issues.

Method 3

In this method, we will focus on the update that causes the GWX application to be installed and remove those updates. Also, we will have to make sure that the updates for this particular application are disabled so that it doesn’t automatically get installed the next time you are performing a Windows update. By performing the steps given below, the app causing the icon to be displayed will be removed from your system in its entirety, thus providing us with a more permanent method to achieve our goal.

Step 1: Go to the ‘Control Panel’ in your windows and click on the ‘Programs and Files’ option.

Step 2: Here, the list of installed programs and tools will be displayed. Now, on the left hand side of the window, an option labelled ‘View installed updates’ will be visible. Click on it.

Step 3: A new window will be displayed where the installed updates will be visible. Here, we need to look out for the ‘KB3035583’ update. Right click on it and select the ‘Uninstall’ option. now, the app will be removed because the update KB3035583 was the one responsible for the installation of the GWX update in the first place. But our job is only half done here.

Step 4: Goto control panel, select the ‘Windows Update’ option. When the new windows opens, click on the ‘Change settings’ option present on the left hand side of the window.

Step 5: Here, under ‘Important Updates’, choose the option saying ‘Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them’. Click on OK to apply these settings.

Step 6: Now you need to restart your machine.

Step 7: Once restarted, manually check for the Windows updates. Here, due to step 5, we will gain control over the approval of the updates’ installation and Windows will only display the list of available updates. Here, the update ‘Kb3035583’ will also be visible now.

Step 8: Now, right click on the update for GWX and press on ‘Hide’ option. This will prevent the Windows update from including the above updates in the future.

Step 9: As a precautionary measure, you can always crosscheck the list of available updates and see to it that the update for GWX is not included.

This method is more permanent and the only downside to it is that if you are used to the automatic updates in Windows, it will be no longer the same as you will have to manually approve of the available updates. But of course, on the upside, user is provided more control over what he wants to install or doesn’t want to in the future.

Method 4

This method is actually the easiest one to follow and is not a permanent solution. The only thing being done here is that the icon is being hidden from the plain view so that those who find this annoying will have it removed from their sights, while still having the option to register for the update whenever you want, to be ready and nearby.

Step 1: Right click on the date/time bar on the taskbar and select the ‘Customize notification icons’ option from the list. A window will be displayed which will have information about all the icons currently being displayed on the taskbar, including the Get Windows 10 update icon.

Step 2: Under the behavior column of the GWX icon, change the option to ‘Hide icon and notification’ from the drop down list.

Now, the icon will be hidden from the taskbar. This solution is not permanent and the icon can still be accessed. This can be done by clicking on the small upward arrow icon which opens the tray for hidden taskbar icons. Here, you will see that the GWX icon is present, albeit unable to constantly irritate you. This can also be done simply by dragging the GWX icon from the taskbar and then dropping it on the upward arrow icon. This will deposit the GWX into the hidden notification icon tray.

Saksham just made a small video which you can check out if you’re unable to follow the instructions for some reason.

Method 5

Under the Task Scheduler of Windows, the ‘gwx’ and ‘GWXTriggers’ are the tasks that cause the update option to be visible to the users. This forms another alternative which allows a permanent solution to this issue. Herein we will delete the tasks so that they cannot be scheduled.

Step 1: Type ‘tasks’ in the Run dialog box. Give necessary permissions and proceed.

Step 2: Now a window in the explorer will be opened which will display the files related to the tasks used in Windows. Here, navigate to the folder using : Microsoft\Windows\Setup

Step 3: Once inside the Setup directory, delete the folders labelled ‘gwx’ and ‘GWXTriggers’

This will cause the permanent removal of the Get Windows 10 Icon permanently.