How to Uninstall HEVC and HEIF extensions?

Because some people are complaining that they aren't able to find the uninstall shortcut in the "Add or remove programs"/ "Apps and Features" settings page:

- "how did you uninstall x86? i dont see it in the program list." - said Martin, in the reply to megan's review.

- "How did you manage to remove the HEVC codec we downloaded from this website?" - also said CodedEnjoyer, in the reply to Joseph's review.

We thought it would be good idea to add a small guide that will help them to remove/uninstall and reinstall the HEVC and/or HEIF Extensions using the winget command on Windows 11.

In order to do that, follow these steps:

Open the Start menu and search for "Command Prompt".

Right-click on "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".

In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to uninstall the HEVC extension:

winget uninstall --id=Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension

Press Enter.

The HEVC extension will be uninstalled.

To uninstall the HEIF extension, type the following command:

winget uninstall --id=Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension

Press Enter.

The HEIF extension will be uninstalled.

After uninstalling the extensions, you can reinstall them using the winget command.

To install the HEVC extension, use the following command:

winget install --id=Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension

To install the HEIF extension, use the following command:

winget install --id=Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension

Note: The winget command is only available on Windows 10 version 1809 and later.

If you are using an earlier version of Windows, you can try uninstalling the extensions through the "Apps and Features" settings page.

To do this, go to "Settings" > "Apps" > "Apps and Features", and then search for "HEVC" or "HEIF". Select the extension and click "Uninstall".

If you're still encountering issues while trying to uninstall the HEVC and HEIF extensions using the winget command on Windows 11, there are a few things you can try:

Make sure that you are running the command prompt as an administrator.

Try running the command with the --verbose flag, which will display additional information about the operation. For example:

winget uninstall --id=Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension --verbose

If the extension is still not uninstalling, try using the --force flag to force the uninstallation. For example:

winget uninstall --id=Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension --force

If the problem persist, you may need to seek further assistance or consult with Microsoft support.

Reviews & Comments

Patrick

on 03 December 2023

I used IObit Uninstaller. It took out all the registries for this Malware. No problems.

Garbage app/software needs a stern warning about 'using at own risk'. More like Malware.

Zark7

on 30 March 2023

This guide pointed me into the right direction, but the uninstall command no longer works, Microsoft added to the product id a bunch of numbers, so winget says it cannot be found.

You just have to use the product name instead, like this:

winget uninstall --name="HEIF Image Extensions"

...and it works like a charm.

(Just in case the name is changed, use

winget list

to find the product name if changed in your local language.)