Web browsers have welcomed quite a few noteworthy features in recent years. One among them is the addition of Progressive Web Apps. Commonly referred to as PWAs, it allows you to create standalone apps for your preferred sites.
Some PWAs also work offline, using their cache data during the earlier sessions. Moreover, browsing via these apps would give you a distraction-free environment, as there will be minimal browser components to interact with.
For example, the browser’s address bar, extension menu, tab bars, and other related settings are all absent from PWA’s work ecosystem.
On the one hand, it does spell out a disturbance-free setup, but on the flip side, some users find it tough to deal with such a lack of essential features in these apps. Add to it the inability to open a new tab, and all these seem to make it quite difficult for the end-users to use these apps.
If you echo these thoughts and plan to bid farewell to the PWA, this guide shall come in handy. There are detailed instructions to uninstall Chrome App (PWA) from the Chrome browser.
Two different methods exist to carry out the task mentioned above: via the concerned PWA itself or through Chrome’s App Page. We have listed these methods below; you may try the one you find more comfortable dealing with.
Uninstall the PWA App
Uninstalling the PWA app is a straightforward approach that allows you to remove the concerned app directly via the PWA’s menu.
Here are the steps to uninstall:
- Launch the Progressive Web App that you need to remove from Chrome.
- Click on More
for the options list. - Select Uninstall <PWA Name> from the list.
- Hit on command, and wait for the process to complete.
That’s it! If you want to delete the app’s data, then enable the checkmark — Also, clear data from Chrome on the confirmation dialog box that appears.
It was the first method to uninstall the Chrome App (PWA) from the Chrome Browser. Let’s now make you aware of the next one.
Remove from Chrome’s App Page
If the PWA’s data has got corrupted and you cannot access the app, then the first method might not work out in your favor. Therefore, you should consider removing the app from Chrome’s App Page, which doesn’t interact with the Progressive Web Apps.
Here are the steps to remove from the app page:
- Launch the Chrome browser on the computer.
- Head over to the Chrome App’s location.
chrome://apps
It shall now bring up a list of all the PWAs.
- Right-click on the app you need to remove and select the Remove from Chrome option.
- Hit the command button, which will remove the desired app from the browser.
If you wish to preserve that app’s data for reuse, then make sure to keep the Also clear data from Chrome option unchecked.
Uninstall PWA via Control Panel
Since PWA is treated as an app, couldn’t it be uninstalled directly via the Windows Settings menu or Control Panel? Well, currently not. But there is some progress going on in this matter.
On the Chromium Bugs page, there’s an active issue titled ‘PWA should be able to be uninstalled the same way a “real app” can.‘
The Chrome issue is still undermarked as Started (Open), with no estimated fix time. The silver lining is that Chrome tested the Developer and Canary builds feature in the past, but the same is yet to be implemented in the Stable version.
If you wish to verify whether it has been implemented in your browser, follow the steps.
- Right-click on the keyboard shortcut icon and select the Properties menu.
- Switch to the Shortcut tab, and append the below parameter in the Target Field.
--enable-features=EnableWebAppUninstallFromOsSettings
- Click and then to save the changes.
- Next, Launch the Chrome browser using this shortcut.
- Head to the Start menu and search for the desired Chrome app.
- Hit the command.
Uninstall button should now take it to the Control Panel’s Uninstallation page, and it will select the concerned Progressive Web App. - Hit the button to remove the app from your PC.
In my testing, the option to delete the PWA was present in the Start Menu. However, when it took me to the Control Panel, the app was nowhere to be found. With that said, some users succeeded after trying the tweak mentioned above.
If it works out in your favor, well and good; otherwise, you should take it along the expected lines, as the feature is still in the testing phase. In the meantime, you may refer to our first and second methods to uninstall the Chrome PWA Apps from the computer.
Bottom Line
So these were the two different methods to uninstall the Chrome App (PWA) from the Chrome Browser. When the ability to remove the PWA app via Control Panel goes live, it would be the quickest and simplest method to carry out this task.
As of now, you should focus on the other two approaches we have shared. In this regard, the first method (via the PWA) proves to be a time saver when you are already within that app’s ecosystem and are currently using it.
However, the first approach might prove futile if the app is not functioning along the expected lines. So it would be best to consider opting for the second method of removing the app using Chrome’s App page.
On that note, we learned to uninstall and remove Chrome apps from the Google Chrome browser. Please share your thoughts and questions regarding the Chrome App uninstallation.
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