If you’re looking to hide your installed applications on Windows, then you have come to the right place. Although it’s true that any app you install on your Windows gets featured in the Control Panel or the Program and Features settings by default, you can shift things around with a few tweaks here and there.
So, let’s jump right in and look at how you can hide applications on your Windows.
How to hide your applications on Windows PC
Like anything with Windows, you have more than one way to hide away your applications on a Windows PC. Depending on your suitability, you can go with any of the listed methods.
Let’s look at them both.
1. Hide From Uninstall
We’ll start with the most straightforward method first. As the name suggests, Hide From Uninstall is a free program that can help you hide any applications on your Windows computer—all with a simple mouse click or pressing a hotkey button.
To get started, head to official website and download the application from there.
Launch the application after the installation is complete. From there, follow the steps below to hide your installed apps:
- From the main menu, right-click on any app and select Hide from the Programs and Features list.
- As soon as you do this, the chosen app will have its checkmark removed.
- Alternatively, you can hide multiple apps in a single go. Click on Edit and Select All to do that.
- Finally, click on Hide from the Programs and Features list.
Your selected apps will be hidden from here on. If you change your mind later on, you can choose to show your apps once again. Click on Show under the Programs and Features list, and your apps will be back once again.
2. Hide programs through Windows Registry
The Windows Registry is a central repository of all your low-level information, settings, and configurations for your Windows settings. You can change almost all critical Windows settings through it. So, it’s no surprise that with a few tweaks, your Registry Editor lets can hide specific programs as well.
However, before you make any changes to your registry, make sure you backup your registry just in case. This is important because any data loss in your registry can leave serious probelms on your operating system.
After you have the backup down, here’s how you can get started:
- Head to the Start menu search bar, type in ‘regedit,’ and run your registry as the administrator.
- In the Windows Registry, head to the following address and hit Enter:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
- If you’re using 32-bit apps on a 64-bit machine, then head to the following address:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
- From the Uninstall key, locate the program you want to hide.
- In this example, we are hiding Mozilla Firefox.
- Right-click on the Mozilla Firefox folder and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Rename this new value as SystemComponent.
- Double-click on SystemComponent, and enter 1 in the Value data field.
- Click on OK.
That’s it—close the Registry Editor now. Your Mozilla Firefox will be successfully hidden after this. You can repeat the process for other apps on your PC and get them hidden just as well.
Hiding your installed apps on a Windows PC
In rare cases, you might have to hide the apps on your PC. Whether it’s because you want to protect the applications on your PC from other users or because you are stuck with the old data of your leftover apps, following the above methods will get your apps hidden with any hiccups.
