Sometimes, you want to outright remove a game from your PC. Whether it’s outlived its welcome, or is simply eating too much space, deleting it becomes necessary.
On that note, we’ll show you the many ways in which you can delete games from your PC. Read on to find out which method works best for you.
Deleting from Digital Distribution Service
Digital distribution platforms like Steam, GOG, Origin, or Epic among others have their own uninstallation options on their launchers. This is useful when you have the launcher open and want to remove the game right away. This is also handy if you want to delete games from a particular distributor and not those from others.
Below are a few of the most popular digital distribution sites for PC and their local uninstallation options.
Battle.NetOn the Blizzard app, select the icon of the game you want deleted. Click on Options, then choose Uninstall Game.Bethesda.NetOpen the launcher and choose the game you want to delete on the tray. On the top right corner of the game splash page, choose Uninstall.Epic Games StoreOpen Library, On Icon View click the three dots on the lower right corner of the game you want uninstalled. On List View this is at the rightmost corner. Choose Uninstall from the menu.GOGOn the GOG launcher, click Installed on the menu. Choose which game you want to remove. Click the button to the right side of Play to show the menu. Hover to Manage Installation then choose Uninstall.Microsoft StoreThe Microsoft Store doesn’t offer a local uninstall method. Proceed to Windows system settings to uninstall from there.OriginChoose My Game Library. Right click on the icon of the game you want removed. Choose Uninstall.SteamOn the launcher go to Library. Choose icon of the game you want removed, right click and then hover to Manage. Choose Uninstall. This can also be done by choosing Properties, clicking the Local Files Tab and choosing Uninstall Game.UplayFrom the launcher click Games. Right click on the game you want removed and choose UninstallDeleting via In-game Installation
Some games offer uninstallation options via their in-game launchers. If your game has a separate launcher, chances are the game can be uninstalled from the launcher itself. Most launchers come with the self-identifying title of Launcher.exe.
Check your game folder files to check if it has a launcher. Alternatively, some games come with a separate uninstaller application. Usually, these are named Uninstall.exe. You can also launch the game and see if there are options to uninstall it from there. Most games that allow this will have a Settings or Game Settings menu. If the uninstall option can’t be found in the launcher, check under the menus.
The advantage of using game-specific game uninstallers is that they sometimes delete only the games and not the saved files. This is handy, especially if the games don’t save to the Cloud. Uninstalling only the game means that if you ever feel the need to play it again, all your progress will still be there when you reinstall it.
Deleting via Windows Settings
If you want to remove a game through the Windows settings, you can do the following:
On Windows 10:
Open the Windows Start Bar.Choose Settings.Choose Apps.Choose Apps & Features.Select the game you want uninstalled and click on it.Choose Uninstall.On Windows 8.1 or lower:
Open Search bar.Type Control Panel.Open Control Panel.On the Programs menu choose Uninstall Programs.Find the game you want deleted on the list.Choose Uninstall Program.Deleting on Mac
On the MacOS platform, deleting a game can be done by opening the Applications folder and dragging the icon to the Trash. This deletes the application but does leave system files behind. A better way would be to open the Finder and type the application name. Make sure that System Files are included in the search attributes. Drag all the files you find into the Trash.
Manual Deletion
Similar to the process of deleting applications on the MacOS, you can delete the game manually by removing the game folders. This isn’t usually recommended as it doesn’t entirely remove system files from your computer.
Some games, however, are self-contained and don’t go into the system registry when they’re run. If you can’t find a game on the list of applications when you open the Windows Uninstall window, there’s a good chance it isn’t on registry. If so, deleting the folder itself is the best way to deal with it.
Easiest Deletion Methods
There are many ways that you can get rid of installed games off of your computer. In this article, we’ve shown you the easiest methods available. This isn’t an exhaustive list though, and we’d love to know if there are better techniques out there.
Do you know any other ways to delete games off the PC? Have you ever had any experiences regarding doing so? Go to the comments section and share these with the community.