Microsoft installs Spotify on Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs without users’ permission. Here’s how to get rid of Spotify.
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Windows 10 & 11: Microsoft installs Spotify without user consent.
© Chubo – my masterpiece/Shutterstock.com
US media such as Windowslatest report that the Spotify app has been installed on computers with Windows 10 and Windows 11 without being asked for a few days. On one of our Windows 10 computers, too, Windows quietly and secretly installed Spotify without asking our consent, although we don’t use Spotify at all.
Windows users are upset
Mind you: These are Windows computers that have been in use for a long time and not Windows PCs that have only just been delivered and put into operation for the first time. The Spotify app ends up on the computers later as part of a Windows update. The enthusiasm of Windows users about the fact that the Spotify app is suddenly on the computer is limited. Here in the Microsoft forum and here on Reddit, Windows users complain about this forced happiness. There is also a lot of resentment on Twitter about this high-handed approach by Microsoft.
So has Windows just been installing Spotify on every device as it updates for everyone else?
‘Cuz like. No? Go away? I don’t use Spotify? Streaming services don’t pay their artists well anyway? Bandcamp or Bust?
— Aerin ⚸ Night (or the ashen husk thereof) (@AerinNight) September 27, 2022
Anyone else have Spotify install itself on their Windows machine?
— Kevin كيفين Pluck (@kevpluck) September 26, 2022
起動した記憶のないSpotifyが勝手に起動しているのだが…？
おいWindowsなんだよこれ？
再起動する前もこれいつの間にか起動してたぞ
やっぱりLinuxがいいよなぁ… pic.twitter.com/VT1gwtxaOX— ?婚捨イさん? (@konsyai3) September 23, 2022
On purpose or by mistake? Microsoft is silent
According to Windowslatest, it is currently unclear whether Microsoft deliberately pushed Spotify onto the Windows 10 and 11 computers or whether it was an accident. Microsoft has not yet responded to a request from Windowslatest. In any case, Microsoft is technically able to install apps from the Microsoft Store on Windows computers without the users having to agree to this beforehand.
However, you can uninstall Spotify at any time in the Windows settings in the “Apps, Apps & Features” area. From there, search for Spotify and then click Uninstall.