PowerShell is one of the core components of Windows 11, and even less tech-savvy users may find themselves fiddling with it from time to time. But when you start wanting to make bigger changes to your PC, PowerShell can be an essential tool with a lot to offer, and that's mainly thanks to scripts.

Scripts are tools that can run various PowerShell commands in one go to perform very specific actions, often saving time and making automation easier. While PowerShell scripts are very user-specific, there are a few out there that many users may find useful, and we've collected some of those for you here.

5 RemoveWindowsAI

You'll never guess what this one does

I know there are some people on the other side of this argument, but I think it's fair to say everyone hates — or should hate — all the AI features Microsoft has been cramming into Windows 11 over the past few years. At the very least, you probably don't like them enough to appreciate how they've been forced into every square inch of your screen to get you to actually use them, even if it's accidentally.

RemoveWindowsAI is a very self-explanatory script that aims to turn off all of that. With a single script, this lets you disable Copilot, Recall (on PCs that support it), Copilot in Edge, and much more. The script even installs a custom package that prevents the reinstallation of AI packages, so once you've turned everything off, it will stay off.

This script is available on GitHub, and you can download the script file yourself, or run it directly off the internet using this command:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zoicware/RemoveWindowsAI/main/RemoveWindowsAi.ps1")))

This will run the script with a UI so you can choose what to disable, though there's also a version of the command that's non-interactive and just enables all the options.

Admittedly, RemoveWindowsAI can't disable every last AI-related feature in Windows 11, but it should make the experience much more bearable across the board. Plus, the creator of the script does provide some guidance on how to remove anything that can't be disabled with a script, but it's only a handful of things.

4 Sophia Script

That just sounds like a font name

The Sophia script for PowerShell is a useful one to run when you're setting your computer up for the first time. It contains a wide ranger of options to customize certain aspects of the Windows experience and make it more robust and tailored to your needs. For example, the Sophia script can help you set up your PC's UI and customization options, or help you uninstall OneDrive the right way.

There's a lot more in there, too, and it's all with the goal of just providing a more robust experience. There isn't a single specific focus like privacy or removing AI, but you have options like installing custom mouse cursors that look a little more modern (in addition to supporting light and dark modes), uninstall UWP apps, customize various Windows settings, and more. It's an all-encompassing approach, and it works fairly well.

You can download the script from GitHub and run it locally, which we recommend, or use PowerShell to run it directly off the internet with this command:

iwr script.sophia.team -useb | iex

Either method works though, and it's an easy way to get your computer set up more properly. You can check out more about the script and download it manually below.

3 Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility

Another big cleanup and customization tool

Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility is a fairly well-known debloat tool for Windows, and it encompasses some things already covered by the two scripts above, but also goes beyond both of them in some ways. The main point of Windows Utility is to minimize distractions and remove privacy-invasive features that tend to get shoved into Windows 11.

With this script, which come with a UI, you can do things like enable dark mode, disable the Recommended section in the Start menu, turn off Copilot, disable telemetry, turn on tips and suggestions, and much, much more. You can even disable Windows updates, if you're a fan of living dangerously. The list of options is never-ending, and it's one of the most comprehensive solutions for getting your computer to function with far fewer distractions and potentially using fewer resources in the background, too.

The script files can be found on GitHub and you can download and run them locally if you're worried about security. However, you can also run it from the internet with this command:

irm "https://christitus.com/win" | iex

Either way, this nscript comes highly recommended if you want to make meaningful tweaks to your Windows installation.

2 Install your apps in one go

There's a script for that, too

While we're still on the topic on setting up a computer, one of the most frustrating things about setting up a new computer is having to install all your apps to make your PC work the way you want it to. Thankfully, there's a relatively simple PowerShell script you can use for that, and you can make your own modifications to ensure it works perfectly for you.

I've covered this one before, and it's very easy. You can create the script on your own PC using Notepad by simply copying the text below and pasting it into your document.

Add or remove lines to choose which apps you want to be installed, and save it as a file with the .ps1 extension. You can then run it whenever you need to on any computer.

1 Create a new Windows install

Start fresh

Finally, there's one more script you might want to use, and if you do need, this is actually the first one you should run from this list. This script was created by the same person who created AnduinOS, a Linux distro that mimcs the look and feel of Windows, and it's designed to allow users to move from an old Windows install to a new one as a way to bypass data corruption that can occur over time.

It's mostly geared towards users whose documents are stored in the cloud, so you can easily move between machines. But if that description fits you, all you need to do is create an empty partition on your drive, then run this command to start the script:

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://gitlab.aiursoft.cn/anduin/reimage-windows/-/raw/master/Reimage.ps1'))

The script guides you through the process, and once it's done, you'll have a dual-boot setup with your old and new Windows installs side-by-side. You can then use some of the scripts above to configure Windows 11 and install your apps more quickly, and you'll be good to go. You can even delete the old partition if you want to switch to the new installation full-time.

You can check out more information about the script on GitHub if you'd like to learn more.

PowerShell can do a lot

These are just a few examples of PowerShell scripts that can greatly simplify your life, but they're not necessarily for everyone, especially that last one. But it goes to show that there's so much that can be done with PowerShell and how it's an incredibly useful tool. While all these scripts are designed for Windows, PowerShell has become a multi-platform tool because of how versatile and capable it is, and if you have a specific use case, you can look around and find scripts that do much more specific things.