Microsoft adds Windows 11 AI model uninstall button

Neowin, Pureinfotech, and gHacks report that Microsoft is testing an AI model management page inside a Windows 11 Insider Experimental preview build identified as 26300.8553. The hidden page enumerates locally installed AI components, showing publisher, version, installation date, and size, and exposes a one-click Uninstall button that removes a selected model after a system reboot. The page was surfaced by Windows watchers and is not yet officially available; testers had to enable it manually.

In current screenshots the only removable component is Phi Silica, Microsoft's on-device language model for Copilot+ PCs, shown consuming over 2.5 GB of disk space. Coverage connects the UI to Windows 11's Copilot+ device stack and its built-in on-device models, and notes the page is still experimental rather than a finished feature.

On-device AI features bundled with consumer OS images often include compact language models, image-processing models, and runtime libraries bound to the system NPU. These artifacts can range from hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes each, so a native uninstall control can materially reduce local storage use on devices that do not need them.

Windows 11 has bifurcated into general-purpose PCs and Copilot+ PCs, the latter carrying higher hardware baselines, which helps explain user complaints about preinstalled AI components consuming disk and memory. For IT operators and power users, a supported model-uninstall UI reduces reliance on registry edits or third-party scripts that previous coverage shows people have used.

Microsoft typically experiments in Insider channels before wider release. Watch subsequent Insider changelogs and official release notes for expansion beyond Phi Silica, for additional removable components, and for enterprise controls in Group Policy or Administrative Templates.