I’ve an outdated laptop computer I refuse to half with. Not out of nostalgia, however as a result of the {hardware} continues to be succesful, and I do not need to give up to the temptation to junk a machine simply because Microsoft’s system necessities say so. The issue is that each time I set up a recent copy of Home windows 11 on it, the OS boots sluggishly, idles with a hungry RAM urge for food, and arrives pre-stuffed with apps I’ve by no means as soon as opened. This makes rapidly eradicating bloatware from Home windows 11 a compulsory post-installation chore.
That frustration is what finally led me to Tiny11 Builder, a free, open-source PowerShell script maintained by a developer referred to as NTDEV on GitHub.
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I simply put in Home windows 11 on a 10-year outdated PC — this technique nonetheless works
You need not fear about Home windows 11 {hardware} necessities with Rufus.
Home windows 11 comes with a number of baggage did not pack
Background processes, telemetry, and different uninvited houseguests
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
A default Home windows 11 set up is a beneficiant host. Maybe too beneficiant. Earlier than you’ve got put in a single app of your personal selecting, you’re already sharing your machine with Clipchamp, Xbox Sport Bar, Information, Climate, the brand new Outlook shopper, Microsoft Groups, Copilot, OneDrive, Energy Automate, Solitaire, Sound Recorder, Maps, Suggestions Hub, and some different uninvited visitors. Whereas it’s true that not all Home windows bloatware is dangerous and that some built-ins are nice relying in your workflow, these apps sit in your begin menu, eat storage, and, in some circumstances, run background processes you by no means approved.
What makes this extra galling is that Home windows 11 doesn’t make it simple to take away them. Some could be uninstalled by way of the Settings app with just a few clicks. Others resist gracefully, abandoning registry traces and scheduled duties that attempt to reinstall themselves after updates. Microsoft’s September 2025 transfer to bake the brand new Outlook shopper and Groups into recent installations appears to have been a deliberate escalation, one which Tiny11 Builder’s developer responded to by including each apps to the removing record virtually instantly.
Past the app muddle, the usual Home windows 11 ISO itself, as of this writing, is round 8GB, and a clear set up on an actual machine expands to roughly 36GB as soon as updates and drivers are utilized. For a tool with restricted storage, that footprint leaves little or no room for the rest.
One PowerShell script and a a lot smaller ISO
It is open-source, auditable, and constructed from recordsdata Microsoft gave you first
The entire course of is approachable, even when you have by no means touched a PowerShell script in your life. Earlier than you begin, you have to obtain an official Home windows 11 ISO straight from Microsoft’s software program obtain web page. That is crucial: you need a clear, verified supply, not a modified ISO from a random nook of the web. Subsequent, head to the Tiny11 Builder GitHub repository and obtain the newest model of the script. You are able to do this by clicking the inexperienced Code button, selecting Obtain ZIP, after which extracting the ZIP file to a location you may simply discover.
After that, you have to mount the ISO. In Home windows Explorer, right-click the downloaded ISO file and choose Mount. Home windows will assign it a drive letter, one thing like D: or E:. Make a remark of it.
To run the script, open PowerShell as Administrator (right-click the Begin button and select “Home windows PowerShell (Admin)” or “Terminal (Admin)”). Earlier than operating any script, you have to briefly enable execution with this command:
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Course of The -Scope Course of half is necessary as a result of it restricts the coverage change to your present session solely, so it reverts mechanically once you shut PowerShell. Then, navigate to the folder the place you extracted the Tiny11 Builder recordsdata and run the primary script, pointing it on the mounted ISO. In my case, here is what it seems to be like:
C:UsersOluwademiladeDownloadstiny11builder-main.tiny11maker.ps1 -ISO D -SCRATCH C Substitute D with the drive letter of your mounted ISO and C with any drive that has not less than 15GB of free scratch house. The script will ask you to pick which Home windows 11 version you need to base your picture on (Residence, Professional, and so forth.), after which it will get to work. That is the half the place you go make a cup of espresso, as a result of it takes some time, significantly throughout the compression step.
Tiny11 Builder really ships with two scripts. The usual one, tiny11maker.ps1, is the one to make use of for an everyday daily-driver set up. It strips the bloat however leaves Home windows absolutely serviceable, which means you may nonetheless obtain safety updates, set up language packs, and add options later. The second script, tiny11Coremaker.ps1, goes significantly additional, eradicating the Home windows Element Retailer and disabling Home windows Replace completely. That model is designed for digital machines and growth sandboxes, not for a pc you really depend on.
When the script finishes, you will discover a file referred to as tiny11.iso in the identical folder. That’s your customized Home windows set up picture, able to be flashed to a USB drive with a device like Rufus. This makes for an ideal setup in case you are putting in on an older machine, as you may seamlessly configure Rufus to bypass TPM and Safe Boot necessities in Home windows 11 proper earlier than creating your set up media.
Leaner, quicker, and sincere about its limits
There’s extra to know within the tremendous print
The completed ISO is round 5.9GB, in comparison with Microsoft’s authentic 8GB. After a clear set up with updates utilized, the usual Tiny11 picture makes use of roughly 29GB of disk house, saving considerably extra space than a inventory Home windows 11 set up. On a machine with a modest 128GB SSD, that hole interprets into significant respiratory room.
The day-to-day expertise feels noticeably snappier on older {hardware}, significantly throughout startup and when the system is idling. On a contemporary, well-specced machine, the uncooked benchmark variations between Tiny11 and normal Home windows 11 are modest sufficient to fall inside the margin of error on assessments like Cinebench and Geekbench. The beneficial properties develop into most visceral on machines with older CPUs or restricted RAM, the place fewer background processes make an outsized distinction.
There are some things value being clear-eyed about, although. The usual Tiny11 picture removes Microsoft Edge fully, although some traces stay within the Settings app. It additionally removes OneDrive, which is value realizing upfront should you depend on it. Copilot, the brand new Outlook shopper, and Groups are gone, too, which is precisely the purpose for most individuals utilizing this device, however one thing to plan round should you use any of them. The developer additionally notes that Outlook and Dev Residence have sometimes reappeared after updates, describing it as an ongoing battle, although the newest script launch is extra aggressive about stopping it.
Safety updates do work on the usual construct, which is the model value utilizing. The Core variant disables Home windows Replace completely, making it unsuitable for any machine that handles delicate data or connects to the web recurrently.
A smaller Home windows continues to be Home windows
Whether or not your motivation is rescuing outdated {hardware}, reclaiming storage on a cramped drive, or just wanting a Home windows set up that feels prefer it belongs to you quite than to Microsoft’s advertising crew, Tiny11 Builder is likely one of the extra considerate instruments the open-source neighborhood has produced. It doesn’t ask you to belief a prebuilt ISO from a stranger. It palms you a script, factors it at Microsoft’s personal recordsdata, and allows you to see precisely what will get eliminated.
