How can I delete a service in Windows?

Use the SC command, like this (you need to be on a command prompt to execute the commands in this post):

SC STOP shortservicename
SC DELETE shortservicename

Note: You need to run the command prompt as an administrator, not just logged in as the administrator, but also with administrative rights. If you get errors above about not having the necessary access rights to stop and/or delete the service, run the command prompt as an administrator. You can do this by searching for the command prompt on your start menu and then right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator". Note to PowerShell users: sc is aliased to set-content. So sc delete service will actually create a file called delete with the content service. To do this in Powershell, use sc.exe delete service instead

If you need to find the short service name of a service, use the following command to generate a text file containing a list of services and their statuses:

SC QUERY state= all >"C:\Service List.txt"

For a more concise list, execute this command:

SC QUERY state= all | FIND "_NAME"

The short service name will be listed just above the display name, like this:

SERVICE_NAME: MyService
DISPLAY_NAME: My Special Service

And thus to delete that service:

SC STOP MyService
SC DELETE MyService

Click Start | Run and type regedit in the Open: line. Click OK.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

Scroll down the left pane, locate the service name, right click it and select Delete.

Reboot the system.

Use services.msc or (Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) to find the service in question. Double-click to see the service name and the path to the executable.

Check the exe version information for a clue as to the owner of the service, and use Add/Remove programs to do a clean uninstall if possible.

Failing that, from the command prompt:

sc stop servicexyz
sc delete servicexyz

No restart should be required.

If they are .NET created services you can use the installutil.exe with the /u switch its in the .net framework folder like C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727

This did the job for me on Windows 10:

• start the cmd.exe as admin
• run SC DELETE "com.docker.service"
• reinstall docker

Here is a vbs script that was passed down to me:

Set servicelist = GetObject("winmgmts:").InstancesOf ("Win32_Service")

for each service in servicelist
    sname = lcase(service.name)
    If sname = "NameOfMyService" Then 
        msgbox(sname)
        service.delete ' the internal name of your service
    end if
next

sc delete name

You can use my small service list editor utility Service Manager

You can choose any service > Modify > Delete. Method works immediately, no reboot required.

Executable file: [Download]

Source code: [Download]

Blog post: [BlogLink]

Service editor class: WinServiceUtils.cs