Congratulations on your new HP Smart app, whoever you are
Microsoft Store auto-installed HP Smart on PCs with no HP hardware
The market's verdict: -2.7% on MSFT in the week after.
What actually happened
In late November 2023, Windows users on Dell, Lenovo and custom built machines with no HP hardware anywhere in the building noticed the HP Smart app installing itself from the Microsoft Store without permission. The Store had decided that everyone was an HP customer now. Microsoft later confirmed it was behind the push, and behind a companion bug that renamed people's printers. An app nobody asked for, installed by the operating system, on computers it did not belong to, in the name of helping.
This one is well documented.
They did it more than once
Installed without asking in 2023, installed without asking in 2025. The removal is DIY.
Links
-
Impact
- Windows Central (publication)
↳ caused by Microsoft Store HP Smart distribution (November 2023)
Timeline
- Nov 30, 2023 Confirmed First reports came in.