Tailscale keeps reinstalling itself after uninstall (possibly triggered by MSI) – need help identifying the source
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to completely remove Tailscale from my Windows 11 laptop, but it keeps reinstalling itself automatically.
Here's what happened:
I installed the QuestPilot/Microsoft-Rewards-Bot from GitHub using an admin PowerShell command.
During installation, Tailscale was installed automatically.
I no longer need it and want to remove it completely.
What I've already tried:
Uninstalled Tailscale using:
winget uninstall --id Tailscale.Tailscale
Uninstalled using its MSI Product Code with:
msiexec /x {GUID}
Deleted the Tailscale service.
Deleted the Startup shortcut.
Checked Scheduled Tasks (nothing related to Tailscale).
Checked Autoruns (nothing related to Tailscale).
Checked Run registry keys.
Removed the QuestPilot folder.
Checked Microsoft Defender exclusions.
However, every time I uninstall it, it comes back after a short time.
Things I noticed:
Event Viewer shows MsiInstaller uninstalling and then reinstalling Tailscale.
The uninstall registry entry shows:
InstallSource: C:\Windows\TEMP\
tailscaled.exe is started by services.exe.
If I temporarily disable Windows Installer (DisableMSI=2), Tailscale does not reinstall. As soon as MSI is enabled again, it comes back.
I've also noticed:
Tailscale Tunnel network adapter reappears.
Windows Recovery started failing (0xc0000225) while troubleshooting, although I'm now preparing for a clean reinstall if necessary.
My questions are:
Has anyone seen Tailscale being automatically reinstalled like this?
Could an MSI repair/self-heal mechanism be responsible?
Is there a way to identify which service or process is invoking msiexec to reinstall Tailscale?
Is there any known behavior of the QuestPilot/Microsoft-Rewards-Bot installer that could leave behind an MSI registration or persistence mechanism?
Any ideas or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated before I wipe the system.
