Fix Windows Store issues

Martin Brinkmann
Sep 11, 2016
Windows
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7

If you are using Windows Store occasionally or even regularly, you may have encountered issues at times while doing so.

Maybe you could not get an app to download to your device, get a listing to display in Store, or even open Windows Store at all.

The experience can be frustrating if you run into these errors at times, especially if you want that one app or game to download or update.

The following guide provides you with a list of quick fixes that you may try to resolve these issues. Please note that there is no catch-all solution that resolves all issues that users face when they work with Windows Store.

Fix Windows Store issues

try the download again

The three most common issues on Windows Store are related to downloading, updating and opening Windows apps.

Fix 1: Make sure you meet the minimum requirements

Your device needs to meet the minimum requirements as listed on the apps' Windows Store page. The most important bit is the Windows version which you find under system requirements when you open an application using the Store app.

minimum os requirements windows store

Minimum OS is the most important information, but you may also want to verify that the architecture is correct.

You may check the version of your system in the following way:

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type winver and hit enter.

The window that opens list the operating system and its version.

Fix 2: Check date and time settings of Windows

date time

Windows Store seems to have considerable issues providing its service on devices that have out-of-sync time and date settings.

You may check date and time quickly on the taskbar by hovering the mouse over the system clock. If you notice that the date is off for instance, you may fix issues that you are experiencing by adjusting the date accordingly.

Easiest way to do so is to click on the system clock, and select "date and time settings" from the popup that opens. This loads the "date and time" configuration page where you may adjust the time zone, and either select to have date and time set automatically, or manually.

Fix 3: Sign out and in again

windows store sign out

Windows Store is linked to a Microsoft Account. It happens sometimes that things get messed up even while you are logged in to the account and shown as logged in.

You may want to try signing out of the account and signing in again afterwards. This is a quick process that may resolve account related issues.

  1. With the Windows Store application open, click on the avatar next to search to display a context menu with options.
  2. The first option lists your name and the account's email address. Click on that to open the account page.
  3. To sign out of an account, click on it on that page, and select the sign out link that is displayed then.

If this worked, you should see the avatar icon turn into a generic icon. This indicates that you are signed out currently.

To sign in again, click on the avatar icon and select the sign in option. Enter your Microsoft Account credentials to complete the process.

Windows Store may throw an error message during sign in.

windows store error

If that is the case, try to sign in at a later point in time, or try the fourth fix.

Fix 4: Windows Store Reset

windows store reset wsreset-exe

You may reset the Windows Store cache to resolve temporary issues. Windows Store uses a cache to load some data from it instead of the server.

Cached data may be corrupt or outdated, and those issues can be resolved by clearing the cache.

You can check out tutorial on resetting the Windows Store cache for a detailed guide on how to do so. The following instructions simply tell you how to run the command.

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type wsreset.exe, and hit enter.

That's all there is to it. The cache is cleared when you run the command. This means that data is pulled directly from Microsoft servers instead of the cache when you use Windows Store.

Fix 5: Make sure User Account Control (UAC) is enabled

user account control

Windows applications, of which the Windows Store app is one, require that the User Account Control (UAC) is enabled.

Please note that you cannot disable UAC using the Control Panel applet. While you may set it to Never Notify, doing so won't disable UAC.

You need to disable UAC using policies. Note that the Group Policy Editor is only available in professional editions of Windows.

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type gpedit.msc and hit enter.
  2. Go to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Local Policies > Security Options
  3. Locate "User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode".
  4. Double-click on the policy, and switch it to Enabled to make sure UAC is enabled on the system.

Fix 6: The Windows Store Troubleshooter

windows store apps troubleshoot

Microsoft's official Windows Store Troubleshooter program for Windows 8 and 10 may fix Store issues that you are experiencing.

The app, released for Windows 8 initially but updated to be compatible with Windows 10 as well, may resolve several Store or application related issues.

Simply download it from Microsoft's website and run the program once it is on your system.

The application checks for various issues including Windows Store cache, or whether UAC is activated.

Closing Words

Sometimes, even these things may not work. If Microsoft experiences server issues, then they won't help for instance.

You may try and restart the PC, or wait to try again at a later point in time.

Now You: Do you use Windows Store?

Summary
Fix Windows Store issues
Article Name
Fix Windows Store issues
Description
Find out how to fix Windows Store related issues such as apps not downloading or updating, or Windows Store not opening.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Dan Donx said on January 15, 2023 at 10:29 am
    Reply

    What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?

    Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.

    If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.

  2. Dexter said on January 15, 2023 at 11:14 am
    Reply

    5. Rufus
    6. Ventoy

    PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.

    1. cdr said on January 15, 2023 at 3:32 pm
      Reply

      I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.

  3. sv said on January 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm
    Reply

    bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.

    ps…. time travelling?
    written. Jan 15, 2023
    Updated • Jan 13, 2023

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 16, 2023 at 5:49 am
      Reply

      This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.

  4. Anonymous said on January 16, 2023 at 8:24 am
    Reply

    Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.

  5. basingstoke said on January 16, 2023 at 11:18 am
    Reply

    I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:

    1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)

    2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)

    3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””

    4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows

    5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss

    Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:

    6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now

    Have I missed any group off this list?

    1. Heinz Strunk said on September 19, 2023 at 3:57 pm
      Reply

      You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.

      Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.

  6. ilev said on August 24, 2023 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update

    1. EP said on August 24, 2023 at 9:21 pm
      Reply

      only from windows update though
      KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site

  7. Anonymous said on August 24, 2023 at 11:05 pm
    Reply

    1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.

    2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.

    3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.

    This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
    Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.

    Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.

  8. john said on August 24, 2023 at 11:17 pm
    Reply

    Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.

    1. John G. said on August 25, 2023 at 12:08 pm
      Reply

      Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.

  9. EP said on August 25, 2023 at 3:10 pm
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215

  10. EP said on August 29, 2023 at 7:32 pm
    Reply

    check out the following recent articles:

    Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
    https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/

    BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/

  11. Leonard Britvolli said on August 30, 2023 at 10:33 pm
    Reply

    While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.

  12. sembrador said on September 5, 2023 at 9:32 pm
    Reply

    My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.

  13. EP said on September 6, 2023 at 11:55 am
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):

    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277

  14. Raphael Benzo said on September 24, 2023 at 9:52 pm
    Reply

    I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Tank you for your help

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