Where are Windows Store Apps installed & how to access the folder

UWP apps can be accessed from and started by clicking on the Tiles on the Windows Start. But where are they installed or located? The Universal or Windows Store Applications in Windows 10/8 are installed in the WindowsApps folder located in the C:\Program Files folder. It is a Hidden folder, so in order to see it, you will have to first open Folder Options and check the Show hidden files, folders and drives option.

Now you will be able to see the WindowsApps folder in the C:\Program Files folder.

Access or open the Windows Apps folder

Before you read further, we suggest you create a system restore point first.

Now, if you try to click on it to open it, you will not be allowed to, but you will instead see the following road-block.

Clicking on Continue will open the following warning box, saying that you have been denied permission to access this folder.

To gain access to the WindowsApps folder, click on the Security tab link. The following Properties box will open.

To be able to view the contents of the folder you must have at least Read permissions. Click on the Advanced button to open the Advanced Security Settings for the protected folder.

Clicking on Continue will open a box that will list down the permission entries for the folder. You will now have to give yourself permission, and you can do so by changing the Owner from TrustedInstaller to your name. Do note that, as an example, I have given myself complete blanket permissions, but you may give yourself limited permission as are required, by editing the permissions entries from its settings.

You may click on the desired entry and click View to see the individual permission entries and make changes there too. You will have to change the Principal / Owner first, however.

To do so, click on Change in the earlier step and enter the object name and click on Check Names too, as this will check if you have entered the name correctly, and correct it, if you haven’t.

I repeat, as an example, I have given myself complete blanket permissions, but you may give yourself limited permission as are required, by editing the permissions entries from its settings, as shown in the Permissions Entries box above.

The permission will be changed and will see a dialog box.

You will have to close the explorer window and re-open it.

You will now be able to click open on the WindowsApps folder and see its contents.

Any hacker or malware that gains access to this folder, could potentially modify the apps source code maliciously. So it might be a good idea to change the permissions back to their defaults, after you have completed your work. To do this, you have to simply reverse or undo the changes you made in the Advanced Security Settings.

If you wish to only see the list of all the apps along with their shortcuts, you can copy-paste the following in explorer address bar and hit Enter to open the following Applications folder:

Using this way you can change the permissions of any folder in Windows.

To reverse the changes, you need to retrace your steps and undo the changes made – or else you could go back to the created system restore point.

Date: September 8, 2018 Tags: Folder, Windows Apps

Where are the OneNote App local files stored in Windows 10? (Surface 3)

I have been using OneNote for a long time with relatively no issues. I recently got a surface 3 to take out into the field with me and got my first taste of the OneNote App that comes pre-installed on the device. As far as performance in the field is concerned it worked great. The problem now is I cannot seem to get some of the note sheets that I created to sync. My thought is that the syncing is getting mixed up as they are extremely large because contain many pictures. What I would like to do is find the files locally on the device, copy them using an external hard drive or something, and open them on my Desktop or even in the OneNote 2016 on the Surface 3. Problem is I can’t find the local files for the app. Please help.

TLDR; I want to find where the App Stores the local files so I can open them in the Desktop Version.

I appreciate your help.

Replies (11) 

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

I want to find where the App Stores the local files so I can open them in the Desktop Version.

The local files, as you call it, are local cache files, not the real notebook.

But you can try to outwit Onenote 2016.

The cache files for Onenote 2016 are in a file and in an additional folder in

The corresponding files of the App you’ll find in

Before overwriting the Onenote 2016 files close all notebooks in Onenote 2016 and then close it.

On your own risk 😉

EDIT:

The 1st structure is valid only for Onenote 2010 and 2013. Onenote 2016 has the same structure as the App.

16 people found this reply helpful

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

I have a similar problem I hope you can help with.

I use one note 2016 (not the desktop version) to survey, sketch and measure buildings on site. Recently I opened one note to find they were not there. My onedrive storage wasn’t large enough, but it appeared to save the files locally as evertime I opened onenote they were listed in the left hand column so I left things as they were. So the situation is I don’t have copies on one drive and cannot find them locally on my windows surface.

How do I actually open files in the cache folder, the extension they have is .bin and one note does not recognise them.

WI don’t understand how/why they have suddenly disappeared??

Thank you in advance

9 people found this reply helpful

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

At first you need an installed Onenote 2016.

Then you can try to copy the cache folder in the App’s 16.0 folder over the cache folder of Onenote 2016’s 16.0 folder. The paths you see in my last reply.

Then start Onenote 2016.

2 people found this reply helpful

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

I’m having the same issue. Followed the instructions (which I found very helpful) I loaded Outlook 2016 on a new machine, and logged in with my Microsoft account. I closed all the notebooks that where open and copied the cache from the OneNote APP to the OneNote desktop 2016. It says «OneNote cannot access the notebook cache file. It may be corrupted. OneNote will restart and create a new cache file.» I pulled the cache folder from a backup I did a month ago. I believe the files are good. is there any rights or other files I need to move?

Thanks in advance.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

I’ve been messing around with it some more I think the problem has something to do with the header file located in the cache directory. If you copy the header over it doesn’t work. If you use the one that is currently there it still doesn’t open but doesn’t provide a corrupt error winder either. If you delete it all together and open Onenote, No issues but opens all blanks.

TLDR; what does the header do and can it be modified to open?

1 person found this reply helpful

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

I have been using OneNote for a long time with relatively no issues. I recently got a surface 3 to take out into the field with me and got my first taste of the OneNote App that comes pre-installed on the device. As far as performance in the field is concerned it worked great. The problem now is I cannot seem to get some of the note sheets that I created to sync. My thought is that the syncing is getting mixed up as they are extremely large because contain many pictures. What I would like to do is find the files locally on the device, copy them using an external hard drive or something, and open them on my Desktop or even in the OneNote 2016 on the Surface 3. Problem is I can’t find the local files for the app. Please help.

TLDR; I want to find where the App Stores the local files so I can open them in the Desktop Version.

I appreciate your help.

Me too was not able to sync some of my OneNote APP notebooks. That’s little tricky to create new empty notebook in OneNote app and then moving the sections from our problematic notebook to this newly created notebook. But if we do so, one may be able to sync the new notebook with all the required sections. However, still sometime one simply can not move a required section to the newly created (empty) notebook.

Hence, instead simply follow the steps.

1. Go to OneNote App cache files from C:\Users \AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Office.OneNote_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\AppData\Local\OneNote\16.0
2. Copy all the (three) folders inside the folder ‘16.0’.
3. Now go to OneNote 2016 (.exe program) cache file location C:\Users\ \AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0
4. Paste all (three) the copied folders to this location and overwright all the files already available there.
5. Now try to sync all notebooks.
6. Some notebooks (most probably the ‘same’ notebooks) may not be able to sync. It will show the error0xE0190190.
7. But as now you got the notebooks (at least offline) into the .exe program, it’s quite easy to play with anything of it.
8. Now it’s not that hectic to create a new ‘Offline’ (Windows Explorer (/file Manager) ‘browsable’) OneNote-notebook file and move your required (screwed) sections to it.
9. After that done, simply move this file to OneDrive.
10. Now again try to sync it with OneNote 2016 (.exe program) (press shift+F9), it should work!

And then, F***ing OneNote APP would have no b*als to make it offline (again!).

Where are Registry Files stored in Windows?

Where is the Registry stored in Windows? I want to find the files shown when running regedit.exe (Windows Registry Editor).

3 Answers 3

If I think I understand what you are saying, the registry is kept in %SystemRoot%\System32\config whilst individual users settings are located at %UserProfile%\Ntuser.dat .

If I have got the wrong end of the stick here, please rephrase your question and I will be happy to help.

On disk, the Windows Registry isn’t simply one large file but a set of discrete files called hives. Each hive contains a Registry tree, which has a key that serves as the root (i.e., starting point) of the tree. Subkeys and their values reside beneath the root.

Location of Windows registry files The location of these registry hives are as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM : \system32\config\system

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SAM : \system32\config\sam

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SECURITY : \system32\config\security

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE : \system32\config\software

HKEY_USERS \UserProfile : \winnt\profiles\username

Some hives are volatile and don’t have associated files. The system creates and manages these hives entirely in memory; the hives are therefore temporary in nature. The system creates volatile hives every time the system boots. Examples are:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \HARDWARE : Volatile hive HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \Clone : Volatile hive

These files are database files, and only RegEdit, Regedit32 and the Kernel32 can read them. The primary tool in Windows 10/8/7 for working directly with the registry is Registry Editor. To access it, simply type Regedit in Start Menu Search Bar and hit Enter !

If you need to read more on this, head over to TechNet!

UPDATE: AccidentalADMIN has made a useful comment. He says:

Every Windows got a registry Key which lists every hive in system. Open Regedit and navigate to the following key to get a complete list:

Windows System Files: Where They Are Stored, How to Display or Restore Them

Read about what files are called system files, their names and extensions, and where you can find them. We’ll find out what to do if system files get damaged and how they can be restored with the SFC checking tool.

A personal computer, smartphone, tablet PC, laptop – everyone knows these words, and we see and use these devices every day. All these things help their users solve various tasks while saving time and money.

What files are system files?

Modern computers and other gadgets are pretty small and compact while offering high performance and effective data processing capacity. It takes advanced software – an operating system – to use all the wide functionality of computer devices. The operating system should let the user adjust the interface to suit individual needs, manage all processes without errors and failures, be extremely effective, convenient to use and never bottleneck the hardware components of a device.

Windows, the Microsoft operating system, meets the above requirements in every way. It’s got a user-friendly customizable interface so that every user can configure the operating system to satisfy their needs. The high performance of this operating system is perfectly combined with intuitive computer control and management tools so the ease of use comes along with high efficiency.

In fact, the Windows operating system is a program shell which lets the user install applications and other software required to perform certain tasks.

To ensure correct work of the entire operating system, its full-fledged operation and opportunities to use additional software, Windows uses special system files.

Technically, Windows system files are any files with the “hidden” system attribute enabled. These include hardware drivers, configuration files, DLL (dynamic link library) files and various sets of files that make up the Windows registry.

Such files are often modified automatically when the operating system is updated or applications are installed, but the usual rule is you shouldn’t try to modify system files on your own. Deleting, moving, renaming or changing these files in any way can result in certain apps refusing to start, some system elements crashing, or even the entire system failing to work. That is why system files are often hidden and accessible to users as read-only files. However, there’s a lot of advice and recommendations (you can find some of the stuff described in our website) on modifying system files.

If you are an advanced PC user, acting carefully and confident of what you’re doing, or you follow a certain guide you trust absolutely, then you may gain a kind of advantage from using such advice.

Where are system files stored?

Usually system files are found in certain folders which are identified as system folders. In Windows operating systems, these files are hidden by default to prevent them from being deleted accidentally. Also, they are not shown in search results to save the system from undesirable consequences.

Actually, system files can be found in many locations on your PC. For example, the root folder of your system disk (C:\) contains system files such as the paging file (pagefile.sys) and the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys).

Most system files of a Windows operating system are stored in the folder C:\Windows, especially in such subfolders as /System32 and /SysWOW64. You will also find system files in a user’s folder (for example, AppData) and application folders (for example, Program Data or Program Files).

How to display hidden system files in Windows?

Though system files are hidden by default in a Windows operating system, you can easily change the settings to make them visible.

Just remember that deleting, moving, editing or renaming these files can cause all kinds of issues affecting reliability and correct work of your operating system. The right decision, after all, is to leave the system files hidden as they were. But if you work with system files deliberately and follow certain advice or recommendations, then make them visible, do your job, and then make them hidden again.

To enable displaying system files in a Windows operating system, you’ll have to open This PC in the File Explorer. In the window that opens, go to the tab View. In this tab find Options which contains settings for opening elements, presentation of files and folders, and open the nested menu. In the pop-up menu, select Change folder and search options.

In the Folder Options window go to the View tab and in the section Advanced settings drag the slider down until you can uncheck the box Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). The Windows operating system will show you a warning to make sure that you realize what you’re going to do. Confirm your choice by clicking on the Yes button. Then click Apply and OK to save the changes you have made to file and folder view settings.

Now you’ll be able to see hidden system files in the Windows File Explorer. Note that the icons for system files look dimmer than the non-system files icons. This is a special feature to mark them as more important.

What happens if system files are damaged?

The answer really depends on what system files are damaged, that’s why the final symptoms may range from some applications failing to start or working incorrectly to BSOD errors or even the Windows operating system crashing completely – which makes the OS absolutely no good to use.

If you suspect that some system files are damaged or missing, there are several built-in tools inside the operating system to help you out of trouble. The System File Check (SFC) tool scans Windows system files and can replace any missing or damaged files detected during the test. The Windows Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) can be used to eliminate the problems that prevent the SFC tool from performing its functions properly. Using the two apps together you’ll be able to restore successfully any missing or damaged system files.

SFC scans your computer to detect possible damage or any other changes in Windows system files. If the SFC checking tool finds a system file that has been changed, the file will be replaced automatically with its correct version.

To launch the SFC tool you will have to use the Command Prompt utility started with Administrator rights. There are many ways to open this app. We’ll describe several of them so you can use the one you like best.

Method one: Open This PC in the File Explorer and then go to the system folder C:/. Open the Windows folder and go to the subfolder System32. Drag the slider box down and find the file cmd.exe. Right-click on it and open a pop-up menu. From the list of possible actions, select Run as administrator.

Method two: Click on the Start button in the lower left corner of your desktop, on the Taskbar, and open the main Windows menu. In the list of all installed applications, drag the slider down and find the section Windows System. In the drop-down menu, find the line Command Prompt and right-click on it. From the list of possible actions in the More section, select Run as administrator.

Method three: Click the Search button on the Taskbar (you can find it next to the Start button) and open the search panel. Enter command or cmd into the search field. The Best match section will show you the result you were looking for – Command Prompt. Right-click on it and select Run as administrator in the menu.

When the pop-up notification from Windows User Account Control asks “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?” click Yes and the command prompt with administrator rights will open.

Enter the command sfc /scannow into the Command Prompt window to launch the Windows system file checking utility.

Results of the system scan with description of all actions will be shown in the application window.

If all the actions described above didn’t work and you failed to fix the damaged system files, you can always update or reset your computer’s operating system settings. However, this solution should only be used as the last resort. All your personal files will be preserved, but any applications will be removed after you reset the operating system.

If all the actions described above didn’t work and you failed to fix the damaged system files, you can always update or reset your computer’s operating system settings. However, this solution should only be used as the last resort. All your personal files will be preserved, but any applications will be removed after you reset the operating system.

Author: Vladimir Artiukh, Technical Writer

Vladimir Artiukh is a technical writer for Hetman Software, as well as the voice and face of their English-speaking YouTube channel, Hetman Software: Data Recovery for Windows. He handles tutorials, how-tos, and detailed reviews on how the company’s tools work with all kinds of data storage devices. Read more