Change Microsoft Store Install Location on Windows 10

Desktop apps on Windows are traditionally distributed as exe files which are app packages, most of the time with their own installers. Once you run the executable file, the installation wizard requires you to check a few options and click a few things. This is in contrast to how apps are installed on macOS or Linux where you can simply click on the Install button and everything is automatically done. The Windows way is cumbersome. But it does give users the option to choose where they want a certain app to be installed. When you install apps from the Microsoft Store on Windows 10, you don’t get that choice. Windows does allow you to change the Microsoft Store location so that you can decide where the apps and games are installed.

By default, apps from the Microsoft Store are installed in the Program Files folder in the C: drive like other apps. Specifically, inside a hidden folder named WindowsApps (C:\Program Files\WindowsApps). If you don’t know, the default device letter can be changed on Windows 10 and if you don’t know how to do that, read our guide.

Some store apps can’t be installed on a non-system drive though and those will still get installed on the C: drive. However, most apps can be installed or even moved to a non-system drive. This can be really helpful if your system drive is filling up fast. Anyway, here are the 5 must-have apps for Windows 10 that you must try.

Change Microsoft Store Apps & Games Install Location

1. Go to the Settings app and navigate to System >Storage.
2. Under the More Storage Settings heading click on the link that says Change where new content is saved.
3. Click on the drop-down menu under New apps will save to and select the drive where you would like new apps from the Microsoft Store to be installed.
4. Click Apply to bring the changes to effect. While you’re here, you may also want to change the default download location for other content. The available choices are for Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Maps, etc.

This will not move the currently installed apps. But any new apps that you install from the Microsoft Store will be installed in the new location. The OS will create a hidden WindowsApps folder in the root of the selected drive. All your new apps will be installed inside this folder. Not just that, you can also compress folders on your Windows 10 PC to save space.

Move Installed Microsoft Store apps to a Different Drive

If you’ve already installed a ton of apps from the store, you can still move them to a different location. You don’t have to go through the trouble of reinstalling them all over. This is also useful when you only want to move certain large apps to another directory. This way you won’t have to change the default install location,

1. Launch the Settings app and go to Apps >Apps & features.
2. Select an app by clicking on it and if it supports installation on a non-system drive, you will see a Move button under it.
3. Click on the Move button and select the drive where you want to move the app then click on the Move button again.
4. Your app will be moved to the new location and you can see the progress via a progress bar underneath.

Can’t change Windows Store install location because of old WindowsApps folder on the drive.

I’m attempting to change my default download location for Windows Store to my F: drive because it’s a 2 TB drive, but I can’t because there’s an old WindowsApp folder on there from a previous Windows install that refuses to be deleted.

When I attempt to change the download location, I first get this message:

When I click Yes, I’m then greeted by this message:

I’ve attempted to manually give myself permission of the folder in order to delete it, but I still get an error saying that I need permission from (computer name)/brian.

This is particularly frustrating because I just bought Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition today and was able to install the base game and one of the DLCs on F:, but the other 2 DLCs gave me an error message saying that they must be installed on the system drive.

There really needs to be some kind of tool that can be used to force delete WindowsApp folders. I’m out of ideas. Any suggestions?

Many thanks for the update. Based on the information that you’ve provided, we need to ensure that your user profile has a full control to the particular folder where the file that you want to delete is located. To do this, follow these steps:

Right click on the folder, then go to Properties.

Go to the Security tab, click on Edit to open the Permission for dialog box.

Click Add, type Everyone, then put a check mark on Allow, then click OK.

Select Advanced.

Under the Permission tab, click Change beside Owner.

Type Everyone, then click OK.

Put a check mark on Replace owner on subcontainers and objects, then click Apply.

Go to the Auditing tab, click on Add button.

A new window will open named as AuditingEntry, click on Select a Principal. A window Select User or Group will pop up, type Everyone in the textbox and click OK. Under the Auditing Entry window, ensure to tick the checkbox of Full control under Basic permissions. Then click OK. Under Auditing entry, Everyone is now part of the settings.

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Once your device boots up, check if the issue persists.

Feel free to post back for an update with the outcome and let us know if you need more help.

How to change Default Install Location of Windows Store Apps in Windows 8

We had, some time back, identified the location of the folder, where the Windows UWP Apps get installed. The next question which logically comes to one’s mind is whether there is any way a user can change the default install location of Windows Store apps. Fortunately, there is a way to do this too. You might want to change the location if you find yourself running out of disk space on your system drive. Sure, you can consider moving the default location of the user profile folders or the default Program Files folder to another drive – but if you want, you can also change the default installation folder for Windows Store apps.

NOTE: Windows 10 makes things easy. You can easily move Windows 10 Apps to another Drive and change its Install location.

Change location of Windows Store Apps default installation folder

To change the location of the Windows Store Apps default installation folder, you will have to tweak the Windows Registry. To do so, press Win+R to bring up the Run dialog box. Type ‘regedit’ and hit Enter. A posting on TechNet tells you that the settings are present in the following key, so navigate to it:

Next right-click Appx and choose ‘Permissions’ from the context menu.

The Permissions for Appx box will open. You will now have to take full control and ownership of the registry key. You can see here how to take full control of Windows Registry keys or you could simply use RegOwnIt.

Once you have taken ownership, you can edit the PackageRoot registry key by right-clicking on it and selecting Modify. Enter the new path of the folder where you want the Windows Apps to be installed. It could be, say, D:\WindowsApps.

Do note that you will not be able to update the apps installed prior to changing the default location since these apps will still have their data in the original location. To avoid possible updating errors, it is recommended that you uninstall the apps, change the installation location and then reinstall the Windows Store apps.

You can also try to change Windows Store apps default installation location in Windows 8 using a PowerShell script. More on that at TechNet.

UPDATE: Looks like Microsoft has hence changed the settings. It appears that this does not work on Windows 10/8.1, but you may try using the PowerShell script mentioned above and see if it helps.

Date: January 13, 2014 Tags: Tips, Windows Apps

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

Microsoft Store apps install location

Replies (3) 

Hi oğuzhangenç and thanks for reaching out. My name is Joseph. I am an independent adviser. I’ll be happy to help you out today.

Type «file explorer» press enter
Go to «view» tab and click «Option» button.
Go to View tab again
Check «Show hidden files, folders and drives» and hit okay.

and go here..
C:\Users\Username of your PC\AppData\Local\Packages

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let me know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it’s resolved.

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You may try following these steps. Check this video tutorial for detailed instructions.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let me know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it’s resolved.

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