How To install apps on Windows 10 without Store

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With Microsoft Store, you can easily install apps on your Windows 10 device, just like with Google Play or the Apple App Store. IT departments often remove the Microsoft Store from the devices to prevent users from installing all kinds of apps.

But some apps, like Microsoft ToDo app for example, are only available through the store. So how can you install these kinds of apps on your Windows 10 device without store?

With the help of the online Microsoft Store, an URL converter, and a little bit of PowerShell you can install any app on your computer without the store.

Install Microsoft ToDo without Store

We are going to use the Microsoft ToDo app as an example of how you can download and install apps without the store, but you can use this for any app of course.

Step 1 – Find the URL of the app

So the first step is to find the URL of the app in the online Microsoft Store. You don’t need the actual store for this, you can just use your browser to open the Store. If you have found the app that you want to install, just copy the URL from the address bar.

The URL for the Microsoft ToDo app is:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/microsoft-to-do-lists-tasks-reminders/9nblggh5r558

# Make sure you remove ?activetab=pivot:overviewtab from the url

Step 2 – Generate Microsoft Store link

We need to convert the link to the actual Microsoft Store items. To do this we will use the website https://store.rg-adguard.net.

Past the URL and make sure you change the option RP to Retail

How To install apps on Windows 10 without Store

Step 3 – Download the appxBundle

After you clicked on the checked mark it will find all the related apps. Most of the time the results start with .Net Frameworks that are required for the app, but we can skip them. Somewhere in the middle, you will find the appxBundles for the Microsoft ToDo app.

microsoft todo download without store

Make sure you select the latest version, ignore the date column, just check the version number. Also, make sure you select the appxBundle and not the eappxBundle. The latter is for Xbox.

To download the appxbundle, copy the link and paste it into a new browser tab. Just click on the link itself doesn’t always work, but opening it in a new tab seems to do the trick.

Step 4 – Use PowerShell to install the appxBundle

The last step is to install the Microsoft ToDo app with PowerShell. 

Add-AppxPackage -Path "c:\temp\Microsoft.Todos_2.46.41622.0_neutral___8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle"

Microsoft Todo should now be installed without the need for the store.

Wrapping up

As you can see you can download Microsoft Todo without store. Using PowerShell gives you much more control over which versions and apps are installed on your computers. It’s also a great way to pre-installed apps that are generally used in your organization.

Make sure you check the version number. You will get an installation error if the app is already installed with the same or higher version number. If an app won’t install add all, then make sure you check if the needed pre-requested are installed on the client.

If you have any questions, just drop a comment below!

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73 thoughts on “How To install apps on Windows 10 without Store”

  1. This is fantastic, as I keep getting problems with the 0x80070005 error on Microsoft Store and Microsoft Support are no help, apart from telling me to completely reinstall Windows.

  8. I tried doing this with the new QuickAssist and it seemed to work, but I can no longer find the quickassist.exe anywhere, and don’t know the name of the new executable.

    Google searching seems to indicate that I need Microsoft Store to even run this. I don’t get it, then what was the point of the offline install? What got installed exactly?

    (I searched for https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9P7BP5VNWKX5” on https://store.rg-adguard.net/, then installed the appxbundle.)

  9. Oh, man, you’ve saved my life ! It’s such a wonderful cure ! BRAVO !!! BRAVISSIMOOO !

    You are such a GREAT Administrator ! Actually the best that I have ever seen !!!

  11. I tried installing Microsoft photo without store and i tried all the steps but its not working, can someone please help me out

  12. I tried to install the store itself but my shell gets stack at the step microsoft.net.native.runtime 2.2 is missing. When I try to pick it from the listed frameworks I get notified with “access denied, you do not have permission to access the link”. What can I do.

  13. How do I use To Do without signing in to Microsoft? I don’t want my tasks stored in Microsoft’s “cloud” I want them to remain local. I don’t understand why I have to “sync” my tasks this is so obnoxious.

  14. went to following location to find Windows Scan:
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/top-free/apps/pc

    after doing a search the following link came up:
    https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/windows-scan/9WZDNCRFJ3PV?hl=en-us&gl=US

    I used https://store.rg-adguard.net and modified the url to:
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windows-scan/9WZDNCRFJ3PV

    The above AppxBundle resolved to the following link:
    http://tlu.dl.delivery.mp.microsoft.com/filestreamingservice/files/2e35b4ff-3376-491b-9eeb-9d7d45b9b5cf?P1=1654108206&P2=404&P3=2&P4=ZDQ%2bgPkGYy%2bLXbbBLpkHxfJOajt4If1UhmJWyqzk3UO6euY7d8HE7jlYeoNLub4PrpJ%2fhXmDjnAtY9lKXTab0A%3d%3d
    After pasting that link in a new tab and hitting enter, I received a 403 – forbidden message.
    End of story.

  16. The generated links copy /pasting or even clicking on doesnt come up with any results. just ends up showing search results. Is that new?

    • Chrome is indeed blocking the download. Seems to be an issue with an “insecure” download link. Edge however seems to work fine, haven’t tried other browsers yet.

    • Thanks, Tim. It’s also worth noting that you may have to tell your browser to allow the download, it thinks it’s potentially unsafe, likely due to the cross-domain and non-HTTPS URL. On Edge, after clicking to download, there’s 3 dots and then you can tell it to keep the download.

  18. I am trying to install FBreader usng power shell and this is the report. can you help out please. I have been using this method for years now until this app kind failed me

    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Users\User\Downloads\f9b14fb5-5c2f-4a3a-bcf4-56ea4e9b259c.msix” Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80070005, Access is denied. AppX Deployment operation failed with error 0x0 from API Logging data because access was denied for file:
    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\AppRepository\Packages\FBReader.ORGLimited.FBReader_1.999.10.0_x64__n9cpejf4jr0x8,
    user SID: S-1-5-18
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 9eddd4ee-2f28-0003-85a8-f19e282fd801 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID 9eddd4ee-2f28-0003-85a8-f19e282fd801
    At line:1 char:1
    + Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Users\User\Downloads\f9b14fb5-5c2f-4a3a-bcf …
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : SecurityError: (C:\Users\User\D…ea4e9b259c.msix:String) [Add-AppxPackage], PSSecurityE
    xception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

  19. This is the best article on the internet. Worked like a charm. I COULD NOT find a way to install the MS store or any of the pre-installed MS apps (which were for some reason missing of my brand new laptop).

    THANK YOU

  20. That was very helpful! Thanks! The installation didn’t work using powershell, though. Doesn’t show an error but the app doesn’t install. Simply double clicking the AppxBundle file did the trick!

  22. I has problem when I installed the app using .msixbundle and .AppxBundle file format on powershell, after that the apps shortcut is showing on my start menu, but I cant run the apps?

    When I click the shortcut menu nothing happend
    Maybe I did something wrong?
    Please help me, thanks

  23. Hi Ruud,
    Thanks a lot for the trick.
    I installed Windows Scanner on corporate laptop without Wondows Store.

    Some feedback from my experience :
    – Don’t install the last VCLibs but the version needed by the target app. In my case the 120, not running with the 140.
    – The link from https://store.rg-adguard.net/ for th VCLibs downloaded a file named 07991083-08a6-4564-8aa5-76b242236669 without extension. Just add .appx extension.
    – It was not necessary to use PowerShell to install the packages, just double click on as on common exe files.

    • can confirm i needed to use powershell; i was attempting to download msft’s app installer so that NOW i don’t have to lol

  24. I think you’re just getting lucky with certain apps.
    Often the result will be framework that could not be found. Provide the framework “Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4”

  25. I wanted to install microsoft alarm and clock of windows 11 on windows 10 . and there is noway to delete alarm and clock of windows 10. when I did all progress and typed the code on powershell it started to install but after finishing it happened nothing.what can I do?

  28. I tried to install the Your Phone app, but I couldn’t. This is the message error I got:

    Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFD, A Prerequisite for an install could not be satisfied.
    Unspecified error
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 63f0e7f6-fe5a-0000-ba7d-05645afed701 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 63f0e7f6-fe5a-0000-ba7d-05645afed701
    At line:1 char:1
    + Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Users\Geronimo\Downloads\Microsoft.YourPhon …
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (C:\Users\Geroni…bwe.EAppxBundle:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

    I read the log file, but I couldn’t understand it… would you be able to help me?

    • It required another package first, try installing the listed VCLibs:

      Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx
      Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx

      • Many thanks, Rudy! I tried to install those .appx first, and because I had the same error message, I decided to install these two packages too.
        Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4_2.42007.9001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
        Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2_2.2.28604.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

        Nothing worked, unfortunately.

        Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFD, A Prerequisite for an install could not be satisfied.
        Unspecified error
        NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 63f0e7f6-fe5a-0006-09ad-04645afed701 in the Event Log or use
        the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 63f0e7f6-fe5a-0006-09ad-04645afed701
        At line:1 char:1
        + Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Users\Geronimo\Downloads\Microsoft.YourPhon …
        + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (C:\Users\Geroni…bwe.EAppxBundle:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception
        + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

    • You may have just downloaded the wrong file.
      The extension I found was “.Msixbundle”. I initially tried one with “.emsixbundle” but that one was for an xbox system not PC.
      Make sure you’re downloading the right file.

  29. Hello,

    I have completed this entire tutorial to test an app within our company. Unfortunately I don’t see where the app is supposed to be run from. No desktop shortcut, no start menu tile or shortcut. I see the app stored in C:\user\WindowsApps, but I was told that you shouldn’t run files explicitly from this root location. When I do try to run it from this location, there are a couple dlls required that windows reports as missing.

    Thank you!

  30. Hi,
    the tricks works fine, but when I try to start the APP it reports:

    ”
    Check your account
    is currently not available in your account. Here’s the error code, in case you need it: 0x803f8001
    See in Store
    ”

    ..and than the Close button.

    In the Store, infact, the app installed in this way are not shown 🙁

    I googled and found a lot things about how to solve this problem but nothing works…(powershell messages, troubleshooter, re-install store…) any ideas?

  32. When I try to download the appx bundle by pasting it into a new browser, nothing downloads, it only brings up a search for it. How can I make this work?

  33. Does everyone that wants Microsoft To Do List on their PC have to go through all this? What is the matter here. I really enjoy this Windows app and I’m happy I had these great instructions to actually get it loaded and running. How could Microsoft Store ignore this issue. Before Microsoft bought the rights, modified the code and immediately dumped it on the store, it was Wonderlist. It never suffered the installation miseries that Microsoft has imposed. Thanks Rudy for getting this process figured out and posted here.

  34. Thank You! I was able to use these steps to install an app from the store! My company has things set up so the store doesn’t work! This was super fast and easy to follow/do! =D

  35. Will the Store recognize this once it’s installed? I’m trying to find a way to deploy the store version of Power Bi Desktop so that it’s recognized and can be updated normally through the store.

  36. hi

    le”
    add-appxpackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFD, A Prerequisite for an install could not be satisfied.
    Unspecified error
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] e4da406d-eb3f-0000-2e5d-dae43febd701 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID e4da406d-eb3f-0000-2e5d-dae43febd701
    At line:1 char:1
    + add-appxpackage “F:\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_2019.1019.1.0_neutr …
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (F:\Microsoft.De…bbwe.AppxBundle:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

    how fix that ???

    • You are missing a pre-requested package or framework. But it’s not clear which one. Sometimes it’s as simple as updating Windows. Otherwise run Get-AppxLog -ActivityID e4da406d-eb3f-0000-2e5d-dae43febd701 to see if it shows which package or framework it’s missing.

  37. Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Users\ShopstreamUser\Downloads\33987StevenMcGrew.PressureWaveformOverl
    ays_3.0.14.0_neutral___ffwgjqmz9jyhe.AppxBundle”

    Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF3, Package failed updates, dependency or conflict
    validation.
    Windows cannot install package 33987StevenMcGrew.PressureWaveformOverlays_3.0.14.0_x86__ffwgjqmz9jyhe because this
    package depends on a framework that could not be found. Provide the framework “Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement”
    published by “CN=Microsoft Corporation, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US”, with neutral or x86
    processor architecture and minimum version 10.0.1610.0, along with this package to install. The frameworks with name
    “Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement” currently
    Windows cannot install package 33987StevenMcGrew.PressureWaveformOverlays_3.0.14.0_x86__ffwgjqmz9jyhe because this
    package depends on a framework that could not be found. Provide the framework “Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement”
    published by “CN=Microsoft Corporation, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US”, with neutral or x86
    processor architecture and minimum version 10.0.1610.0, along with this package to install. The frameworks with name
    “Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement” currently installed are: {}
    NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] a4517d6b-e0e4-0002-a3aa-52a4e4e0d701 in the Event Log or use
    the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID a4517d6b-e0e4-0002-a3aa-52a4e4e0d701
    At line:1 char:1
    + Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Users\ShopstreamUser\Downloads\33987StevenM …
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : WriteError: (C:\Users\Shopst…jyhe.AppxBundle:String) [Add-AppxPackage], IOException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

    HOW DO I FIX THIS?

  39. I had no issues with these steps. I thought I would need administrator rights to run the installer, but I did not. This was terrific! Thank you!

  42. Following your suggestion, i’ve successfully downloaded the JW Library appx bundle. but I don’t know the correct command to type in powershell. kindly assist please

    • Open PowerShell (Windows Key + X and choose PowerShell)
      Type “Add-AppxPackage -Path c:\users\myaccount\downloads\file.appxBundle”.

      Replace c:\users\myaccount\downloads\file.appxBundle with the file that you have downloaded.

    • Right Click the start menu and Windows PowerShell (admin)
      Type following command:

      Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

      Restart your computer

  46. I have to install the calculator app on several PCs which do not have the MS Store installed.
    It was necessary to download and install another package (…Xaml… on the same page ) because calculator depends on it. Your procedure worked for both installs.
    Thank You very much!

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