No matter how hard Microsoft tries to make the Microsoft Store an attractive marketplace, users keep avoiding it as much as possible for a good reason. The Microsoft Store is slow, buggy, unreliable, and lacks many features present on other well-established app stores. For example, there is no update history or in-app purchases list.
Still, some apps and games are available exclusively in the Microsoft Store, which forces people to use the app. Sometimes, it refuses to work, forcing users to google “How to reinstall Microsoft Store on Windows 10” or “How to reinstall Microsoft Store.” If you are stuck with an unresponsive marketplace in Windows 10, this article will show you how to uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Store to fix problems.
Fix Microsoft Store Not Working Without Reinstalling
First, try resetting the app before you uninstall or reinstall the Microsoft Store in Windows 10. Windows 10 (and Windows 11) has built-in tools to reset apps without uninstalling them. This method often helps bring a stuck app back to life.
- Press Win + I to open Windows Settings. Open the “Apps” section.
- Scroll down the list of all apps and find the Microsoft Store. Click on it and select Advanced Options.
- Find the “Terminate” button and click it. It will close the Microsoft Store and all related processes.
- Next, click the “Reset” button and wait for Windows 10 to reset the Microsoft Store.
- Try relaunching the Microsoft Store. If resetting the store did not help, uninstall the Microsoft Store as described below in this article.
Reset Microsoft Store on Windows 11
If you have already updated your computer to Windows 11, the procedure above will be slightly different, but the idea remains the same.
- Right-click the Start menu button and select Settings.
- Go to the “Apps” section and click “Installed Apps.”
- Find Microsoft Store and click the button with three dots.
- Select “Advanced options.”
- Click “Terminate” and “Reset.”
How to Uninstall Microsoft Store on Windows 10?
If the Microsoft Store is stuck or you just want to get rid of it, here is how to uninstall the Microsoft Store on Windows 10.
- Open Windows Terminal or PowerShell. Right-click on the Start menu button and select whatever shows first. In Windows 11, for example, Windows Terminal replaces PowerShell by default.
- Enter the following command:
winget uninstall "Microsoft Store"
Note. If PowerShell or Windows Terminal shows an error, claiming they cannot find winget, install winget from the official repository on GitHub. Microsoft plans to integrate winget into Windows 10 and Windows 11 in future updates.
- Wait for Windows to uninstall Microsoft Store.
Now it is time to reinstall Microsoft Store in Windows 10.
Reinstalling Microsoft Store in Windows 10
- Close all Windows Terminal or PowerShell windows.
- Launch Windows Terminal or PowerShell again with elevated privileges. Right-click on the Start menu button and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin) if you are on Windows 11.
- Enter the following command:
Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml"}
- Wait for Windows to reinstall Microsoft Store.
Now you can launch Microsoft Store using Windows Search of the list of all apps in the Start menu.
Another Way to Reinstall Microsoft Store in Windows 10 and 11
Consider this method as an alternative option if the first one did not work for some reason. It is an unofficial way to install the Microsoft Store on LTSC-editions of Windows that has no store installed when out of the box. You need to run a script that downloads and installs the Microsoft Store and all the necessary services.
- Go to this page on GitHub and click the Download link. Disregard the “For Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019” message.
- Open the downloaded archive and extract the files to any folder you like.
- Right-click on the Add-Store file and select Run as Administrator.
- Sit back and wait for the system to do the job. Note that PowerShell might warn you that some of the services are already installed. That is normal behavior.
That’s it. Launch the Microsoft Store from the Start menu or use the search.