The Microsoft Store opens normally.

You click Install.

Nothing happens.

Or an app sits on:

Pending

forever.

Perhaps every Store app refuses to update, the download reaches a certain percentage and stops, or Microsoft Store itself opens to a blank screen.

Fortunately, most Microsoft Store problems do not require reinstalling Windows.

The safest troubleshooting order is:

network/account → Store cache → Repair → Reset → Windows Update → re-register the affected package → repair Windows

The important thing is to start with the least invasive fix and only move deeper when necessary.

First: Is One App Broken or the Whole Microsoft Store?

This distinction saves a lot of time.

One Store app fails

For example:

Calculator will not launch or update

but other Store applications work normally.

Start with that application.

Several Store apps fail

Investigate:

• Microsoft Store
• Windows AppX/package registration
• Windows servicing
• policy

Microsoft Store itself will not open

Focus on the Store package and Windows components rather than individual applications.

Microsoft’s current troubleshooting guidance similarly starts by determining whether the affected application is installed and registered correctly for the current user.

Step 1: Check the Obvious Things

Before resetting Windows components, confirm:

• normal websites load
• Windows date/time are correct
• Windows Update works
• enough disk space is available
• VPN/proxy is not causing the problem
• Microsoft Store is not deliberately blocked by company policy

On a managed business PC, Store access may intentionally be controlled by Intune, Group Policy or another management platform.

Microsoft explicitly notes that administrators can disable Store access through policy.

So if you see an organisational-policy message, do not try to bypass it.

Contact IT.

Step 2: Sign Out and Back Into Microsoft Store

For purchase, licence or account-specific problems:

Open Microsoft Store.

Select your profile icon.

Choose:

Sign out

Close the Store completely.

Open it again and sign back in.

Then retry the installation.

If the Store itself does not open, skip this step.

Step 3: Reset the Store Cache With wsreset

Press:

Windows + R

Type:

wsreset.exe

Press Enter.

A blank Command Prompt window may appear briefly, after which Microsoft Store normally opens.

This clears the Store’s local cache without removing your installed applications.

If downloads suddenly begin working again, you are done.

Step 4: Repair the Microsoft Store

If the cache reset changes nothing:

Open:

Settings > Apps > Installed apps

Find:

Microsoft Store

Open:

Advanced options

Choose:

Repair

Repair attempts to fix the app while preserving its data.

Test Microsoft Store again before moving on.

Step 5: Reset the Microsoft Store

If Repair fails, return to:

Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Microsoft Store > Advanced options

Choose:

Reset

This is more aggressive than Repair.

It resets the Store’s local application data and configuration.

Your purchased applications remain associated with your Microsoft account.

Afterwards:

1. Open Microsoft Store.
2. Sign in if required.
3. Try downloading one application.

Do not immediately attempt twenty updates at once.

Step 6: Check Windows Update

Open:

Settings > Windows Update

Install pending updates.

Restart Windows if required.

The Store relies on Windows servicing and AppX infrastructure, so a damaged or incomplete Windows update can affect Store installations.

If Windows Update is also failing, I would troubleshoot that broader servicing problem before repeatedly resetting Microsoft Store.

Step 7: Repair One Broken Store App

If Microsoft Store works but a single application does not, repair the application itself.

Open:

Settings > Apps > Installed apps

Find the affected app.

Choose:

Advanced options

Then try:

Repair

If that fails:

Reset

This is much cleaner than re-registering every Store package on the machine because Calculator alone stopped working.

Step 8: Re-register the Affected App

This is where I would change the existing article.

Microsoft’s current Windows troubleshooting guidance recommends re-registering the specific package where possible rather than blindly re-registering everything.

For example, for Calculator:

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

Run this from PowerShell in the affected user’s context.

Microsoft specifically warns that using an elevated PowerShell window can register the application to the administrator account rather than the user you are actually trying to fix.

That detail is easy to miss.

Step 9: Re-register Microsoft Store

If Microsoft Store itself is the package that appears damaged, first check whether the package exists:

Get-AppxPackage *Microsoft.WindowsStore* -AllUsers

If Windows returns Microsoft Store package details, Microsoft’s current guidance allows the Store to be registered for the affected user using:

Add-AppxPackage -RegisterByFamilyName -MainPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Again, Microsoft says do not use elevated PowerShell unless you intentionally want the package registered for the administrator user.

Restart Windows and test the Store.

Do Not Uninstall Microsoft Store

This deserves a prominent warning.

You will find scripts online promising to:

remove Store completely and reinstall it from scratch.

Microsoft’s current guidance says:

removing/uninstalling Microsoft Store is not supported.

That means I would avoid commands such as:

Remove-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore

as routine troubleshooting.

Repair, reset and supported re-registration are safer.

Avoid Re-registering Every App as Step One

Another popular command is effectively:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | ... Add-AppxPackage ...

which attempts to re-register a huge number of Windows packages.

This sometimes appears in old troubleshooting guides as the universal Store fix.

I would not recommend it as an early step.

Why?

Because if:

one app is broken

you are altering:

dozens or hundreds of packages.

That can create:

• unnecessary errors
• confusing PowerShell output
• problems with provisioned/system packages

Target the affected package first.

Step 10: Check Whether the Package Is Actually Present

Suppose:

Get-AppxPackage *calculator*

returns nothing.

That may mean the application is not registered for your user.

Microsoft recommends checking all users:

Get-AppxPackage *calculator* -AllUsers

If package information appears, the files may still exist on the computer even though your account is not registered correctly.

At that point the package can potentially be registered for your user without reinstalling the entire operating system.

Step 11: Try winget for a Single App

Microsoft’s current Store/AppX troubleshooting guidance now explicitly suggests using WinGet for a single damaged application where appropriate.

For example, you can search:

winget search <application name>

and then install the appropriate official package.

This can be cleaner than performing broad Store surgery for one ordinary application.

Always verify the package publisher before installing.

Step 12: Repair Windows Components

If Store and multiple AppX applications remain broken, Windows itself may have damaged system files.

Open:

Terminal (Admin)

Run:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

After DISM completes:

sfc /scannow

Then restart Windows.

I would use this order:

DISM first → SFC second

because DISM repairs the Windows component store that SFC may rely on.

Step 13: Check the Exact Error Code

Do not ignore Store error codes.

Examples such as:

• 0x80073D02
• 0x80070422
• 0x80072F8F

can point towards very different problems.

For example:

• files currently in use
• disabled services
• connectivity/certificate/time issues

Record the exact error.

Search Microsoft documentation for that specific code rather than applying every Store fix you can find.

If Downloads Are Stuck on Pending

Try this sequence:

1. Cancel unnecessary queued downloads.
2. Restart Microsoft Store.
3. Run wsreset.exe.
4. Check Windows Update.
5. Restart Windows.
6. Retry one app.

If everything immediately becomes stuck again, investigate the Store/Windows servicing path rather than continually pressing Resume.

If Only Updates Fail but New Apps Install

That points in a slightly different direction.

Check:

Microsoft Store > Library > Get updates

Then identify whether:

• every update fails
• one specific application fails

If only one app repeatedly fails, repair/reset or reinstall that application rather than resetting the whole Store.

Business PCs: Check Policy Before “Fixing” Anything

Microsoft Store may be deliberately managed.

A company may control:

• Store access
• permitted applications
• Winget
• Microsoft Store source
• application deployment

through:

• Microsoft Intune
• Group Policy
• AppLocker
• Windows Defender Application Control

If users cannot install an application but IT can deploy it centrally, the device may be functioning exactly as designed.

Do not treat intentional application-control policy as corruption.

Don't Disable Security Controls to Make the Store Work

Avoid permanently disabling:

• Microsoft Defender
• firewall
• application control
• organisational proxy

just because an app installation fails.

If temporarily testing a security component genuinely proves it is involved, correct the policy or configuration.

Do not leave protection disabled.

A Useful Example

Suppose:

Microsoft Store opens

Photos updates normally

Calculator fails every time

Start with:

Calculator > Repair

then:

Calculator > Reset

then targeted:

Get-AppxPackage *calculator*

and re-registration if required.

Do not immediately:

• reset Windows Update
• re-register every AppX package
• reinstall Windows

The evidence points towards one application.

Another Example

Suppose:

• Microsoft Store will not open
• Calculator will not launch
• Photos fails
• Snipping Tool fails
• Windows Update recently failed

Now the problem looks wider.

Work through:

Store cache → Repair/Reset → Windows Update → Store registration → DISM/SFC

That is a much more appropriate escalation.

The Best Troubleshooting Order

If Microsoft Store apps will not install or update:

1. Determine whether one app or everything is affected.
2. Check internet, date/time and available disk space.
3. Sign out/in if the Store account is involved.
4. Run wsreset.exe.
5. Repair Microsoft Store.
6. Reset Microsoft Store.
7. Check Windows Update.
8. Repair/reset the individual app if only one is affected.
9. Re-register the specific affected package.
10. Re-register Microsoft Store only if the Store package itself is broken.
11. Use WinGet where appropriate for an individual app.
12. Run DISM then SFC if Windows components appear damaged.
13. Investigate exact error codes if the failure persists.
14. On managed PCs, check policy before changing anything.

The key principle is:

Fix the smallest broken layer first.

How Hamilton Group Can Help

Microsoft Store problems can be as simple as a corrupt cache or as broad as damaged Windows servicing.

Hamilton Group can help diagnose:

• Microsoft Store
• Windows 11 applications
• AppX/MSIX packages
• Windows Update
• WinGet
• PowerShell
• application deployment
• Microsoft Intune
• Windows servicing
• business application restrictions

For business environments, we can also determine whether an application genuinely failed or whether Microsoft Store access is intentionally controlled by company policy.

Visit hgmssp.com or call 0330 043 0069.

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Drupal-ready blog summary

I would replace the existing article with this version. The most important correction is the PowerShell guidance: Microsoft’s current 2026 troubleshooting documentation says package registration for the affected user should normally be performed in that user’s context rather than an elevated administrator session, and fully uninstalling Microsoft Store is explicitly unsupported.