Microsoft Store Not Working on Windows 10? Fix-It With These Solutions

Microsoft Store (formerly Windows Store) is Microsoft’s distribution platform to serve Windows platform apps on Windows 10. It gives you access to a broad catalog of content spread across different categories, such as music, video, apps, games, and more.

However, despite being such a significant component of the operating system, the Store is plagued with various kinds of bugs and issues — to a point where sometimes it becomes inaccessible.

If the Microsoft Store app isn’t working properly on your Windows 10 PC, there are some solutions you can use.

Microsoft Store Issue Fixes on Windows 10

Generally speaking, the most common Microsoft Store issues you would run into can arise due to one or more of the following factors: faulty network setting, async date and time, overly aggressive caching, pending system updates, or broken proxy settings.

However, in most cases, these Microsoft Store issues can be resolved with the help of certain fixes. The following is a list of such fixes to help you navigate your way through these problems.

1. Primitive Fixes

Microsoft Store issues on Windows 10 can sometimes be caused due to basic underlying problems like incorrect date and time setting, poorly configured DNS server, outdated version of the operating system, or even a bad internet connection.

So if you start experiencing issues on your system where the Store refuses to load/connect to the internet, you must first rule out the above factors as potential causes for your problem. To do this, follow the following primitive fixes to try and fix the Windows Store app on your PC.

i. Check Your Connection

Your first step should be to make sure your network (LAN or Wi-Fi) is working properly. You can do this in one of the following ways.

1. Visit a website on your browser.
2. Run a speed test using a speed test app.
3. Ping an address/website via the command line using the ping command.
   Eg: ping 142.250.183.20
ping google.com.

ii. Set Computer’s Date and Time

Microsoft Store often encounters connectivity issues due to incorrect date and time settings. So if you are facing loading/connectivity issues on your machine, you should first verify if it is set to the correct date and time. If it is not, follow the below steps to sync your system with the present date and time.

1. Press Win + X keys and select Settings.
2. Click on Time & Language.
3. In the Date & time settings, hit the Sync now button to sync the system clock with the Windows Time server.
   
4. Toggle on the button for Set the time automatically, if it is not already, to avoid time syncing issues on your system in the future.

iii. Update Windows 10 to the Latest Version

Running an older version of the operating system and sitting on a pending Windows update is another issue that can sometimes interfere with the proper functioning of system components, including the Microsoft Store. To ensure this is not the cause of the problem in your case, use the following steps to update your system to the latest Windows 10 version.

1. Press Win + X keys and select Settings.
2. Click on Windows Update from the left-hand pane.
3. Hit the Check for updates button on the right window to check for any available updates. If an update is available, it will start downloading automatically, and you can then install it on your system.

iv. Change User Account Control Settings

Changing the settings of your User Account Control account can fix the 0x8000ffff error code when opening the Microsoft Store. In order to accomplish this, follow the steps below:

• Go to the Control Panel
• Select User Accounts then Change User Account Control settings
• The slider should be in the Recommended position here. Click OK to accept.

2. Change DNS Address

If the primitive fixes do not resolve your Windows Store issues, you can move on to other solutions, like changing your network’s DNS settings, for instance. DNS, which is kind of like a phonebook of the internet, holds the address of every (indexed) website on the web, and a DNS server helps resolve such requests to make internet browsing effortlessly quick.

On some occasions, the ISP-supplied DNS server used by your network can be the reason behind your inaccessible Microsoft Store. To deal with this, you can change your network’s DNS setting. Below are the steps to help you do this.

1. Press Win + X keys and select Settings.
2. Click on Network & Internet.
3. Select the connection type (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) for which you want to alter the DNS settings from the left-hand pane and tap on Change adapter settings in the right window.
4. On the Network Connections window, right-click on the network adapter you want to modify and select Properties.
5. Click on the Networking tab, and from the items listed under This connection uses the following items, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) or Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and click Properties.
   
6. Tap Advanced on the next window.
   
7. On the Advanced TCP/IP Settings, click on the DNS tab.
   
8. Click Add… and enter the DNS server address that you want your network to use.
9. Hit the Add button and click OK.

(You can set your network to use any DNS server you want. Some of the preferred DNS servers include Google Public DNS [8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4], Cloudflare DNS [1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1], and OpenDNS [208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220]).

3. Disable Proxy

Besides DNS, another element that can make the Microsoft Store inaccessible on your PC sometimes is the proxy server, which is basically an intermediary in the client-server architecture that translates traffic between both parties.

If you have enabled proxy on your Windows 10 PC, knowingly or otherwise, you should disable it and then attempt to access the Store again. You can disable proxy on your system using the steps below:

1. Press Win + X keys and select Settings.
2. Choose Network & Internet.
3. Select Proxy from the left-hand pane.
4. On the right window, scroll down to the Manual proxy setup and toggle off the option for Use a proxy server.
   

4. Clear Microsoft Store Cache

For all those times when the Microsoft Store malfunctions while downloading and updating apps now and then, bad caching is one of the factors you should address. A possible fix to go about this is to reset Microsoft Store and clear the Windows Store cache.

There are two ways to do this: you can either use the GUI approach or put the CLI to use for a faster operation.

Follow the steps below if you prefer the GUI method:

1. Press Win + X keys and select Settings.
2. Choose Apps.
3. On Apps & features settings, scroll down to locate Microsoft Store.
4. Click on Microsoft Store and tap Advanced options.
   
5. Scroll down to the bottom and tap on the Reset button. When prompted, hit Reset.
   

Alternatively, if you wish to save yourself some extra steps, you can reset the Store cache using the Command Prompt. To do this:

1. Press Start and search cmd.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
3. In the User Account Control window, hit Yes.
4. Type wsreset.exe in the Command Prompt window and hit Enter.

Windows will now automatically reset the Microsoft Store cache and launch it.

5. Troubleshoot With Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter

If the fixes listed so far do not work and you are still facing problems with Microsoft Store, it is time to use the Windows 10 troubleshooter to identify and fix the problem. Follow the steps below to use the troubleshooter:

1. Press Win + X keys and select Settings.
2. Choose Update & Security.
3. Select Troubleshoot from the left-hand pane and click on Additional troubleshooters.
   
4. Scroll down and tap on Windows Store Apps.
   
5. Click on the Run the troubleshooter button.

Once done, the troubleshooter will start scanning your system for problems. If it finds one, it will attempt the resolution itself. Alternatively, in other instances, it will present you with the steps so you can fix the problem yourself.

6. Re-register Microsoft Store

Lastly, if none of the above fixes help, your last resort is to re-register the Microsoft Store app to reset it to its default state. For this, you will need to use PowerShell. Below are the steps to re-register Microsoft Store using PowerShell:

1. Hit Start and search for powershell.
2. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.
3. In the User Account Control prompt, hit Yes.
4. Enter the following PowerShell command into the PowerShell window and hit Enter
   "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}

At times, the issue might be with your user account. So a simple way to fix the Microsoft store issues can be to create a new user account without adding a Microsoft account. After creating the new account, switch to it and see if the issues persist.

Restoring Microsoft Store Functionality

The above fixes should help you fix the Microsoft Store issues on your Windows 10 PC and restore its functionality back to normal. Most of these fixes are taken from various forums, including Microsoft’s own community, and have proven to help many users.

So unless your system has some really obscure problem, these fixes will usually resolve any issues you have with Microsoft Store.