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[Guide] How to Reinstall All Default Built-in Apps in Windows 10

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In previous tutorials, we told you how to uninstall and remove all or some of built-in modern apps in Windows 10:

[Tip] How to Uninstall Modern Apps in Windows 10

[Guide] How to Remove All Built-in Apps in Windows 10

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If you removed some or all built-in apps in Windows 10 and now you want to restore them in your computer, this tutorial will help you.

Today in this tutorial, we’ll tell you how to reinstall built-in apps in Windows 10 using PowerShell program:

We have divided this tutorial in 2 parts:

  • PART 1: Reinstall a specific built-in app in Windows 10
  • PART 2: Reinstall all built-in apps in Windows 10

Now lets start the tutorial:

STEP 1:

As usual we’ll need to open PowerShell as Administrator to execute the required commands.

Open Start Menu and type powershell. It’ll automatically start searching for the program and will show PowerShell in search results. Now press Ctrl+Shift+Enter keys together to launch PowerShell as Administrator. Alternatively, you can right-click on PowerShell and select “Run as Administrator” option.

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Launch_PowerShell_Windows_10.png

PS: If you have replaced Command Prompt with PowerShell in WIN+X menu, you can directly launch it from there. [See this]

STEP 2:

Now you’ll need to execute commands in PowerShell as mentioned in following steps:

PART 1: Reinstall a Specific Built-in App in Windows 10

If you want to reinstall any specific app, you can use following command to restore that particular app:

Add-AppxPackage -register appxmanifest.xml_file_path -DisableDevelopmentMode

As you can see, the above mentioned command requires an essential parameter which is the full path of appxmanifest.xml file. Actually all modern apps contain this XML file in their program files folder and this XML file is required to restore the app.

All modern apps are stored in following folder:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps

This folder is hidden as well as restricted. Check this guide to learn more about this folder. This folder contains several sub-folders (with the same name as the app’s PackageFullName info) which contain required files of all modern apps. You’ll find one appxmanifest.XML file in all those folders.

1. So to restore an app, you’ll need to know the PackageFullName information of that app which can be found using following command:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers | Select Name, PackageFullName

Get_Installed_Apps_List_All_Users_Windows_10.png

Now select the PackageFullName information of your desired app and press Enter key to copy it to clipboard.

2. Now execute following command to restore that app:

Add-AppxPackage -register “C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PackageFullName\appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode

Replace PackageFullName term in above command with the copied PackageFullName information from step 1. Just press CTRL+V keys together to paste copied PackageFullName information.

Reinstall_Specific_App_Windows_10.png

That’s it. It’ll reinstall the app. If you receive any error message, ignore it. You may need to restart the computer.

PART 2: Reinstall All Built-in Apps in Windows 10

If you want, you can reinstall all built-in modern apps in a single step using following command:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register “$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode}

Reinstall_All_Apps_Windows_10.png

This command will take a few moments and will reinstall all built-in apps. If you receive any error message, ignore it. You may need to restart the computer to take effect.

If you face any problem in restoring apps in Windows 10, you can also try the Reset this PC feature of Windows 10 to restore Windows 10 to factory settings which will perform a clean installation of Windows 10 and will restore all bundled modern apps.

Check out following tutorial to learn how to use Reset this PC feature in Windows 10:

How to Perform Clean Installation of Windows 10 with Activation?

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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Comments

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  2. ^^ You can try Sideload apps feature.

    Open Settings app, click on “Update and security” and then click on “For developers” tab and activate the “Sideload apps” option.

  5. Hi,

    Perfect steps.

    If possible could you please help me with the ISO download link for Windows 7 HP and Professional OEM Copy?

    Regards
    Anoop

  8. I thought to reinstall Windows, but your article helped me. Thank you very much!

  9. Thanks much VG! Looked all over on how to do this without having to go to the MS Store, and this worked! Thanks again mate….

  10. Hello VG I have a .appxbundle,.appx file and when I try to install it by double click, it doesn’t work it says “You’ll need a new apps to open”. It work fine on win 10 1703, but now on win 10 1803 it doesn’t work anymore, is there a way to open .appx file.

  14. no i haven’t install all the apps yet i want to know which app is responsible for this so it’ll be easier for me to install only that specific app, since i don’t want to install some of the modern apps.

  17. ^^ Which apps did you uninstall? Did you use single script to uninstall all apps or did you remove selected apps?

  18. Well I use “winreducer” to a windows iso, i customize the iso – and remove many modern apps(Except Ms Store, Edge) and also deep clean – and then I install it.

  19. ^^ Sorry I can’t help. Since you permanently removed the apps and other stuff from the ISO, we can’t reinstall them. You’ll need to perform a clean install using real ISO without any alteration.

  22. be honest, you all used tweaking software on your systems? thats where all problems start – especially “tweaking”, Yes, you will have no choice but to re-install, My advice is simple – dont install/use “tweakers” or “registry cleaners” etc on your system!!!!!!!!!!! avoid that, and all will be well

  23. Hi VG, how are you?

    how can we update windows 10 Photo apps version by using powershell. I have two computer and both are showing different version one is on 2018(version : 2018.18011.15918.0) & another one 2019.

    Thanks!

  25. Hi VG, could you tell the benefit of removing part or all of Windows 10 built-in apps in terms of disk space or system performance gains? Thanks.

  26. ^^ Yes. Removing apps will free up disk space and will also improve performance as those apps will no longer run in background.

  27. ^^ Can you make a powershell script that remove the useless ms apps? I mean similar to Windows 10 Debloater script.

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