What is the Windows Store?

The Windows Store is a digital platform that allows for the distribution of applications. This platform offers both free and paid. Users use the Window Store to install applications that are of interest to them.

Can you disable the Windows Store?

Windows Store can be disabled via group policy to prevent users from installing applications that are not approved. To disable the Windows Store the “Turn off the Store application” group policy has to be enabled. This will prevent users from accessing the Windows Store. However, it disables all access to the Windows Store.

Can an application update when the app store is disabled?

Disabling the Windows Store will leave the default applications or applications that were already installed on the system. The group policy explicitly says that disabling the Windows Store will disable the ability for installed applications to be updated. This could leave an application in a vulnerable state where it cannot receive updates.

Can you disable Windows Store Apps?

Some versions of Windows 10 ship with default applications installed from the Windows Store. These applications are available for users to execute. However, a group policy can be configured by an administrator to disable these applications from executing. An administrator needs to configure the “Disable all apps from Microsoft Store” setting to prevent all applications installed from the Windows Store from running. To disable applications this configuration option must be set to Disabled. To enable applications this option has to be configured to Enabled. Given the wording of the setting, this logic may seem backward when compared to other group policy settings.

What happens when apps are disabled?

Disabling Windows Store applications leaves the application installed, but the application is unable to run. This means that the application will remain on the system, (Read more...)