Microsoft Store (24H2)

Microsoft Store

The Microsoft Store in Windows 11 helps you find, download, and buy apps, games, and digital movies and TV shows.

Get to know the Microsoft Store
The Microsoft Store--which is often simply referred to as the Store or the Store app--has been significantly updated with a refreshed user experience for Windows 11. A navigation bar on the left provides top-level access to various content types and your personal library of previously downloaded and purchased content.

Understand the top-level views
Most of the items in the navigation bar navigate you to a top-level view when selected. And while most of them seem obvious, a few require a brief explanation.

They are:

Home. This item displays the Microsoft Store home page, which is the default view when you first run the app. There are no surprises here: This view promotes content in the Store dynamically, so the presentation and content selections you see will change from time-to-time. Generally speaking, you can expect an animated carousel of promotions at the top and then various sections below promoting apps, games, movies, and other content.

Apps. This, too, will be immediately familiar and obvious. As with the Home view, the Apps view presentation and content selections change dynamically, and you will often find content blocks advertising apps that are currently on sale.

Gaming. The Microsoft Store lets you browse three game libraries, and two of them are available in the Gaming view: Standalone games--some paid, some free, and some free with in-app purchases--and Game Pass titles that are available for those with PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions.

You can learn more about PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in the Xbox App chapter.
Arcade. This view lets you browse game titles in a third game library, a selection of free games that don't need to be downloaded or installed. To play one of these games, mouse-over it in the Arcade view and then click "Play now" in the expanded view that appears. (You can also click this item and then choose "Play now in the landing page that appears when you do so.) Microsoft Store opens a new resizable window with the game, ready to go.

Entertainment. Microsoft sells and rents movies, and sells TV show seasons and standalone episodes, via the Store, and you can find this content in the Entertainment view. As with the other top-level views, this is dynamic and there are often sales to peruse.

Whether you should buy video content from Microsoft is a matter worth debating, given the company's erratic and unreliable history with entertainment content. But renting is certainly safe enough, as these transactions are for a one-time viewing only.
This chapter focuses solely on apps and games, but Microsoft also provides a Movies & TV app so you can view video ("Entertainment") content that you downloaded or purchased from the Microsoft Store. This app is included with Windows 11...