Windows 11 Microsoft Store Can Now Update More Win32 Apps

A new Microsoft Store update that’s now rolling out to all Windows Insiders should improve the update experience for Win32 apps on the Store that use in-app update mechanisms. With this new Store update, these apps can now be updated right from the Microsoft Store, just like the majority of the apps on the digital storefront.

“For Win32 apps that are “provided and updated” by their publishers, the Microsoft Store will now support updating directly in the Store,” the Windows Insider team explained. “Previously, these apps could only be updated outside of the Microsoft Store.”

Support for Win32 apps on the Microsoft Store is quite recent, and before that happened, all apps on the platform had to be updated via the Microsoft Store. Sure, this is how mobile app stores work, but to attract more developers on its Store, Microsoft also needed to get Win32 apps on board. To do so, however, the company couldn’t really force developers to modify their apps and the existing update systems they had.

I don’t have a precise list of Win32 apps on the Store that still use their own update mechanisms, but there are several high-profile examples: Let’s cite OBS Studio, CapCut, Canva, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, VLC Media Player, Discord, and the Epic Games Store, to name a few.

Again, this Store update is rolling out today to Windows Insiders across all channels. Microsoft also released today the Windows 11 Canary build 27758, which only includes minor bug fixes.