Installing a Windows Store application on a Windows device

Use sideloading to install Windows Store apps through Application Center.

Before you begin

You must check that your configuration satisfies the application sideloading prerequisites that are described in Prepare to Sideload Apps.

The device user needs administrator rights on the device to execute the Application Center client.

About this task

Installing APPX packages through Application Center is done by a process called sideloading. As part of Windows 8.1 Update, sideloading is enabled for all Windows 8.1 Pro devices that are part of an Active Directory domain, which matches the current behavior of Windows 8.1 Enterprise. If you use either of those product versions and the device is part of an Active Directory domain, you have no concerns about sideloading keys or activating sideloading.

When you develop a Windows Store application, Microsoft Visual Studio automatically generates a self-signed certificate and uses it to code sign the application package. To be able to install the application later by using Application Center, you must import this certificate into the "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" store of the "Local Machine". Importing the certificate is a manual procedure.

Note: Manual installation of a certificate is only required for the development phase, because APPX code signing relies on a self-signed certificate generated by Microsoft Visual Studio. In production, your APPX file must be signed by a genuine certificate purchased from a recognized root certificate authority.

Procedure

The first step of this procedure tells you how to install the certificate before you can install the application through Application Center.

  1. Import this certificate into the "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" store of the "Local Machine".
    1. After you have generated an APPX file by using Visual Studio, place this file in your file system. In the folder of the APPX file, you can see a certificate (.cer) file that contains the self-signed certificate that you must import.
      Figure 1. Certificate file in the application package folder
      The certificate file is in the same folder where the APPX file is located.
    2. To open the certificate, double-click the CER file.
    3. Click Install Certificate.
      Figure 2. General information about the certificate
      General details of the certificate to import.
    4. Select "Local Machine" and click Next.
      Figure 3. Specifying the local machine in the Certificate Import Wizard
      The first page of the Certificate Import Wizard where you specify Local Machine.
    5. Select "Place all certificate in the following store" and then browse to select "Trusted Root Certification Authorites".
      Figure 4. Placing the certificate in "Trusted Root Certification Authorities"
      The second page of the Certificate Import Wizard where you specify the location of certificates.
    6. Click Next and then Finish. The successful import of the certificate should be confirmed.

The following steps describe how to perform the installation of a Windows Store application on a Windows device by using Application Center.

  1. Log in to the Application Center mobile client for Windows Store applications.
  2. Select the application that you want to install to access its details.
    Figure 5. Details view for installing a Windows Store app
    The details page that describes a Windows Store app to be installed.
  3. To install the application, tap Install. If the application is already installed and other versions are available, you can decide to update to a higher version or to revert to a lower version.
Parent topic: The mobile client