How to Publish Your App on the Microsoft Store in 2026 (Step-by-Step Guide)

I spent more time than I’d like to admit figuring out how to publish my first Windows app on the Microsoft Store. The official documentation is technically accurate but scattered across dozens of pages, and the process has changed significantly over the past year. There are new account types, a free registration model, new packaging requirements, and a redesigned Partner Center that trips people up if they’re following old tutorials.

This guide pulls everything together in the right order. By the end of it, you’ll know exactly what you need, what each step involves, and what to watch out for before you hit that submit button.

What You Need Before You Start

Before touching Partner Center or packaging tools, make sure you have the following ready:

• A completed Windows app (Win32, WinUI 3, WPF, WinForms, UWP, PWA, .NET MAUI, or Electron — all are supported)
• A Microsoft account (personal) or a work account via Microsoft Entra ID
• App icons in PNG format (at minimum a 300×300 Store logo)
• At least 4 screenshots of your app
• A short app description (up to 10,000 characters, but keep it focused)
• An age rating questionnaire completed (more on this below)

You do not need a paid certificate to publish MSIX apps to the Store. Microsoft re-signs your package automatically after certification.

Step 1: Create a Developer Account (Now Free)

As of 2026, publishing on the Microsoft Store is free for both individuals and companies — Microsoft removed the $99 registration fee for company developer accounts in May 2026, and individual developer registration has been free since late 2025.

To register:

1. Go to storedeveloper.microsoft.com and click Get started for free.
2. Choose your account type:
   • Individual — Sign in with a personal Microsoft account and complete identity verification using a government-issued ID and a selfie. The process is designed so you can go from sign-up to submission in minutes once verified.
   • Company — Sign in with your organization’s work account via Microsoft Entra ID. You’ll need to provide company details such as a D-U-N-S Number or business documents for verification.
3. Enter your Publisher Display Name — this is the name customers see in the Store next to your app.
4. Complete account verification. For companies, using a business-domain email address speeds up the process, while using a personal email domain may require additional verification steps.
5. Once verified, you’re taken directly to Partner Center — your dashboard for managing all app submissions.

Important: Your Publisher Display Name is permanent once set. Choose it carefully because it appears on every app you publish.

Step 2: Reserve Your App Name

Before you upload anything, reserve your app’s name in Partner Center. You can reserve a name up to three months before you’re ready to publish — it locks the name so no one else can claim it while you finish development.

Here’s how:

1. In Partner Center, go to Apps and games and click New product.
2. Choose your app type — MSIX or PWA for packaged apps, or EXE/MSI for traditional installers.
3. Enter your app title and click Check availability.
4. If the name is available, click Reserve product name.

The name is held for you for three months. If you’re not ready to submit by then, you can extend the reservation.

Step 3: Package Your App

This is the step that causes the most confusion. The packaging format you use depends on your app type.

Option A: MSIX Package (Recommended)

MSIX is the modern Windows packaging format. It provides clean installation, automatic updates, and the smoothest Store experience. If you’re publishing an MSIX package to the Microsoft Store, you don’t need to sign it yourself — Microsoft re-signs your package automatically as part of the certification process.

If you’re using Visual Studio:

1. Right-click your project in Solution Explorer and select Publish (or Package depending on your project type).
2. Choose Microsoft Store as the target.
3. Follow the wizard to set your version number, target architectures (x64, x86, ARM64), and other options.
4. Visual Studio generates a .msixupload file — this is what you upload to Partner Center.

WinUI 3 note: WinUI 3 apps created with Windows App SDK project templates are already packaged as MSIX by default. When you build the solution in Release mode, the output is an .msix or .msixbundle file ready for Store submission.

WPF or WinForms note: These project types don’t produce MSIX by default. You need to add a Windows Application Packaging Project to your solution in Visual Studio, set it as the startup project, and build from there.

Option B: EXE or MSI Installer (Win32 Apps)

Microsoft Store has allowed unpackaged applications since 2021. To publish, you share a link to your installer hosted at a stable URL — the binary at that URL must remain unchanged after submission.

Requirements for EXE/MSI submissions:

• Must be a .msi or .exe installer
• Must be signed with a certificate chaining to a CA in the Microsoft Trusted Root Program. Self-signed certificates are not acceptable for this path.
• The installer must silently handle updates without requiring user intervention
• The hosted URL must remain stable and unchanged after you submit it

For code signing, Azure Artifact Signing (formerly Trusted Signing) costs approximately $9.99/month, requires no hardware token, and integrates with CI/CD pipelines — making it the most practical option for most developers.

Option C: Progressive Web App (PWA)

If your app is a web app, you can submit it as a PWA directly from its URL. Partner Center will guide you through the process after you select the PWA app type. No packaging file is required.

Step 4: Create Your Submission in Partner Center

Once your package is ready and your name is reserved, you start the formal submission process.

In Partner Center, go to your app and click Start submission. You’ll work through several sections:

Pricing and Availability

Set whether your app is:

• Free — available to everyone at no cost
• Paid — set a price; Microsoft takes a revenue share (15% for apps earning under $1M/year, 12% above that)
• Free with in-app purchases — free to download, paid features inside
• Free trial — time-limited or feature-limited trial before purchase

You also choose which markets to publish to. By default, all supported markets are selected. You can exclude specific countries if needed (for legal, pricing, or content reasons).

Set your release date — either publish immediately after certification or schedule a specific date.

Properties

• Choose the most accurate category and subcategory for your app. This affects discoverability.
• List the system requirements (minimum and recommended RAM, storage, OS version).
• Add any keywords to help users find your app in search.

Age Ratings

You must complete a questionnaire that determines your app’s age rating for each region. The questionnaire covers content categories such as violence, language, substances, and adult themes — and generates regional ratings automatically based on your answers.

Answer honestly. If your app contains mature content and you rate it incorrectly, it can fail certification or be removed after publishing.

Packages

Upload your .msixupload file (for MSIX apps) or your installer URL (for EXE/MSI apps).

For MSIX submissions, your packages don’t need to be signed with a certificate from a trusted CA — Microsoft automatically re-signs them during the publishing process after your app passes certification.

For multiple architectures, you can upload an .msixbundle that contains packages for x64, x86, and ARM64 together. Windows will deliver the right version to each user’s device automatically.

Store Listings

This is the public-facing page users see before downloading your app. Take it seriously — it directly affects your conversion rate.

Fill in:

• Description — Explain clearly what your app does and who it’s for. Lead with the most important benefits. Keep paragraphs short.
• What’s new — For updates, describe the changes in this version.
• Screenshots — At minimum, 4 screenshots showing the main features. Actual app screenshots convert better than designed marketing images.
• Store logo — Required. At least 300×300 PNG. This appears in search results, recommendations, and the Store homepage.
• Trailer video — Optional but recommended. A 30–60 second demo video significantly increases downloads for most app categories.
• Search terms — Up to 7 keywords that aren’t already in your title. These help users find your app through search.

Write a different version of your Store listing for each language you want to support. The English listing is required; all others are optional but boost discoverability in those markets.

Step 5: Submit for Certification

Once every section of your submission is filled in and marked complete, the Submit for certification button becomes active on the Application overview page.

Click it. Your submission enters the certification queue.

What Happens During Certification

Microsoft’s certification process reviews your app for policy compliance, tests its technical behavior, and digitally signs all MSIX/AppX packages with a Microsoft certificate to ensure customers can trust and install your app without security warnings.

The certification process checks for:

• Policy violations (prohibited content, misleading descriptions, privacy issues)
• Technical failures (crashes, install errors, incompatible packages)
• Metadata accuracy (does the app do what the listing claims?)
• Age rating accuracy

Certification typically takes a few business days for new apps. Updates to existing apps usually process faster.

You’ll receive email notifications as your submission moves through each stage:

1. Pre-processing — Package validation checks
2. Security testing — Malware and policy scan
3. Technical certification — Functional testing
4. Content review — Store listing review
5. Publishing — Going live

If Your App Fails Certification

You’ll receive a report explaining exactly what failed and why. Common reasons include:

• App crashes on launch or during testing
• Misleading Store listing content
• Missing privacy policy URL (required if your app collects any data)
• Age rating inconsistency
• Package architecture mismatch

Fix the issues, update your package or listing, and resubmit. There’s no limit on resubmissions.

Step 6: After Your App Goes Live

Once the certification process completes, the publishing phase takes a few minutes and customers can typically see the app’s listing within 15 minutes, depending on their location.

After your app is live:

Monitor Performance in Partner Center

Partner Center provides analytics on:

• Acquisitions — Downloads over time, by market, by device
• Usage — Active users, session length, retention
• Ratings and reviews — Customer feedback per market
• Health — Crash rates and error reports
• Revenue — Earnings breakdown if your app is paid

Check these regularly. Crash reports are especially valuable — they show you real-world failures that might not appear in your own testing.

Respond to Reviews

Users can leave ratings and reviews on your Store listing. Responding to reviews (especially critical ones) builds trust with potential new users who read them before downloading.

Update Your App

When you have a new version ready:

1. Go to your app in Partner Center and click Start update.
2. Upload the new package with an incremented version number.
3. Update the What’s new section with a changelog.
4. Submit for certification.

Updates go through the same certification process as the initial submission but typically complete faster. When you install an app from the Microsoft Store, it updates automatically, so users always receive the latest version without needing to do anything.

App Types Supported on the Microsoft Store in 2026

One of the biggest improvements Microsoft has made over the past few years is expanding which app types can be published. You no longer need to build a UWP app to get on the Store.

Developers can publish a wide range of app types including Win32 (.NET WPF and WinForms), UWP, PWA, .NET MAUI, and Electron apps without modifying existing code.

Here’s a quick reference:

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using a personal email for your company account. Company accounts verified with a personal email domain require extra manual review. Use a business-domain email ([email protected]) to speed things up.

Uploading a debug build instead of a release build. Always package and submit Release builds. Debug builds often have different behaviors, larger file sizes, and sometimes contain test code that fails certification.

Skipping the privacy policy. If your app collects any personal data — including usage analytics, crash reports, or any account information — you are required to link to a privacy policy. Missing this is one of the most common reasons for certification failure.

Setting the wrong age rating. If your app has features that place it in a mature content category and you rate it lower, it will fail content review. The questionnaire takes five minutes; answer it carefully.

Not testing on a clean machine. Always test your packaged app on a device that doesn’t already have your development environment installed. Dependencies that exist on your dev machine might be missing on a fresh Windows install.

Using a non-unique Publisher Display Name. If the name you want is already taken, you’ll find out during account setup. Have a backup name ready.

FAQ: Publishing on the Microsoft Store in 2026

Q: Is it free to publish apps on the Microsoft Store? Yes, as of 2026. Both individual and company developer accounts are now free to register. Microsoft removed the $99 company fee in May 2026, having already made individual accounts free in 2025.

Q: How long does it take for an app to be approved? Certification typically takes a few business days for new app submissions. Updates to existing apps usually process faster. If your app fails certification, fixing issues and resubmitting typically takes less time than the original submission.

Q: Can I publish a regular desktop EXE on the Microsoft Store? Yes. Microsoft Store has supported unpackaged applications since 2021. You submit a link to your installer hosted at a stable URL, and it must be a .msi or .exe file. The installer must be signed with a trusted code signing certificate.

Q: Does my app need to be exclusive to the Microsoft Store? No. You can distribute your app through the Store and through your own website simultaneously. The Store doesn’t require exclusivity.

Q: What percentage does Microsoft take from paid app sales? Microsoft takes 15% of revenue for apps earning under $1 million per year, and 12% above that threshold. There are no fees for free apps.

Q: Can I set my app to only be available in specific countries? Yes. During the Pricing and Availability section of your submission, you can choose exactly which markets to publish to and set different prices per region.

Q: What happens if a user reports my app after it’s published? Microsoft can investigate user reports and remove or delist apps that violate Store policies. You’ll receive a notification if action is taken, and there’s an appeals process if you believe the decision was incorrect.

Q: Can I publish the same app under multiple accounts? No. Each unique app can only be published under one developer account. If you want to transfer ownership of an app, there’s a formal transfer process in Partner Center.

Final Thoughts

Publishing on the Microsoft Store in 2026 is more accessible than it’s ever been. The registration is free, the supported app types cover virtually every Windows development framework, and the certification process — while strict — is documented well enough that first-time submissions succeed more often than they fail when developers prepare properly.

The most important thing you can do before submitting is test your packaged app on a clean machine. Most certification failures come down to something that works on your development environment but breaks on a fresh Windows install. Catch that before Microsoft does, and the rest of the process is straightforward.

Once your app is live, treat Partner Center as part of your regular workflow. Review your analytics, respond to user feedback, and push updates consistently. The Store rewards apps with good ratings and active maintenance with better placement in search and recommendations.