Can’t uninstall or update your Microsoft Store apps? Fortunately, the weird Windows 10 bug has just been fixed
- Microsoft Store apps cannot be updated or deleted due to a bug
- Fortunately, Microsoft has now resolved the issue related to WinAppSDK
- The fix is in an optional update for Windows 10, so you might want to wait
Some Windows 10 users have encountered a strange bug where the operating system had trouble updating apps from the Microsoft Store, but this issue has now been resolved.
New reports that Windows 10 22H2 had a bug that prevented apps from the Microsoft Store from being updated – or uninstalled – in some cases, but a fix has now been implemented (as of November 21).
Microsoft explains that this was not a problem with Windows 10 itself, but rather with the latest version of WinAppSDK. Those who received version 1.6.2 on November 12 or later (which may have been installed by an app that requires WinAppSDK, as it will pick up the latest version) may have been affected by the bug.
Those who have seen the issue will have noticed that updates fail and an unhelpful error message (“Something happened on our end”) appears in the Microsoft Store download panel.
Microsoft clarified that “this issue is not caused by a monthly Windows security or preview update,” while informing users that the fix for this is in the new Windows 10 update, KB5046714, which has just been released.
Analysis: Something happened… or it didn’t
Please note that KB5046714 is an optional update for Windows 10, so it may contain some bugs itself. If you’re worried about installing a preview release, you can always wait for the full version of the patch, which will be available next month (on December 10th to be precise).
But in this case, if you’re affected by the Microsoft Store bug and you’re not getting updates for your software from the store, grabbing the optional patch might be worth the risk (you can find it under Windows Updates, as always) .
Elsewhere, KB5046714 provides some other fixes for issues, including a bug where dragging and dropping a file from a cloud provider’s folder (such as OneDrive) can cause that file to be moved instead of copied, as it should be by default. There is also an important fix for an issue where Windows 10 won’t activate after replacing the PC’s motherboard.
While you’re fixing bugs, Microsoft, you might also want to make some adjustments to that error message: “Something happened on our end” is not very helpful, and even nonsensical, really. The problem here is that an update can’t be applied, so basically the correct message should be “Something didn’t happen on our end”, namely the app patch that should have been applied. Or “Nothing happened on our end” perhaps?
How about a simple rephrasing of “Something went wrong on our end” – that fits better, right, Microsoft? That’s this month’s visit to ‘Pedantry Corner’, so stay tuned for December’s ever-so-exciting observation.