gaining access to apps in WindowsApps folder

yky378 · 20 Aug 2022

I installed some apps and they were saved in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps. Now, I need to run these apps in another account which is a member of administrators. Although I was able to create shortcuts to the apps, I couldn't launch the apps. Attempts to launch the apps resulted in error messages saying I didn't have the permissions to access the items.

I checked online and found that I could take the ownership of the folder WindowsApps. I don't want to do that. I believe there must be some other ways of accessing the folder because notepad.exe is also in the folder and I'm able to open .txt files without problems.

So, how do I gain access to WindowsApps, or more importantly, to the apps I installed without changing ownership?

Callender · 20 Aug 2022

Don't take ownership or change permissions on anything in that folder. Or at least not without knowing how to revert the changes.

Anyway to run apps in another user account, well you cannot using usual methods.

Here's a way of doing it but I have not tested this.

How to share your Windows Store apps with other user accounts on your PC

dalchina · 21 Aug 2022

You could boot Windows from a live boot disk. (Google/search if unsure what that is or how to create one - free).
That gives you a familar Windows desktop environment.

No permissions issues then apply as your installed Windows isn't running.

Or you could boot to a command prompt if comfortable with that..

You can view the folder and its contents immediately using e.g. Wiztree (free)