Cannot install on external drive Xbox App (Game Pass) for PC

Hello, My name is Jesse. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

Format the drive to NTFS and then try again. Microsoft store games don't download to ExFat drives

Hi RocketDRAG0N,

I am sorry to hear you are having issues changing your install on your Xbox app for PC.

You will need to change the format of your external drive to NTFS in order to use it to store your games. Here is support article to help format to NTFS. How to format a USB flash drive or external storage device to NTFS on Windows | Xbox Support

I also have to ask if you have checked to make sure your PC is up to date

• Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and then select Check for updates. If updates are available, install them.
  

Check if you need to fix any drivers use this article Update drivers in Windows (microsoft.com)

Hi !

My external hard drive is NTFS, done all the updates.

Recognizes the external drive in Settings and I put that drive to default.

The moment I click install, it doesnt allow me to change from C:

Help pls

... I suspect the "problem" might be that my Windows 10 system resides on an external hard disk which somehow messes up the installation process for "Administrator approval required for installation" games.

I have similar issues with apps and external storage.

It seems that for whatever reason, external drives aren't "trusted" as much as an internal system drive.

How is the external drive connected? Via USB, or is it an external SATA connector? You might coax the system into believing it's an internal drive, if you use an external SATA connector.

If you actually managed to install Windows on an USB drive (and it's not an official Windows To Go install), that might really be the problem.

The setup is an iMac 2019 with external Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive with Windows 10 Pro installed on it specifically for gaming needs. The problem with Xbox Games Pass for PC is the first (serious, mysterious) problem I have with this setup. Steam, Epic, GoG
- every other online gaming store works as it should and I can play pretty much any game I want, except for the ones available on the Games Pass for PC. I find it somewhat ironic.

installing any microsoft game on pc has to be done on the pc it is to be played on, you cannot transfer the game, same if you reset the pc you would have to download it again.

Microsoft went a different route with their games on pc compared to steam or epic.

they place the games in an encrypted folder and cannot be moved.

if you dont have a lot of internal space you would need to connect the external hdd, go to settings, storage - choose where items are saved to and then change where apps are installed to and choose the external drive, it will then creat several encrypted
folders.