Locating Installed Games on the Xbox App

Hi Samantha!

Have you already changed your install location through the Xbox app?

Open your Xbox app > Settings > General. Set your location to D drive where you want to install your new games

Ill have to bookmark this since I did the unthinkable and just formatted my 4TB Game drive and reinstalled everything lol At the very least, there is a somewhat "work around" but from the looks of it, next time, I wont need to format anything. Thanks!

Hello

There isn't a workaround as unfortunately the WindowsApps folder encryption does not pass over to a fresh Windows 10 install. You'll need to take over permission of the folder, remove it and download the games again.

WindowsApps folder can be found in the root directory along with two other folders 'WpSystem' and WUDownloadCache. So for example, if your drive is D:\ it will be located in D:\WindowsApps. This folder is not hidden as it is on the C:\ drive, but it is still encrypted and protected.

As you've installed Windows 10 again from scratch, your previous WindowsApps folder will no longer be accessible and Windows 10 will not be able to see any games installed to the folder.

Please follow this guide to help you delete your current WindowsApps folder. Once done you will also need to the delete the previously mentioned 'WpSystem' and 'WUDownloadCache' folders.



Once your old folder is deleted you should be able to change the drive where Apps are installed to in Windows 10 to the previos drive. Doing this will create a new WindowsApps folder on that drive.



Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks for replying The Xbox app on PC installs games to the C: drive by default.
Although you can change the default installation location in the app's settings, some users have also told me that the app still returns to the C: drive by default. This could be a bug or a problem with the app.

Here is a link to change location:
https://support.xbox.com/help/games-apps/game-setup-and-play/game-installation-issues-on-PC

Hello, alexvor20. Thanks for reaching out! My name is Lucas, and I'm an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user just like you. I'll be happy to assist you today.

Since you think the install location of the games may be impacting their launch (and reading your issue I also think it), then you can try to change the default location where Xbox App install your games.

To specify where to download and install Xbox games on Xbox App, use these steps:

Open Xbox app.

Click the profile menu in the top-right and select the Settings options.

Click on General.

(Optional) Under the “Game install options” section, select the drive to install games by default.

Click the Change folder option.

Select the new folder location to store Xbox games.

Click the Select Folder button.

After you complete the steps, the game files will be stored in the new folder location.

The install location of apps and games that you download from Microsoft Store is C:\Program Files\WindowsApps. So change your Xbox App folder to this path, uninstall your games, install them again on this folder and see if you can run your games.