Xbox app installed worthless folders in my neat and tidy drive which I cannot delete.

Update:

I didn't notice this earlier, but it has done the exact same thing on ALL my drives.

I don't event use D: drive for any games, but there it is, the XboxGames folder and .GamingRoot file (alongside the other BS stuff)

Hi,

The WindowsApps folder is encrypted and this encryption is unique to the previous Windows install which means Xbox App can't see it.

To get back your 100+GB's you'll need to take ownership of the folder and delete it.

Please follow this guide to help you delete your old WindowsApps folder. Once done you should also delete 'WpSystem' and 'WUDownloadCache' folders. You only need to delete the WindowsApps folder on your other drive, the one on C:\ can be left as it is.



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

Thanks for the reply!

The game files are locked behind a folder on the external HDD called Windows Apps. I cannot access it, or copy this folder. If I try and use the external hard drive as my default location for installing apps on my desktop, it says I have to delete all contents
on the hard drive first. Unfortunately the links you gave havent helped

you can't restructure how microsoft windows store and xbox app install the games, the folders are encrypted, if you change this then the games become unplayable as its microsoft way of doing DRM.

you need to delete all the microsoft folders by taking ownership and changing to your user id so you can delete them, (i have done this many many times) then you can select the drive for storage again in windows and install gamepass games etc.

yes it messes with OCD but you can hide the folders so you don't see them except for the windows app folder.

https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/delete-access-windowsapps-folder.html

rinse and repeat steps in the link for each folder that you cannot delete.

I have already deleted them thinking i can re-structure the folders.

But now I need the xbox game pass app to re-create the folders that I deleted. They were on my drive D, so I never gave them a second thought and just rushed to delete them (thought it was safe to do so).

How did you re-create those folders on the alternative drive?

EDIT: I can already use my C Drive and can download the games easily. Only on D Drive i'm having trouble after deleting those folders.

None of the installed games in that folder appear in the actual Xbox app, as that is the main issue with deleting them, since the folder requires more administrative powers to delete the files from the folder, and I cannot delete or play them from the app either since they are not there