Xbox App on PC does not recognize prior installations?

Yes! It really shouldn't matter which directory though, that's just bad implementation, more so when you can pick any location you want while installing.

Thanks anyways. 107gb is just far too much to dl all over again.

Hello, Capt_. Thanks for reaching out. I'm Lucas, an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user just like you. I'll be glad to help you out.

Usually when this happens, when you try to "install" the game again, it will download and install in just a few seconds because of the prior installation. When you actually click to install it the Xbox app will "find" the prior installation and the installation progress will go up very quickly. Have you tried to click on install to see how it goes?

Just make sure the game installation drive is the same on the Xbox app.

Let me know how it goes and feel free to ask back any question.

Did you select the same drive and folder to install it?

I believe that since you formatted your PC and reinstalled Windows, the game license could have been lost. The game license is not saved on the game folder. This is why you will need to download and install a game from the beginning even if you copy/paste the game folder from another computer to your own computer.

Initially I thought that since the game was installed on another HD/partition, the game license could also have been saved there. But now I think it was probably saved on the partition that Windows was installed (the one you formatted), since it is linked to Windows native apps (Microsoft store and the Xbox app). That's why you are having this behavior from the Xbox app.

I'm sorry about this my friend.

Does not work. Its downloading the entire game right now.