6

Yesterday, I purchased a game (The Outer Worlds) via the Microsoft Store. I began downloading and installing it via the UI. At the beginning of this process, I was informed that I'd need some relatively large amount of free space (about 24 GB). That was fine, I had 32 GB free on my C: drive, so I clicked OK and started downloading.

The download was very large and I was unable to finish it that night. I clicked "pause" and shut down my computer, expecting the download to resume when I re-opened the Microsoft Store UI (the same way that, say, Steam will resume an interrupted download). This didn't happen. Whoops!

Instead, I'm now prompted to install The Outer Worlds fresh, with no acknowledgement that I've already partially downloaded it. More worryingly, the amount of free space detected by Windows on my C: drive is now much lower.

I'm guessing that the space allocated for my first attempt at downloading the game is still reserved, but I've been unable to find any files or folders with names related to "outer worlds" or "private division" (the name of the game's publisher) in a search of my C: drive via Windows Explorer. It's also not available as an option to uninstall in Windows' "Add or Remove Programs" screen.

How can I free up this space that's reserved by a failed download from the Microsoft Store? Does it store its download files in a specific location that's accessible to me? Will any disk cleanup utilities take care of it for me?

Improve this question
0

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
8

Found the solution. Steps I used to fix this:

  1. Open the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder, which is where the Windows Store puts its downloads. The WindowsApps folder isn't permissioned to normal users, so this has to be done using some utility that's being run as administrator (either a command prompt window, or some other file manager like 7zip; h/t ManSamVampire for the 7zip suggestion). DO NOT assign ownership of the WindowsApps folder to your own user account to gain access to it, as doing so will cause major problems and can't be easily undone (h/t Ramhound's answer for this warning).
  2. Sort the subfolders inside WindowsApps by the date they were last modified; this will let you easily find the folders that have recently had new stuff put into them.
  3. In my case, the offending subfolder was called MSIXVC, which is apparently a type of installer used by the Windows Store. Inside, I had an anomalous 37GB file created last night with no file extension, called "8BBF2763-A1C6-4F1B-96CA-B79DD5FDA4EE". Given that this file was enormous, created at the right time, and in a subfolder suggesting it was an installer, I concluded that this was the droid I was looking for.
  4. From within your run-as-administrator utility, delete the offending file. I deleted the ginormous, bafflingly-named file from the MSIXVC folder, and lo and behold I had all my disk space back!

Now redownloading and installing Outer Worlds. This time I'll know better than to turn off my computer partway through.

Improve this answer
6
  • This answer does not really explain, how you were able to delete a folder within WindowApps, without changing the permissions on the folder. As somebody who apparently has the same folder that exists, it would actually be nice, to know how you delete the folder. Of course in my research I found that, addtional space is not actually being consumed, and it's simply a junction point.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Nov 11, 2019 at 5:27
  • @Ramhound I was able to delete the folder as normal through the UI within a run-as-administrator 7zip window. And that help page may be accurate for how the files are set up after a successful installation, but in my case (with an interrupted, failed installation), I didn't have enough space to install the game; then I deleted the folder; and then I did have enough space to install the game. I dunno what to call that other than the space being actually consumed.
    – A_S00
    Commented Nov 11, 2019 at 18:42
  • 2
    So you used 7-zip to delete the folder? Helpful information to have in the body of your answer
    – Ramhound
    Commented Nov 11, 2019 at 20:53
  • Sure, I thought it was clear after step 1 was "open it in something you can run as admin" that the subsequent steps were all happening within that same window, but I'll edit to be more explicit.
    – A_S00
    Commented Nov 12, 2019 at 1:47
  • 1
    OMG THIS should be the selected answer. I just spent two hours to figure out how to free up this damn space from "uninstalled" apps. This solution is simple, and it doesn't require to fiddle around with some obscure permissions. I owe you a beer, bro.
    – Morgan Courbet
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 21:33
5

Does it store its download files in a specific location that's accessible to me? Will any disk cleanup utilities take care of it for me?

Yes; Applications installed from the Windows Store are placed in the WindowsApps directory that exists within Program Files.

Changing the permissions on the WindowsApps directory will break any UWP application you have installed. Changing the permissions will cause more problems than it solves.

How can I free up this space that's reserved by a failed download from the Microsoft Store?

The following actions should be sufficient to solve your problem.

  1. Press Windows logo key + X and click Run.

  2. Type WSReset.exe in the empty space and hit ENTER

Source: Here

Improve this answer
5
  • There is really no need to change the permissions of the entire WindowsApps folder to be able to access it. The default permissions allow Administrators to have read-only access to the folder. You can use the dir command in an elevated command prompt (or an alternative file manager like 7-Zip FM running as administrator). Also, all folders inside WindowsApps have read-only access to Users so you can navigate to the folder directly in the explorer once you have its full path. Then, to delete any files, you would only have to grant permissions to those files which you want to delete.
    – ManSamVampire
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 18:33
  • A brief statement about what wsreset is would be a nice addition to this answer.
    – I say Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 18:43
  • 1
    WSReset does not appear to have resolved the issue; I'm still seeing ~8GB free after running it and restarting. I took a look into my WindowsApps folder in a run-as-administrator command prompt and didn't immediately see any files that were obviously what I'm looking for (but perhaps they're just not named in an obvious way when only partially downloaded?).
    – A_S00
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 19:31
  • I've not seen a consistent naming pattern in the WindowsApps folder, they are usually named something like M.P.v_someID where M is Publisher's ID/Name, P is the application's ID/name, v is the version followed by a unique identification code. I am sure that in-progress downloads are also in one such folders. The best way to find out will be to search by modification date/time or by recursively listing files in the WindowsApps folder and then searching the list using parts of name of your app. Also, there is a Deleted folder in WindowsApps worth checking.
    – ManSamVampire
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 19:53
  • @ManSamVampire Let us continue this discussion in chat.
    – A_S00
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 21:19
1

The bug here is that the installer is not retrieving the information about the existing installation, so fails the check for disk space before it starts the install. If you can free up space, even momentarily to pass the space check, it will find the existing installation and continue the download. This might be easier for many users (moving some data and then swapping it back) than trying to figure out permissions in WindowsApps.

Improve this answer
1

I know this is an old thread but the above solutions did not work for me. I did the following:

  1. Downloaded Unlocker (@ https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Unlocker.shtml)
  2. Running as Admin (Not sure if this is needed or not), find the file you want to be deleted.
  3. In the Box that appears, select Delete as the action and hit Ok.
  4. You will be notified if the delete was successful or not. If it is not successful, you be notified that the file will be delete on next reboot. This is likely the case, so just reboot and notice you've got your storage back!
Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .