Fix Microsoft Store Apps Refusing to Download on Windows 11

Quick fix: Reset the Store cache with wsreset.exe, then re-register Microsoft Store with a single PowerShell command — 90% of “download won’t start” cases come back online with these two steps.

You click Get on an app in Microsoft Store and nothing happens. Or the download shows Pending for a few seconds and silently fails. Or it counts down and lands at 0x80131500 / Try that again. Existing apps may update fine, but new installs refuse to start. The download token, the Store cache, or the package manifest is in a broken state — and the UI gives you no useful hint about which.

What causes this

Microsoft Store downloads run through the Delivery Optimization service, the Windows Update service, the BITS background transfer service, and finally the AppX Deployment Service that actually installs the package. Any one of those failing — or the local Store cache pointing at stale package manifests from previous failed attempts — blocks the chain. The most common root causes: a stale download token in the cache, a TLS handshake failure against the Store endpoint (the 0x80131500 family), or the Store’s own AppX manifest having become corrupted by a partial install rollback.

Method 1: Reset Store cache and re-register the Store

The two-step combo that fixes most cases. wsreset clears the local cache; the PowerShell re-register repairs the Store app itself.

1. Press Win + R, type wsreset.exe, press Enter.
2. A blank Command Prompt window appears for ~30 seconds, then Microsoft Store opens automatically. Close the Store.
3. Open Terminal (Admin) from the Start right-click menu.
4. Run this command:

   Get-AppxPackage *WindowsStore* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml"}

5. Wait for the prompt to return (~30 seconds, no progress shown).
6. Reopen Microsoft Store and retry the download.

For most failures this single combination is enough. The Store will re-acquire its license, refresh its catalog, and downloads should start within a few seconds of clicking Get.

Method 2: Reset the underlying services and clear Delivery Optimization

When Method 1 doesn’t resolve it, the issue is downstream of the Store app itself — in the services that actually fetch packages.

1. Open Terminal (Admin).
2. Stop the relevant services:

   net stop wuauserv
   net stop bits
   net stop dosvc
   net stop cryptsvc

3. Clear cached state:

   Remove-Item -Recurse -Force C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
   Remove-Item -Recurse -Force C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\DeliveryOptimization\Cache

4. Restart the services:

   net start wuauserv
   net start bits
   net start dosvc
   net start cryptsvc

5. Open Settings → Windows Update → Advanced options → Delivery Optimization and confirm Allow downloads from other PCs is set as you want it (Off is safest for diagnosis).
6. Reopen Microsoft Store and retry.

This sequence resolves Delivery Optimization corruption and stale BITS jobs, which together account for the 0x80073D02 / pending-forever scenarios.

Method 3: Reset Microsoft Store from Apps settings

When Methods 1 and 2 don’t help, the Store’s own user data is the problem.

1. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft Store in the list. Click the three dots and choose Advanced options.
3. Scroll to the Reset section. Click Repair first — this attempts a non-destructive fix that keeps sign-in state.
4. Retry the download. If it still fails, return to the same screen and click Reset. This wipes Store user data; you’ll be signed out.
5. Reopen Microsoft Store, sign in with your Microsoft account, accept the license terms.
6. Retry the failed download.

The Reset option is the closest you can get to reinstalling Store without removing it. You may need to re-link family member accounts after this step.

How to verify the fix worked

• Click Get on a small free app (Microsoft To Do, Calculator if it’s missing). Download should begin within 5 seconds and complete within a minute.
• Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find Microsoft Store, click Advanced options. The Version line should show a current build (typically 22xxx or higher).
• Run Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore | Format-List Name, Version, Status in PowerShell. Status should read Ok.

If none of these work

If downloads still fail after all three methods, check for region or TLS issues. The 0x80131500 error specifically points to a TLS 1.2/1.3 negotiation failure with the Store endpoint — open Internet Properties (inetcpl.cpl) → Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section, and confirm TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 are both checked, while SSL 3.0 is unchecked. Apply, then reboot. If the failure is a 0x80070005 (access denied) on a domain-joined PC, your IT admin has Store access policies in place — check Group Policy for Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Store entries. For persistent failures on a clean consumer install, the last resort is removing and reinstalling the Store with Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Microsoft.WindowsStore | Remove-AppxPackage followed by the re-register command from Method 1.

Bottom line: Microsoft Store download failures are almost always cache or service state — reset the cache, restart the supporting services, and the chain works again.