This product needs to be installed on your internal hard drive

The Microsoft Store an throw errors at times. One such case is with the error – This product needs to be installed on your internal hard drive or This app needs to be installed on internal storage or This needs to be installed on a system drive

Clicking on the Install icon on the dialogue box just shows the downloading animation and after a while I see this message.

This product needs to be installed on your internal hard drive Microsoft Store error

In such a situation, you could try the following solutions to fix the issue:

1] Ensure that new apps are saved to your local drive

• Open Settings > System > Storage and click on Change where new content is saved.
• Change the settings for New apps will save to This PC (C).
• Some apps require you to save them on your internal hard drive only.

If you see a message This needs to be installed on a system drive, then you need to make sure that the C Drive (System Drive) is selected.

2] Clear Windows Store app cache

• Right-click on the start button and select Command Prompt (administrator).
• Type the command wsreset.exe and press Enter.
• This clears the Windows store app cache.

3] Clear Microsoft Store cache for 3rd-party apps

If using wsreset.exe does not help you, then in an elevated CMD execute the following command to get the SID number of the user account for which you are facing issues:

wmic useraccount get name,sid

Now type regedit in Start search and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore

From the left panel expand AppxAllUserStore and delete the registry subkey for the problematic profile-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\[UserSid]

4] Use Microsoft Store Troubleshooter

1. Click on the Start button and then the gear-like symbol to open the Settings window.
2. Select Updates and Security and then the Troubleshoot tab.
3. Run the Windows Store apps troubleshooter from the list.

5] Reinstall Microsoft Store app

1. Right-click on the Start button and then select Command Prompt (administrator).
2. Copy-paste the following command in the Command Prompt window and press Enter:

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

6] Check the associated Microsoft Account

Try accessing the Windows store using a different Microsoft account. This is to isolate the issue. If the Store works fine with a different account, login back again with your original account and use the Microsoft Accounts Troubleshooter to resolve the issue.

Hope this helps!

How to install Microsoft Store games on D drive?

To install Microsoft Store games on the D drive, open “Settings” on your PC. Go to “System,” then “Storage.” Under “More storage settings,” choose “Change where new content is saved.” Select D drive for “New apps will save to,” ensuring future installations directly go to your chosen drive.

How to install apps on External hard drive in Windows 11?

To install apps on an external hard drive in Windows 11, connect the drive to your PC. Open Settings > Apps > Apps & features. Find the app, click “Move,” and choose your external drive as the destination. This process allows you to save space and manage your storage efficiently.