Dump UWP apps files

dump-uwp-apps.md

Overview

Most apps and games downloaded from Microsoft Store on Windows 10 are placed on a special folder (WindowsApps), which the user probably won't have access.

That said, in case you want to use mods in a game, you'll likely need access to the it's files. Even though Microsoft introduced the option to enable mods, not all developers have adopted this yet (if some ever will). This document presents an alternative to get access to the files you may need.

This is basically a copy-paste of u/WiredRawdy's reddit post.

Requirements

• UWPDumper (get from here https://github.com/Wunkolo/UWPDumper)

• Enable Developer Mode on Windows (Windows Settings -> Update and Security -> For Developers -> Developer Mode)

Dumping the game

1. Launch the game through the start menu.

2. Open UWPInjector.exe from the UWPDumper download.

3. Enter the Process Id that is displayed from the injector and then hit enter. (It will appear next to the name: HelloGames.NoMansSky_bs190hzg1sesy, or whatever game you launched)

4. Wait until the game is dumped (this might take a while).

5. Go to the directory : C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Packages\[GAME NAME]\TempState\DUMP

   1. The name of the game folder will be the same seen on step 3 (eg. HelloGames.NoMansSky_bs190hzg1sesy)

6. Copy these files into a new folder somewhere else of your choosing. If you are unable to copy everything at once, then try recreating the folder structure in the new destination and then copy the files into their respective folders.

7. Uninstall the game you dumped by clicking on Start Menu and right clicking on its icon and uninstall.

8. Go to your directory with your new dumped files (the ones you copied over) and shift + right click in the directory and "Open Powershell window here".

9. Run the following: Add-AppxPackage -Register AppxManifest.xml. This will register the application as if you installed it from Microsoft Store. If you don't this, some games might not work properly.

10. Click on the start menu and launch!

Having issues? These might help you

• If you are receiving any errors when registering in Powershell try replacing the AppxManifest with the following: https://pastebin.com/raw/vpMEyNNT

• If you are unable to copy files due to an "encryption" dialog appearing then try and copy each file one by one into their respective folders (Step 6).

• Some config files are located here instead: C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Packages\HelloGames.NoMansSky_bs190hzg1sesy\LocalCache\Local\Microsoft\WritablePackageRoot\Binaries\SETTINGS

Good luck and have fun!

Hi, I'm getting an error when trying to register the appxmanifest file with the command you gave, The app I'm trying to get is Solitaire Collection that I dumped from the same system version (16299)

Hi, I was able to register by doing the following:

• At step 6, when copying the files, I placed them on a folder with the same name as the original package, Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_8wekyb3d8bbwe, at C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Packages
• Added an extra parameter to the register command at step 9: Add-AppxPackage -Register AppxManifest.xml -DisableDevelopmentMode

I got this based on the answers to this questions: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46107264/need-help-understanding-error-manifest-is-not-in-the-package-root-while-regist
There are other suggestions there to try, if this doesn't work for you.

Does Add-AppxPackage -Register AppxManifest.xml still work? It tries to run gamelaunchhelper.exe but the game doesn't open. The game's own exe works though but can't run from start menu.