Windows 10/11: Microsoft Store refuses login – there is a Workaround

[German]Quick question for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users who use the Microsoft Store (Microsoft 365 or Windows Store) to get apps. Are there any login issues with the Microsoft account to the Store? A blog reader contacted me about this and reported that some customers have been experiencing this issue "for a while". A workaround (deleting the credentials and resetting the Internet options) helps.

Reader feedback

German blog reader Matthias K. contacted me in a private message on Facebook this week and brought the problem to my attention (thanks for that). He wrote:

Hello Günter,

We have had the problem with a few customers for some time that on individual PCs (Windows 10 / 11) from one day to the next no login to Microsoft 365 / Windows Store etc. is possible. So far, we have not been able to find a cause.

This means that access to apps from the Store is no longer possible for the users in question. Currently, I unfortunately have no indication if there is any error message. The question is whether there are more users with this problem.

Lösungsmöglichkeiten für Store-Probleme

For issues with the Windows Store, there are various troubleshooting options. As a first step, users should try the Troubleshooter for Windows Store.

1. Select the Start button and then click on the Settings -> Update and Security -> Troubleshooter.
2. In the Troubleshooter page, select Windows Store Apps > Run Troubleshooter from the list.

This will cause the Troubleshooter included with Windows to run and attempt various repair approaches. Microsoft has published the support article Fix problems with apps from Microsoft Store for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the topic with further tips.

In this article, makeuseof.com also gives some more advice (from clearing the cache to resetting the Store) on how to manually repair issues with the Windows Store. To reset the store, press Windows+R and enter the command wsreset.exe into the dialog box.

Workaround for the above issue

Blog reader Matthias K. writes in his email that performing the following steps fixes the error, the login to the store works again afterwards:

Check if Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin is installed:

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin |select Name,PackageFamilyName,InstallLocation,Status|fl

=> If not:

Add-AppxPackage -Register "$env:windir\SystemApps\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown - Clear saved credentials: cmdkey /list | ForEach-Object{if($_ -like "Target:"){cmdkey /del:($_ -replace " ","" -replace "Target:","")}} 

Reset the Internet options:

RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ResetIEtoDefaults

The above commands check if the package in question is installed and register the packages again. The last step resets the Internet options.

Resetting Internet options using Internet Explorer is shown in the above dialog box and requires checking the relevant checkbox and selecting the Reset button. Windows must then be restarted afterwards.