Announcing support of the new Microsoft Store apps during Windows Autopilot

[Intune_Support_Team]

By: Juanita Baptiste - Sr. Product Manager | Microsoft Intune

Update: The retirement of the Microsoft Store for Business and the Microsoft Store for Education, originally scheduled for March 31, 2023, has been postponed. We will share an update here on future plans when they're available.

With Windows Autopilot, we’re always looking for ways to improve the user experience and provide more value to our customers. That’s why we’re excited to announce that Autopilot in Intune supports installing the new Microsoft Store apps during the Enrollment Status Page (ESP).

With this support, IT administrators can easily manage and deploy Microsoft Store apps across their entire organization, ensuring that everyone has access to the software they need to be productive. The new store experience allows you to select whether you want to install your apps in system context or user context for more flexibility with deployments.

How to start using the new Microsoft Store apps with ESP 

Let’s use the Intune Company Portal app as an example. Using the new Microsoft Store experience, IT pros can select and assign apps, and choose whether to install an app, such as Company Portal, in system context, during device setup and installing for all users, or in user context, during account setup with the user logged in. Apps like Company Portal should be installed in the system context so that it is available to any user upon login.

1. Log into the Intune admin center and navigate to Apps > All Apps and select Add.
2. From the drop-down menu, select Microsoft Store app (new).
   
   A screenshot of the Select app type drop-down menu of app options in the Microsoft Intune admin center.
   
   
3. Select Search the Microsoft Store app (new) and type “Company Portal” into the search field. Select the app and then click Select.
4. Select System for the Install behavior so that the app is installed in the system context.
   
   A screenshot of the App information tab in the Add App pane.
   
   
5. Select Next to add Scope tags and Assignment filters.
6. Select Create.

Note: See Add Microsoft Store apps to Microsoft Intune for complete details on adding a Microsoft Store app to Intune using the new integration.

To add the Company Portal app as a blocking app during Autopilot:

1. In the Intune admin center, navigate to Devices > Windows > Windows enrollment > Enrollment Status Page and select an existing profile or create a new one.
2. With the "Show app and profile configuration progress option" set to Yes, under the "Block device use until required apps are installed if they are assigned to the user/device" choose Selected and then "Select apps".
3. In the "Select apps" window, search for the “Company Portal” app that you previously created and then click Select.
   
   A screenshot of the Select apps window in the Create profile pane in the Microsoft Intune admin center.
   
   
4. Once you add the device to the profile, select Next to complete and Review and Save the profile.

Support of the new Microsoft Store with ESP is now available to Intune tenants. As the store grows and expands app capabilities, Windows Autopilot will continue to evaluate the relevance of these new experiences and where possible, incorporate them into the device provisioning flow.

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below or reach out to @IntuneSuppTeam on Twitter.

Post updates:

03/23/23: Updated post that retirement of the Microsoft Store for Business and the Microsoft Store for Education, originally scheduled for March 31, 2023, has been postponed. We will share an update here on future plans when they're available.