Q: When is Desktop7:ApprovedShellExtension needed?

[TIMOTHY MANGAN]

desktop7:ApprovedShellExtension - Windows UWP applications | Microsoft Docs

This is one of the extensions to AppXManifest.  Presumably it would be used in conjunction with a SurrogateServer extension and a specialized extension that is specific to the type of Shell Extension being defined.  So two questions, not addressed by the documentation:

1.  Which type of shell extensions does this apply (e.g.: "all", "context menu" (either classic or other),  etc...)?
2. What is the impact of including or not including this element on supported shell extensions at the installation/runtime of the application?

[#2]

@TIMOTHY MANGAN thank you for your question. Someone will respond to your question as soon as possible.

[#3]

Your questions are answered by the link on the page for this manifest extension: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/shell/reg-shell-exts But to reiterate what the page says:

Yes this would be used in conjunction with a COM class in the manifest that is exposed through Packaged COM (windows.comServer), and is being used as a Shell Extension Handler. This applies to all the shell extensions that can be declared in the appxmanifest

The impact of including or not including this element is whether or not the shell extension would be turned off when an admin on the machine turns on the key EnforceShellExtensionSecurity , again as described on the page’s link.