Forum Discussion
MSIX & user settings
I was playing a bit with MSIX packaged applications and how they work with user settings (settings stored in HKCU registry or appdata folder)
I have locally installed software that stores settings in HKCU or appdata, I change some settings on purpose and then uninstall the app - as we know this usually leaves all the user setting on computer.
Then I install MSIX package of the same application to the same client where the user data is left - I launch the application and I can see that all the settings is still applied - which is awesome and makes the transition from legacy installers into MSIX much easier. I tested three different applications - Firefox, VLC player and app called RocLab and it worked in all three cases.
If I change some settings afterwards then it is of course no longer saved into HKCU or appdata - so MSIX app can read the existing data but cannot make changes outside of the container right?
Since I haven't found this documented anywhere I wonder - is this how it is supposed to work?
By default an app can read from the global registry, which is what an app without a container write to. All MSIX apps share the global registry for reading. This also means group policies function the same whether the app is a legacy installer or MSIX.
An installed MSIX will write to its own virtual registry and app data. This will be deleted when the app is uninstalled or a reset is preformed from the settings app. Other apps will not have access to this information.
John Vintzel (@jvintzel)
PM Lead, MSIX
14 Replies
This article contains more details that complement John's excellent summary:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/msix/desktop/desktop-to-uwp-behind-the-scenes#registry
By default an app can read from the global registry, which is what an app without a container write to. All MSIX apps share the global registry for reading. This also means group policies function the same whether the app is a legacy installer or MSIX.
An installed MSIX will write to its own virtual registry and app data. This will be deleted when the app is uninstalled or a reset is preformed from the settings app. Other apps will not have access to this information.
John Vintzel (@jvintzel)
PM Lead, MSIX
1. How is it possible to install the MSIX package with the snapshot user settings.
2. What is the best practice, to deploy the user settings within a MSIX package.thx Thomas
You have options to use group policies to deploy settings or on 1903 and later you can leverage a modification package if that make sense for your scenario. You can also natively configure the default settings when packaging an app.
John.
