No apps in Windows Store with a non-Microsoft email address

I've registered a Microsoft account with a Gmail address when I first booted my Windows 8 installation. In Windows Store I only get a few apps under each category, like 5 apps under "Photography". I then added a user using my old (unused) Hotmail account. Suddenly the Windows Store was filled with thousands of apps.

Is it supposed to work like this? Can't I get all the apps in Windows Store if I register with a non-Microsoft email account?

user185259

Posted 2013-01-08T07:06:11.550

Reputation: 1

Could it be coincidence / timing? It just took a while for the apps to populate. Furthermore I cannot see how one user would affect another user's app store. As for me, my non-Microsoft, non-Google account has zillions of apps in its store. – Guy Thomas – 2013-01-08T07:56:58.710

@GuyThomas: Perhaps it was due to some account settings (maybe the location/address he mentioned while registering the email address) that differed? (As we know, number of apps shown depends on the region.)

– Karan – 2013-01-08T16:59:20.913

Answers

Maybe that's how it is, and you can't access all apps if your Microsoft account is not at Microsoft per se. It's a little weird, but not so surprising. Google does that as well. A ton of things don't work if your Google account is a Microsoft address on Android.

Or maybe it's just a settings thing. Windows 8 can sync your modern UI apps between computers. But perhaps it can't really save and sync apps if you have a google account. And then for some reason, if you can't sync them, you can't install them! Who knows, perhaps if you turn off app syncing, it'll work better.

If not, I think your best solution is to put in your actual Hotmail/Live/Outlook/whatever address as a Microsoft account, then add Google as a secondary account to sync your mail/calendar/contacts/etc. This should have things working normally, as if your Google account were your main one.

Ariane

Posted 2013-01-08T07:06:11.550

Reputation: 1 907