How to Install App Installer Silently with winget on Windows

Setting up App Installer on a fresh Windows install? Here's the cleanest one-line winget command for an unattended, no-clicks install — perfect for new-machine provisioning, golden-image scripts, and Task Scheduler jobs.

TL;DR

Open Terminal as Administrator and run:

winget install --id Microsoft.AppInstaller -e --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

App Installer: Microsoft App Installer lets you easily install Windows apps with a double-click. It also includes WinGet for powerful command-line app management.

Typical install time: 10–60 seconds depending on installer size.

What gets installed

MSIX packages install silently by default through the Windows AppX subsystem.

Per-user install (no admin)

If you don't have admin rights, try per-user scope:

winget install --id Microsoft.AppInstaller -e --scope user --silent

If the manifest doesn't have a user-scope installer, winget falls back with an error — in that case you genuinely need admin or use the Access denied fix.

Specify a version

To pin a known-good version (useful for reproducible CI / team standardisation):

winget install --id Microsoft.AppInstaller -e --version 1.28.240.0 --silent

List available versions:

winget show --id Microsoft.AppInstaller --versions

Override silent flags

If winget's --silent doesn't fully suppress the installer's UI, pass native flags via --override:

winget install --id Microsoft.AppInstaller -e --override "n/a (MSIX is silent by design)"

These are the MSIX / AppX-native silent switches the installer recognises.

Verify after install

winget list --id Microsoft.AppInstaller

If the version is shown, the install succeeded.

Upgrade silently

winget upgrade --id Microsoft.AppInstaller -e --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

Or upgrade as part of a bulk weekly cron — see How to update all Windows apps.

Uninstall silently

winget uninstall --id Microsoft.AppInstaller --silent --disable-interactivity

Detailed guide: How to uninstall Windows apps with winget.

In a provisioning script

PowerShell snippet for unattended Windows setup:

$apps = @(
  "Microsoft.AppInstaller"
  # add more packages here
)

foreach ($id in $apps) {
  winget install --id $id -e --silent `
    --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements
}

Wrap in Task Scheduler for one-shot machine provisioning. See Fresh Windows 11 setup.

Common errors

"App Installer is already installed" — winget detected the existing install. To force-reinstall over the existing copy:

winget install --id Microsoft.AppInstaller -e --silent --force

"Installer hash does not match" — Microsoft Corporation published a new version before the winget manifest updated. Wait ~24 hours or pass --force. See hash mismatch fix.

"Access denied" / 0x80070005 — run Terminal as Administrator. See Access denied fix.

0x80073D02 — package in use — App Installer is currently running. Close it then retry. See package in use fix.

See also

• App Installer on winget.tech → — full package details
• How to install Windows apps with winget → — beginner guide
• Winget commands cheatsheet → — complete reference
• Fresh Windows 11 setup → — full machine workflow