4 Steps in Installing Free Apps from the Windows Store

On this second to the last article that we have for the Windows Store series, we will be learning the steps in installing free apps into your Windows 8.1 machine. The process in installing modern style apps in Windows 8.1 is the same as doing it in other operating system platforms installed on smartphones and tablets. It involves accessing the apps marketplace first and searching for the apps that you want to install. To learn the steps in doing this important process that will add more features to your Windows 8.1 machine, simply follow all the steps described below.

1. Access the Windows Store App

The very first thing that you need to do if you really want to install a modern style app to your Windows 8.1 machine is to access the Windows Store. There are two ways in doing this on a Windows 8.1 machine and that is if you have not installed the latest Windows Update to it yet but if you already did, there’s a new method of accessing the Home screen of the Windows Store app which is a lot easier than the two other options. To do the first method, you will need to access the Start Screen by clicking on the Start Button or pressing the Windows Key and once you arrive on the Start Screen, simply click on the Windows Store tile which looks like the one shown on the screenshot below.

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The second method is the one that you need to use if in case you can’t find the Windows Store tile on the Start Screen. To do it, you will still need to access the Start Screen and once you are on it, just move the mouse pointer then click on the circular button containing an arrow down icon that will appear at the bottom-left portion of the screen.

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After doing so, you will be able to access the Apps view screen and from here simply look for the Windows Store shortcut located under the “Shopping” apps category. Once you find it, you can simply click or tap on it so you can open the Windows Store.

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Lastly, if your Windows 8.1 machine is updated to the latest version, you should be able to find a Windows Store thumbnail pinned on the taskbar at the bottom portion of the screen. To launch the Windows Store using this thumbnail, all that you need to do is click or tap on it.

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Once Windows Store opens, you can now start searching for the app that you want to install into your Windows 8.1 machine.

2. Searching for an App to Install

Now that you already know how to open the Windows Store, it is time to learn the steps in finding the right app which you can install to you computer. If you already know the name of the app, you can simply type in its name into the search input box that is located at the top-right corner of the screen.

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After entering the name of the app, you should be able to see a short list of app suggestions open in a white box that will appear just below the search input box. If the app that you are looking for is already in the white box, you can simply click or tap on it so you can access its details screen but if not, you can click on the search button at the extreme-right side of the search input box or hit the “Enter” key to load all the search results screen.

If in case you still don’t the name of the app or haven’t decided what app to install yet. You can explore through some app groups by searching through “Categories”, “Top charts” or “Collections” and the links that will show the app categories under these main app groups will appear just below the green bar at the top of the Windows Store screen after you click on any of these app groups which are sitting on the bar itself.

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The screenshot above shows all available app categories under the “Top charts” app group. To learn even more search options that you can use in looking for a specific app, you can read our tutorial that discusses all of it in great detail.

3. Reading some Details About the App

After finding the app that you want to download and install into your Windows 8.1 machine by using any of the search options that I’ve shown here, you can now click its thumbnail on the Windows Store screen and after doing so, you will be directed to its details screen where you can find some details about the app. It is also important that you read the information that is indicated on this section of every downloadable app so you can get an idea of its use and performance as sounded off by other users on the reviews section. From this section, you can also see the total ratings given by all users who downloaded and used the app.

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If you scroll even more to the right using the arrow right key on your computer’s keyboard or by clicking on the arrow right icon located at the bottom-right corner of the screen, you will be able to see the ratings and reviews section where you can read all the things that other users have to say about the app.

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4. Installing an App

After reading the reviews and getting an idea of what the app is used for, it is time to click on the “Install” button which is also located on the details screen of the app and the installation process will start right away.

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After hitting “Install”, the app will now be prepared to be downloaded and installed into your machine, you will know if an installation process is going on because you will see a prompt at the top-right portion of the screen that looks like the one shown on the screenshot below.

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If you click on this prompt, you will be taken to the screen where you will see the overall app installation progress. From here, you can simply put the mouse pointer over it and you will see the progress represented in percentage as shown on the screenshot below.

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Try right clicking on the icon from the same screen and you will be able to access some options at the bottom which says “Pause download” and “Cancel install”. If you want to cancel the installation process, just click on the latter option.

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When the installation process completes, you should be able to see a another prompt at the upper-right corner of the screen telling you that the app installation is already complete. You might be tempted to think that the app already has a tile pinned on the Start Screen automatically as what happens in Windows 8 but you’re wrong. To find the shortcut that will open the tile, simply access the Apps view screen and you will also be able to see a prompt that says “1 new app installed” just beside the circular button containing an arrow down icon which you would click to access the Apps view screen. You will know that its the shortcut of the app that you’ve just installed if it has a label that says “New”.

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As you can see, the process of installing an app into your Windows 8.1 machine is very easy. Now that you learned all of the process involved, you can start searching for some perfect apps and to install and follow the steps here in order to have it loaded into your brand new computer!