if winget-cli is installed from unelevated terminal with scope currentuser, necessary license is not installed

[tps800]

Relevant area(s)

WinGet CLI

Relevant command(s)

winget install

Brief description of your issue

Install winget-cli from an unelevated PowerShell commandline with scope CurrentUser.
The installer will install all necessary dependencies, then winget-cli.
It then reports success.

But executing winget from a commandline just tells it is not executable.

Steps to reproduce

Install winget-cli from an unelevated PowerShell commandline with scope CurrentUser.
The installer will install all necessary dependencies, then winget-cli.
It then reports success.

Now trying to execute winget.exe windows only tells it cant execute winget.exe. Looking where the installer installed winget.exe there are two locations:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\winget.exe
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\winget.exe

Both binaries are length 0 and seem to be links to a real binary:

winget.exe -> '/c/Program Files/WindowsApps/Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_1.29.160.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe/winget.exe'*

Now trying to repair this install with Repair-WinGetPackageManager -Force -Verbose gives:

PS[5.1.17763.316] Repair-WinGetPackageManager -Force -Verbose
AUSFÜHRLICH: Creating MTA thread
AUSFÜHRLICH: Running winget.exe with --version
AUSFÜHRLICH: 'winget.exe' Win32Exception Es wurden keine anwendbaren App-Lizenzen gefunden
AUSFÜHRLICH: Fehler beim Ausführen des Programms "winget.exe": Es wurden keine anwendbaren App-Lizenzen gefunden.
AUSFÜHRLICH: Integrity category type: AppInstallerNoLicense
Repair-WinGetPackageManager : Failed to repair winget. Try running with -AllUsers in administrator mode.
In Zeile:1 Zeichen:1
+ Repair-WinGetPackageManager -Force -Verbose
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Repair-WinGetPackageManager], WinGetRepairException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : RuntimeException,Microsoft.WinGet.Client.Commands.RepairWinGetPackageManagerCmdlet

The mentioned missing license is not installed at all. Trying to install it just tells lack of missing rights to add a license.

Expected behavior

The installer should install winget-cli within scope CurrenUser without any hassles and without missing licenses if it reports success.

Actual behavior

The installer seems to install winget-cli with missing files but reports success -- even if this application is unusable afterwards.

Environment

> winget --info
Das angegebene Programm kann nicht ausgeführt werden.

> ver
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.316]

PS[5.1.17763.316] Get-InstalledModule

Version    Name                                Repository           Description
-------    ----                                ----------           -----------
1.12.440   Microsoft.WinGet.Client             PSGallery            PowerShell Module for the Windows Package Manager Client.

[denelon]

I'm trying to get a solid reproduction.
It appears the starting state is Windows 10 RS5.
The steps appear to be installing the Microsoft.WinGet.Client PowerShell module then running Repair-WinGetPackageManager.

Is that correct?

[tps800]

Could be done by:

1. Download License: https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/download/v1.29.170-preview/e53e159d00e04f729cc2180cffd1c02e_License1.xml
2. Download https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/download/v1.29.170-preview/Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle
3. Open PowerShell
4. Change to downloads cd $env:USERPROFILE\Downloads
5. Make sure files are there: dir:

-a----       12.05.2026     09:02           2686 e53e159d00e04f729cc2180cffd1c02e_License1.xml
-a----       12.05.2026     09:02      216654580 Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle

6. Call Add-AppxPackage -Path .\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle -Verbose:

AUSFÜHRLICH: Ausführen des Vorgangs "Paket bereitstellen" für das Ziel "%USERPROFILE%\Downloads\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle".
AUSFÜHRLICH: Vorgang abgeschlossen für: %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle

7. Verify it is installed: dir $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WindowsApps:

-a---l       12.05.2026     09:12              0 winget.exe

8. Since this binary has length '0' it is a link:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 scth-muc Domänen-Benutzer  99 May 12 09:12 winget.exe -> '/c/Program Files/WindowsApps/Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_1.29.170.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe/winget.exe'

9. So, install went fine. winget.exe is available on PATH:

PS[5.1.17763.316] where.exe winget.exe
C:\Users\scth-muc\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\winget.exe
C:\prgs\ugui\winget-cli_x64\winget.exe

10. Try to use this installed winget.exe:

PS[5.1.17763.316] winget
Fehler beim Ausführen des Programms "winget.exe": Es wurden keine anwendbaren App-Lizenzen gefundenIn Zeile:1 Zeichen:1
+ winget
+ ~~~~~~.
In Zeile:1 Zeichen:1
+ winget
+ ~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ResourceUnavailable: (:) [], ApplicationFailedException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandFailed

I've tried to put the license file e53e159d00e04f729cc2180cffd1c02e_License1.xml on PATH, but this did not help. The license is not installed anywhere any it seems there is no way to copy it in place to be found by winget.exe.

[tps800]

Looking at installed AppPackages:

PS[5.1.17763.316] Get-AppxPackage
[...]
Name              : Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller
Publisher         : CN=Microsoft Corporation, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US
Architecture      : X64
ResourceId        :
Version           : 1.29.170.0
PackageFullName   : Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_1.29.170.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
InstallLocation   : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_1.29.170.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
IsFramework       : False
PackageFamilyName : Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe
PublisherId       : 8wekyb3d8bbwe
IsResourcePackage : False
IsBundle          : False
IsDevelopmentMode : False
NonRemovable      : False
Dependencies      : {Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.1.8_8000.836.2153.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe, Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00_14.0.33519.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe,
                    Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop_14.0.33728.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe, Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_1.29.170.0_neutral_split.scale-100_8wekyb3d8bbwe...}
IsPartiallyStaged : False
SignatureKind     : Store
Status            : Ok

This is for the preview. It is the same for release. The necessary license is not installed if installing unelevated, for current user only.