RegisterApplicationRestart failing to restart application

Question

We have an application, that provides an updater via PackageManager.AddPackageByAppInstallerFileAsync - this works fine in combination with Windows 10, and Windows 11, when registering for application restart with RegisterApplicationRestart.

On Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2025 this way of automatically restarting an app after an update doesn't work, what's the expected way of restarting an application during an update?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

If your app is a WinUI3 application, it is recommended to use AppInstance.Restart to restart your app programmatically. Like this:

 AppRestartFailureReason restartError = Microsoft.Windows.AppLifecycle.AppInstance.Restart("restartArgsInput");

 switch (restartError)
 {
    
 }

You could get more information here: Restart API

Thank you.

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