This section of the documentation describes how to create an app submission in Partner Center. Alternatively, you can use the Microsoft Store submission API to automate app submissions.
Once you've created your app by reserving a name, you can start working on getting it published. The first step is to create a submission. After you have reserved your app name, you will be redirected to your app's application overview page. From the Product release section, click on Start submission. A product submission in draft status will appear. This draft includes all the submission steps that need to be completed. Refer to the app submission checklist below to complete the steps:
App submission checklist
Here are the details that you can provide when creating your app submission, with links to more info.
Items that you are required to provide or specify are noted below. Some areas are optional, or have default values provided that you can change as desired. You don't have to work on these sections in the order listed here.
Pricing and availability page
Field name
Required
Notes
Markets
Required
Default: All possible markets
Audience
Required
Default: Public audience
Discoverability
Required
Default: Make this product available and discoverable in the Microsoft Store
Schedule
Required
Default: Release - as soon as possible; Stop acquisition - never
Base price
Required
Free trial
Not required
Sale pricing
Not required
Organizational licensing
Not required
Properties page
Field name
Required
Category
Required
Subcategory
Not required
Secondary category
Not required
Privacy policy URL
Required if your app collects/trasmits personal information
Website
Not required
Support contact info
Required if your product is available on Xbox.
Contact details
Required for business/company accounts
Game settings
Not required
Display mode
Not required
Product declarations
Not required
System requirements
Not required
Age ratings page
Field name
Notes
All questions
Required
Packages page
Field name
Required
Notes
App package
Required
At least one package required.
Device family availability
Not required
Gradual package rollout
Not required
Mandatory update
Not required
Store listings
You'll need all the required info for at least one of the languages that your app supports. We recommend providing Store listings in all of the languages your app supports, and you can also provide Store listings in additional languages. To make it easier to manage multiple listings for the same product, you can import and export Store listings.
Field name
Required
Notes
Description
Required
What's new in this version
Not required
App features
Not required
Screenshots
Required
At least one screenshot required; four or more recommended
Store logos
Required for some OS versions
Trailers
Not required
Windows 10 or Windows 11 and Xbox image (16:9 Super hero art)
Not required
Xbox images
Required for proper display if you publish to Xbox
Supplemental fields
Not required
Keywords
Not required
Copyright and trademark info
Not required
Additional license terms
Not required
Developed by
Not required
Submission options page
Field name
Required
Publishing hold options
Not required
Notes for certification
Not required
Restricted capabilities
Required if your product declares any restricted capabilities
Submission notification audience
Not required
Once you have completed all the sections, you can submit your app for certification by clicking Submit for certification button on the Application overview page.
Note
You must have an active developer account in Partner Center in order to submit apps to the Microsoft Store. All the users added to your developer account in Partner Center can submit EXE or MSI apps to the Microsoft Store. They can also modify all the existing EXE or MSI apps in Partner Center. The roles and permissions set for account users do not currently apply to EXE or MSI apps.
Notifications
Important
To ensure that you receive critical email notifications, you'll be required to verify your email address in Action Center. Go to My Preferences in Action Center to verify.
After publishing an app, the owner of your developer account is always notified of the publishing status and required actions through email and the Action Center in Partner Center.
In addition, you can add members in either developer or manager role within your developer account to receive same notifications or remove those who no longer need to be notified.
To add or remove:
On the Submission options page, look for the field of “Submission notification audience”
Click “Click here” to open Notification audience overview page
On the Notification audience overview page, add or remove audience
Note
The owner of your developer account is always notified and can’t be removed from the audience list.
The audience list is product specific and applied to all submissions of the product. To modify the notification recipients for a different product, follow the steps above for each product.
Add-on inherits parent product’s audience list and can’t be managed separately.
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The source for this content can be found on GitHub, where you can also create and review issues and pull requests. For more information, see our contributor guide.
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