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"App Paths" keys, "WT" app alias, Win+R dialog? #15033

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opened 2026-01-31 04:26:35 +00:00 by claunia · 12 comments
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:35 +00:00
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Originally created by @vefatica on GitHub (Aug 31, 2021).

Today I updated Windows Terminal (both release and preview). At least one of those installations wrote a "wt.exe" subkey in "App Paths" (both in HKCU amd HKLM). And now I find what I have found in the past, namely, that the app alias "wt" only works in the Win+R dialog if target of the alias matches what's in the "App Paths\wt.exe" key (i.e., both release or both preview); if they don't match I get a "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."

Can anything be done about that?

Things work well here (Win+R included) if I just delete the "App Paths\wt.exe" keys altogether. Does anything actually need those keys? The app alias mechanism together with the PATH entry for AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps seems to be sufficient

Originally created by @vefatica on GitHub (Aug 31, 2021). Today I updated Windows Terminal (both release and preview). At least one of those installations wrote a "wt.exe" subkey in "App Paths" (both in HKCU amd HKLM). And now I find what I have found in the past, namely, that the app alias "wt" only works in the Win+R dialog if target of the alias matches what's in the "App Paths\wt.exe" key (i.e., both release or both preview); if they don't match I get a "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item." Can anything be done about that? Things work well here (Win+R included) if I just delete the "App Paths\wt.exe" keys altogether. Does anything actually need those keys? The app alias mechanism together with the PATH entry for AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps seems to be sufficient
claunia added the Needs-TriageNeeds-Tag-FixNeeds-AttentionCulprit-Centennial labels 2026-01-31 04:26:35 +00:00
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:36 +00:00
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@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Aug 31, 2021):

This is basically the whole bucket of work that's being tracked by https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3ACulprit-Centennial. I know that's not really anything specific. We need to do some work de-duping those issues.

We're pretty actively engaged with the MSIX team about trying to remedy issues on this front.

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Aug 31, 2021): This is basically the whole bucket of work that's being tracked by https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3ACulprit-Centennial. I know that's not really anything specific. We need to do some work de-duping those issues. We're pretty actively engaged with the MSIX team about trying to remedy issues on this front.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:36 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Aug 31, 2021):

Does anything need the App Paths mechanism? I fare quite OK without it.

@vefatica commented on GitHub (Aug 31, 2021): Does anything **need** the App Paths mechanism? I fare quite OK without it.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:37 +00:00
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@DHowett commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2021):

We didn't opt in to having an App Paths key set for us. Unfortunately, this was given to us "for free" thanks to the MSIX platform, and we cannot opt out of it.

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2021): We didn't opt in to having an App Paths key set for us. Unfortunately, this was given to us "for free" thanks to the MSIX platform, and we cannot opt _out_ of it.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:37 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2021):

and we cannot opt out of it.

Do you mean it's just part of the (software) system and the system doesn't offer a "don't do it" option, or are you forbidden from deleting those registry keys at some later time?

@vefatica commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2021): > and we cannot opt out of it. Do you mean it's just part of the (software) system and the system doesn't offer a "don't do it" option, or are you forbidden from deleting those registry keys at some later time?
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:37 +00:00
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@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2021):

That's correct, this is just part of the OS behavior. I'd rather not go messing with undocumented parts of the MSIX infrastructure, in case those reg keys actually are important for something we don't fully understand, or are used in the future for something.

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Sep 1, 2021): That's correct, this is just part of the OS behavior. I'd rather not go messing with undocumented parts of the MSIX infrastructure, in case those reg keys actually are important for something we don't fully understand, or are used in the future for something.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:37 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021):

From my (naive) point of view, it's as simple as ... things work if and only if the app alias and the "App Paths" key agree.

Earlier. @DHowett said you couldn't opt out of that key's data being set. Just now, I reinstalled the release version and the key still has yesterday's timestamp and (wrong) data. Then I uninstalled. The key was unchanged. Then I installed (afresh). The key was unchanged. Then I deleted the reg key and reinstalled (without uninstalling). The key was not created. Then I uninstalled (key non-existent) and installed (again afresh). The key was created with the right data (release version). But the run dialog still wants to start the preview. So I'll log out/in and get back to you.

@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021): From my (naive) point of view, it's as simple as ... things work if and only if the app alias and the "App Paths" key agree. Earlier. @DHowett said you couldn't opt out of that key's data being set. Just now, I reinstalled the release version and the key still has yesterday's timestamp and (wrong) data. Then I uninstalled. The key was unchanged. Then I installed (afresh). The key was unchanged. Then I deleted the reg key and reinstalled (without uninstalling). The key was not created. Then I uninstalled (key non-existent) and installed (again afresh). The key was created with the right data (release version). But the run dialog still wants to start the preview. So I'll log out/in and get back to you.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:37 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021):

After a log out/in, I still got

image

The reg key has the right data.

2021-10-22 11:48 HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wt.exe
: REG_SZ : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.11.2921.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe
Path : REG_SZ : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.11.2921.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

And both aliases were OFF!

I enabled the release alias and still got the message box above. I guess I'll try logging out/in again.

@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021): After a log out/in, I still got ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/61856645/138487015-81c0b013-84e4-439b-86bc-f4fababb9bb6.png) The reg key has the right data. 2021-10-22 11:48 HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wt.exe : REG_SZ : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.11.2921.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe Path : REG_SZ : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.11.2921.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe And both aliases were **OFF**! I enabled the release alias and still got the message box above. I guess I'll try logging out/in again.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:38 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021):

So after another log out/in, the release alias was still set. And "App Paths\wt.exe" pointed to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.11.2921.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe. But the run dialog still gave the permission message (about the preview version) ane WinKey WT just had a (dead) link to "run". So it seems pretty screwed up and I'm pretty lost.

@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021): So after another log out/in, the release alias was still set. And "App Paths\wt.exe" pointed to `C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.11.2921.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe`. But the run dialog still gave the permission message (about the preview version) ane `WinKey WT` just had a (dead) link to "run". So it seems pretty screwed up and I'm pretty lost.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:38 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021):

And inside HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Deployment\Package\*\S-1-5-21-3156152751-4120801034-2541390100-1001\{AC7A642E-7EF4-4E34-92D5-5384FDA012C9} I have 330 values (named "0" - "330"), all with data like these two. What a mess!

(SZ) 4
    *EMicrosoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_2021.930.2303.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe|8|2.000|0|092e3d61-c061-0003-5c41-2f0961c0d701|Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_2021.830.1748.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe|8|
  (SZ) 5
    *EMicrosoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_1.11.2731.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe|1|2.000|0|092e3d61-c061-0003-5c41-2f0961c0d701|Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_1.11.2421.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe|1|
@vefatica commented on GitHub (Oct 22, 2021): And inside `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Deployment\Package\*\S-1-5-21-3156152751-4120801034-2541390100-1001\{AC7A642E-7EF4-4E34-92D5-5384FDA012C9}` I have 330 values (named "0" - "330"), all with data like these two. What a mess! ``` (SZ) 4 *EMicrosoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_2021.930.2303.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe|8|2.000|0|092e3d61-c061-0003-5c41-2f0961c0d701|Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_2021.830.1748.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe|8| (SZ) 5 *EMicrosoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_1.11.2731.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe|1|2.000|0|092e3d61-c061-0003-5c41-2f0961c0d701|Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_1.11.2421.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe|1| ```
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:38 +00:00
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@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2021):

Hey so I reached out to the app execution alias team - they suggested:

they could try disabling and then re-enabling the app execution alias from Settings->Apps>Apps & Features>More settings>App execution alias page for the app. I think this should solve their problem.

There was also a fix recently in this area, which Windows build are you on again?

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2021): Hey so I reached out to the app execution alias team - they suggested: > they could try disabling and then re-enabling the app execution alias from Settings->Apps>Apps & Features>More settings>App execution alias page for the app. I think this should solve their problem. There was also a fix recently in this area, which Windows build are you on again?
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:38 +00:00
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@vefatica commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2021):

I'm on 10.0.19043.1288 (2009, 21H1).

I gave up on it for a while. I uninstalled both and have two unzipped only installations with my own AppPaths entries "WTHere" context menu entries. I know I'm missing some features but since I don't know what they are I'm not missing them much.

@vefatica commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2021): I'm on 10.0.19043.1288 (2009, 21H1). I gave up on it for a while. I uninstalled both and have two unzipped only installations with my own AppPaths entries "WTHere" context menu entries. I know I'm missing some features but since I don't know what they are I'm not missing them much.
claunia commented 2026-01-31 04:26:39 +00:00
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@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2021):

Alrighty then.

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2021): Alrighty then.
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