The Windows Store is a great addition to Windows 8, but in true How-To Geek fashion we are here to show you how to disable it. There are a number of reasons you might want to do this, most notably if you are testing Windows 8 in a corporate environment.

Please note that we're not recommending that you do this.

Disabling the Windows Store

Press the Windows + R key combination to bring up a run box, type gpedit.msc and hit enter.

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Now you will need to drill down into:

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components

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Once you expand Windows Components you need to select the settings for the “Store”.

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On the right hand side you will see a setting that allows you to turn off the Windows Store, double click on it.

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Now switch the radio button from “Not Configured” to “Enabled”,  then click on the OK button.

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Now you will need to enforce the updated policy to take effect on your PC, to do this press the Windows + R key combination, when the run box open run:

gpupdate /force

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Once you press enter you Local Group Policy will be automatically updated, now if you try launch the Windows Store you will notice it is disabled.

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