Winget doesn't properly cleanup unused `Microsoft.Winget.Source` Appx Packages

[Skyb0rg007]

Brief description of your issue

> Get-ChildItem -Path $env:ProgramFiles\WindowsApps -Filter 'Microsoft.Winget.Source_*_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe' | Measure-Object | Select-Object -Property Count

Count
-----
  452

> Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object { $_.Name -like 'Microsoft.Winget.Source*' } | Measure-Object | Select-Object -Property Count

Count
-----
    1

> Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object { $_.Name -like 'Microsoft.Winget.Source*' } | Select-Object -Property InstallLocation

InstallLocation
---------------
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Winget.Source_2025.722.604.24_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Steps to reproduce

This occurred over the course of using winget, so I'm not sure the ultimate cause.

Expected behavior

There should be exactly one Appx package for Microsoft.Winget.Source in my WindowsApps directory.

Actual behavior

There are 452 Appx packages for Microsoft.Winget.Source in my WindowsApps directory, each with a different date. The older versions are not registered with Appx and so they cannot be removed without SYSTEM permissions.

Environment

[winget --info]
Windows Package Manager v1.11.400
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.26100.4652
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.26.400.0

Winget Directories
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\settings.json
Portable Links Directory (User)    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
Portable Links Directory (Machine) C:\Program Files\WinGet\Links
Portable Package Root (User)       %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root              C:\Program Files\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root (x86)        C:\Program Files (x86)\WinGet\Packages
Installer Downloads                %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
Configuration Modules              %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Configuration\Modules

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Admin Setting                             State
--------------------------------------------------
LocalManifestFiles                        Enabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Disabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled
ProxyCommandLineOptions                   Disabled
DefaultProxy                              Disabled

[Trenly]

• Related to https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/discussions/5522#discussioncomment-13463352

cc @JohnMcPMS

[Skyb0rg007]

This is related, but the answer (don't delete them because the folders are under management of Windows) is not correct, as seen by the fact that Get-AppxPackage doesn't list the outdated directories.

[jean3x7]

# Run this as Administrator on powershell, it will delete all Microsoft.Winget.Source folders in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps except the active one

# Define base path
$basePath = "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps"

# Get the install location of the active Microsoft.Winget.Source package
$excludePath = (Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object { $_.Name -like 'Microsoft.Winget.Source*' }).InstallLocation

# Extract just the folder name to compare
$excludeFolder = Split-Path $excludePath -Leaf

# Get all matching folders in WindowsApps
$folders = Get-ChildItem -Path $basePath -Directory -Force |
    Where-Object {
        $_.Name -like 'Microsoft.Winget.Source_*_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe' -and $_.Name -ne $excludeFolder
    }

# Loop through and delete the folders
foreach ($folder in $folders) {
    $fullPath = $folder.FullName
    Write-Host "Processing: $fullPath"

    # Take ownership
    takeown /f "$fullPath" /r /d Y | Out-Null

    # Grant full control to current user
    $acl = Get-Acl $fullPath
    $user = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent().Name
    $accessRule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule(
        $user, "FullControl", "ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit", "None", "Allow"
    )
    $acl.SetAccessRule($accessRule)
    Set-Acl $fullPath $acl

    # Delete the folder
    Remove-Item -Path $fullPath -Recurse -Force -Confirm:$false
    Write-Host "Deleted: $fullPath" -ForegroundColor Green
}

Write-Host "Done. Excluded: $excludeFolder" -ForegroundColor Yellow

[phtnnz]

Same thing on my Win 10 system. I used 7-zip file manager (7FM.exe) run as adminstrator to delete all the old versions under WindowsApps, which accumulated to 12 GB.

[CreeperKong]

Same thing on my Win 10 system. I used 7-zip file manager (7FM.exe) run as adminstrator to delete all the old versions under WindowsApps, which accumulated to 12 GB.

Me too