How can I start an UWP application through a batch file?

Question

I tried to open Skype using batch scripting (.bat) in Windows 10 but found that in Windows 10 Skype came as default and it is moved to Windows Apps. Is there any way to do this?

Answer 1

First, find the application's install location and package family name by running the following in PowerShell:

Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, InstallLocation, PackageFamilyName

Skype's name is Microsoft.SkypeApp, its install location is something like C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.SkypeApp_12.1815.210.0_x64__kzf8qxf38zg5c and its package family name is Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c.

Browse to the install location and open the AppxManifest.xml in a text editor. Find the <Application ...> node and get the value of the Id property. For Skype, this value is App.

Now you can use these values in this command:

start shell:AppsFolder\<PackageFamilyName>!<Id>

For Skype, you'd run:

start shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c!App