Get the App Certification Kit

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Before you submit your app for certification and listing in the Windows Store, use the Windows App Certification Kit to test your app and make sure it's ready to go.

Get the Kit

Windows SDK for Windows 10

The Windows SDK includes the Windows App Certification Kit. You can use it to test your app for the Windows Store (for Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8), and for the Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7 Windows Certification program for desktop applications. The Windows SDK does not include a compiler or build environment.

Learn more about the Windows SDK for Windows 10

Get the Windows SDK for Windows 10 (English only)

What's new

July 29th, 2015: This version of the Windows App Certification Kit (version 10.0) has been updated to include support for pre-certifying Universal Windows apps before being submitted to the Store. The Windows App Certification Kit now supports the following app types:

  • Desktop applications for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7
  • Universal Windows apps for Windows 10, and Windows 8.x Windows Store and Windows Phone apps (this includes apps that are targeted for Windows desktop and Windows Phone)

Changes included in the Windows App Certification Kit 10.0:

  • The kit now includes support for testing Universal Windows apps on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
  • The Windows 8.x Windows Store and Windows Phone app workflows have been condensed. The new test workflow will detect the app type and apply the correct test workflow.
  • New tests
    • Platform Version Launch Test: this test verifies that an app can run on a future version of the OS.
    • Background tasks cancellation handler validation: this verifies that the app has a cancellation handler for declared background tasks.
  • Tests that have been updated:
    • In the App manifest test, a check has been added for TLD (top level domain). This ensures that there are no wildcards (asterisks) in the domain information. App packages will fail if the wildcard is present.
    • Application count: this has been moved to be a standalone test, it’s no longer part of the App manifest test.
    • App Notification Service Usage: this test has been removed from the Supported API test and added to the kit as a stand-alone test. This checks apps that declare a specific notification service (MPN or WNS) must use only this type of notification. If the app is calling an API from an un-declared notification service, the test will fail.

Additional resources

For Store apps

For desktop apps