One of the biggest draw backs for me personally with Windows 8 and 8.1 was the inability to access the Microsoft App Store without a Microsoft Account.
When you setup Windows 8 and 10 you can choose to setup a local account where your information gets stored on your computer or a Microsoft Windows Account where some of your info gets stored online.
For privacy I like to setup my accounts locally on my computer, but with Windows 8 this stopped my ability to access the App Store.
Windows 10 is Different
The good news is with Windows 10 this is no longer the case.
Even if you setup a local account on your computer, you can still access the App Store to download and buy apps for your computer.
They don’t make it terribly obvious how to do it, so I have outlined the steps below to access the Microsoft App Store from your local account on your computer or laptop.
How to access App Store with a local account in Windows 10
The first thing you should notice is you now have your start bar back.
- Go to start menu and click on the Store.
- Look for the search box and find the “User” icon.
- When the menu is displayed click on “Sign-in”.
- Log in as you would and choose the “Microsoft Account” option.
- You will be prompted to put a password in, but don’t.
- Select “sign in to just this app instead”.
Mistakes
It is very easy to miss a few of these steps and click on the wrong thing.
If you do, don’t worry about it, you can always go back and start again. You can’t really go a whole lot wrong.
The ability to access the App Store without a Microsoft Account is quite handy, specially if you are focused on privacy. This will work for a lot of the apps, however some apps in the store will still require you have a Microsoft Account.