Microsoft Store – Corrupted content (0x80080206)

There may be scenarios when attempting to download applications through the Microsoft Store (for myself, attempting to download Sea of Thieves), the download fails when a non-descriptive error 0x80080206. This error value represents the error code APPX_E_CORRUPT_CONTENT.

APPX_E_CORRUPT_CONTENT: The package contents can’t be read because it’s corrupted.

Several recommendations online may suggest one of the following options to resolve this issue:

  1. Reset the Microsoft Store cache by invoking invoke wsreset from an elevated command prompt.

  2. Manually clearing the Microsoft Store’s cache by removing the content inside:

    %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
    
  3. Manually clearing the Windows Update’s cache by removing the content inside:

    C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
    

    (may require stopping the Windows Update service: net stop wuauserv)

Neither of these solutions resolved the APPX_E_CORRUPT_CONTENT issue. After some additional investigation, the issue appears to be that the Microsoft Store requires the Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO) to install new applications and updates.

The system in this scenario had Delivery Optimization disabled in favor of BITS. To quickly check if a system may not have Delivery Optimization enabled, a user can search for “Delivery Optimization Settings” in the Windows system search:

../../../_images/microsoft-store-80080206-search-setting.png

And examine the currently configured settings:

../../../_images/microsoft-store-80080206-controlled-do.png

The following message shows that Delivery Optimization capability has been modified by a local group policy:

*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization.

If a user experiences the above error and has permission to edit local group policies, the following steps may be of some use.

Steps

Open the Local Group Policy Editor by opening the run menu ( Win + R) and entering gpedit.msc. Navigate to the section:

Computer Configuration
> Administrative Templates
 > Windows Components
  > Delivery Optimization

In this section, there will be an option Download Mode:

../../../_images/microsoft-store-80080206-download-mode.png

If this option is set to Enabled, this system may be forcing the use of BITS (with a configured Bypass (100) mode). Select the Download Mode option and in the dialog change it from Enabled to Not Configured:

../../../_images/microsoft-store-80080206-setting-switch.png

After applying the setting, attempt to download from the Microsoft Store again.

See also