Sideload Custom Enterprise Apps via Regedit

Enabling sideloading for custom enterprise applications allows Windows devices to install internal line-of-business (LOB) apps without distributing them through the public Microsoft Store. This guide explains how to configure the Windows Registry (regedit) to allow the installation of trusted, internally signed packages across your organization’s endpoints.

Prerequisites

Before modifying the registry, ensure the following requirements are met: * You have administrative privileges on the target machine. * The custom app package is digitally signed with a certificate that is trusted by the local machine’s Trusted Root Certification Authorities or Trusted People certificate store.

Step-by-Step: Enabling Sideloading via Registry Editor

  1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

  2. Navigate to the following key path:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Appx

    (If the Appx key does not exist under Windows, right-click on Windows, select New > Key, and name it Appx.)

  3. Select the Appx key. In the right pane, look for the value named AllowAllTrustedApps.

    • If it does not exist, right-click in the empty space, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it AllowAllTrustedApps.

  4. Double-click AllowAllTrustedApps, set the Value data to 1, and ensure the Base is set to Hexadecimal.

  5. Click OK to save the changes.

  6. (Optional) If you are configuring Windows 10 versions older than build 1511 or non-enterprise editions, also check the alternative path:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModelUnlock

    Create or set the DWORD (32-bit) value AllowAllTrustedApps to 1.

  7. Restart the computer or restart the explorer.exe process for the policy changes to take effect immediately.

Alternative: Enable via Command Prompt (Admin)

To automate this deployment across multiple machines via script or MDM, run the following command in an elevated Command Prompt:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Appx" /v AllowAllTrustedApps /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Once applied, users can double-click .msix or .appx bundles, or install them via PowerShell using the Add-AppxPackage command.