Learning

Affinity V2 Windows Installation: MSIX and MSI(EXE)

Both MSIX and MSI(EXE) installers are available on your Affinity Store account and on other relevant download pages. These are available for x64 or ARM64-based devices.

We do really believe in the merits of MSIX installers, and still think they are the best choice for most V2 users. We went with MSIX installers for V2 for many reasons, as laid out by our developers in this forum post: Why are we using MSIX for Windows installers?

MSIX Installation Troubleshooting Guide

For users who are not looking for MSI(EXE) installers and wish to install MSIX but are having issues, please utilise the troubleshooting guide below.

Make sure you have the correct OS

Before installing any Affinity V2 software, please make sure that you’re using a supported operating system. Affinity V2 will only install and run on Windows 11 & Windows 10 May 2020 Update (2004, 20H1, build 19041) or later, and require a 64-bit CPU to install and run.

To find out which version of Windows you’re running, please read this article from Microsoft.

If you are trying to install any Affinity V2 software to any unsupported Windows operating system, you may encounter the following error codes:

Error 0x80073D10: Windows cannot install package… because the package requires architecture x64, but this computer has architecture x86. (0x80073d10)
Error 0x80073CFD: Windows cannot install package… because this package is not compatible with the device. The package requires OS version 10.0.19041.0 or higher on the Windows.Desktop device family. The device is currently running OS version 10.0.xxxxx.xxx. (0x80073cfd)

If you’re unable to open the MSIX file and you’re getting the error ‘App didn’t start’

If you’re unable to open the MSIX file and you’re getting the following error:

‘App didn’t start’

Please make sure you have the App Installer installed from the Microsoft Store.

Get App Installer

Once installed, you will be able to install Affinity V2 without any issues.

If you’re unable to open the MSIX file and you’re getting the error ‘App Installer failed to install package dependencies…’

If you’re unable to open the MSIX file and you’re getting the following error:

App Installer failed to install package dependencies. Ask the developer for package.

Please make sure you have the Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx package installed from Microsoft.

Get Dependencies

Once installed, you will be able to install Affinity V2 without any issues.

Check you’ve not already installed Affinity V2 - Error 0x80073CF3

If you’re trying to install the Affinity Store or Microsoft Store version of Affinity on Windows and it’s failing for the following reason:

Windows cannot install package… because a different package… with the same name is already installed. Remove package… before installing. (0x80073cf3)

This indicates that there’s already an existing version of the app installed. An example of this would be downloading and installing V2 directly from the Affinity Store and then trying to install Affinity V2 again directly from the Microsoft Store. You can go to Apps> Apps & features to see if you have an existing version installed.

Please note: Because of this behaviour it’s not possible to have both the Affinity Store and Microsoft Store versions of Affinity V2 apps installed alongside each other on the same device.

If you would like to change the location of your app installation

You will notice when installing Affinity V2 as an MSIX package, you will not be offered the ability to change the installation path. This is expected and is down to how MSIX packages work. All Windows Apps are installed to the default drive set in Settings> System> Storage.

There are two options to change where Affinity V2 is installed to:

Temporarily change where new content is saved by going to Settings> System> Storage> More / Advanced Storage Settings> Change where new content is saved and select the required drive from the New apps will save to dropdown menu. Once you’ve installed the app to the new drive, you can revert this setting back to Local Disk (C:)
Move the app to a different drive once installed by going to Settings> Apps> Apps & Features selecting the Affinity App and clicking Move.

Please note: It’s only possible to pick the drive where you want the app installed to, not the full location. Unfortunately, this is handled by Windows and cannot be changed by the user.

You’re getting the error ‘Sideloading is blocked by policy’ when trying to install

If you’re getting the following error message when trying to install Affinity V2 apps:

Sideloading is blocked by policy. Contact your administrator to allow you to install apps from anywhere.

Please go to Settings> Apps> Advanced App Settings and select Anywhere from the Choose where to get apps dropdown.

Once you have done this, please try installing Affinity V2 again.

Please note: This option can also be controlled by Group Policy, so if your machine is managed by an administrator, please contact them.

If you still can’t install Affinity V2 apps on Windows

Check these MSIX Error Codes.

Issues uninstalling Affinity V2

Affinity V2 apps can be uninstalled using the following methods:

Uninstall from the Start Menu

Select Start> All apps and search for the Affinity app you wish to uninstall.
Press and hold (or right-click) on the app and select Uninstall.

Uninstall in Settings

Select Start> Settings> Apps> Apps & features.
Find the Affinity app you wish to remove and select More> Uninstall.

If those methods fail for whatever reason, you can try uninstalling using PowerShell using the following command:

Remove-AppxPackage -Package “SerifEuropeLtd.AffinityPhoto2_2.0.0_x64__v5ap6qg21y3cg

You can use AppxPackage –AllUsers -Name Affinity Cmdlet in PowerShell to find the correct Package Name before running the above command.

Need more help?

If you need more help with installing Affinity V2 MSIX, please post on our forums.