Windows 8 app certification requirements
Thank you for your interest in developing apps for Windows. We’re committed to a relationship with you that supports your ambitions and encourages a diverse catalog of high-quality, engaging apps for Windows customers worldwide. We crafted these certification requirements with those goals in mind and they should help you make choices that enhance your app’s appeal and help speed its listing in the Windows Store.
We review every app before we list it in the Store. If our certification requirements change, we’ll identify the updates to ease your consideration. If you have feedback on the policies, please let us know by commenting in our forum. We will consider every comment.
Avoiding common certification failures
We know that the sooner you get your app published to the Store, the sooner customers can discover, acquire, and enjoy it. To help make sure your app gets published as quickly as possible, we've put together the following info to help you avoid common certification failures.
If your app fails certification for a reason not listed here, check out our topic, Resolving certification errors. It might have info that can help.
Here are some guidelines to help you get your app through the certification process quickly.
Resolving certification errors
Here are some of the actions you can take and links to additional references that can help you resolve issues found during the certification of Windows Store apps and desktop applications that are submitted to the Windows Store.
This list is not meant to be exclusive, but it should help you to resolve some of the more common reasons for failure to achieve certification.
Certification errors fall into three categories:
- Security tests
- Technical compliance
- Content compliance
Index of UX guidelines for Windows Store apps
Use this index to quickly find the user experience (UX) guidelines that can help you create a great Windows Store app. If you haven't already, you should start by reading Making great Windows Store apps and Planning Windows Store apps.
Opening a developer account
If you want to sell apps in the Windows Store, you need to open a developer account. You need to open a Windows Store developer account even if you already have a developer account for other Microsoft services—for example, for Windows Phone.
Sign up steps
Note Before you sign up, be sure to have a credit card handy. The Windows Store requires a credit card to open a developer account—even if you have a registration code that offsets the registration fee. Also, review Keeping your Microsoft account secure for info on the security measures we take to help you protect your account.
Keeping your Microsoft account secure
Strong authentication uses security proofs to raise the security level of your developer account by associating it with multiple forms of identification. This makes unauthorized access to your Microsoft account substantially more difficult. Also, if you ever forget your password or someone tries to access your account, these proofs provide us a way to reach you to reestablish appropriate control of your account. It's always a good idea to keep your security proofs up to date. And remember, we only use this information to protect your account.
Publishing your app to the Store
Publishing your app to the Windows Store puts your work in front of millions of potential customers, in hundreds of markets around the world. Here, we walk through the steps you'll follow to get your app published.
The exact steps you follow depends on how you've configured your business operations, and what types of apps you want to develop. Take a look at each of these steps; then choose the path that's right for you.
Submitting your app
If your app isn't ready for submission, one of these links might help: