🟣 Ask Learn⋮

Make your app easier to find in Microsoft Store search

✦ Summarize this article for me

Many customers discover apps and games by searching the Microsoft Store. When your Store listing is clear, accurate, and complete, search can connect your app with the customers looking for what it does. This article explains how Store search works and how to make your app easier to find.

How Store search works

When a customer searches the Microsoft Store, results are based on a combination of factors, including:

Relevance — how well your app matches what the customer is looking for, based on the information in your Store listing, such as your app's name, description, search terms, and category.
Customer engagement — how customers respond to your app, such as installs, ratings, and reviews.

An accurate, high-quality listing helps the Store understand your app and show it to the customers most likely to want it. Search continues to evolve, so the most reliable approach is an accurate listing and a great app experience rather than tactics aimed at ranking.

ⓘ Note

Search is designed to connect customers with the apps most relevant to them. Focus on describing your app accurately and delivering a great experience rather than optimizing for ranking.

The parts of your listing that search uses

Each part of your Store listing plays a role. Fill them in accurately and completely:

Listing element	What it's for	Best practice
App name	Your app's identity in results	Use your app's real, unique name. Don't add extra keywords or descriptive text to it.
Description	Explains what your app does	Lead with your value; describe real features in the words customers use.
Search terms (up to 7)	Extra terms customers might search that aren't already in your name or description	Add specific, relevant terms only — see below.
Category (and subcategory)	Browsing and filtering	Choose the category that most accurately represents your app.
Screenshots and assets	Help customers decide to install	Show your app's real experience clearly.

Choose effective search terms

In the search terms field, add words or phrases customers might use to find an app like yours that aren't already in your app name or description. Per Microsoft Store Policy 10.1.3, search terms must:

Not exceed seven unique terms or phrases.
Be relevant to your product.
Not include pricing terms (for example, "free" or "sale").
Not use other products' titles unless those products are also published by you.

⚠ Important · Don't use competitor or third-party names

Using another app's name or a brand or trademark you don't own — in your search terms, name, or description — isn't allowed and may cause your submission to fail certification. Per Policy 10.1.1, your metadata must not be the same as another product's or mislead customers about your app's relationship to other products; per Policy 11.2, don't use third-party names, logos, or trademarks without permission. Describe what your app does, not what other apps are called.

✓ Tip

Spend your seven terms on specific, functional phrases customers actually type (for example, "pomodoro timer", "merge PDF", "photo restore") — and don't waste them repeating words already in your app name or description.

Describe your app in your customers' words

Customers search using everyday language. Use the words they are likely to type when looking for an app like yours.

Lead with your value. In the first one or two sentences of your description, explain clearly what your app does and why someone would choose it.
Describe real features. Mention the genuine capabilities and use cases your app supports, so it can be matched to relevant searches.
Be specific. Specific, functional terms (for example, "pomodoro timer" or "merge PDF") connect you with customers who are looking for exactly what you offer.

What to avoid

Some tactics don't improve discoverability and can work against you or cause your submission to be flagged during certification:

Keyword stuffing. Repeating the same term many times, or adding a long list of loosely-related words, doesn't help and can hurt.
Irrelevant terms. Words that don't describe your app won't connect you with the right customers.
Other products' names and trademarks. Don't include competitor app names or brands you don't own (see above).
Misleading claims. Don't imply features your app doesn't have, or a relationship with another company or product that doesn't exist.

⚠ Important

Keep your listing accurate and relevant to your app. See the Microsoft Store Policies (10.1 Distinct Function & Value; Accurate Representation) for the full requirements.

✓ Tip

If your app genuinely gained a new capability, describe that feature in your listing so customers searching for it can find you. Add only features your app actually has.

Complete and localize your listing

Complete every field. A complete listing — description, search terms, screenshots, and category — gives the Store more signals for matching and gives customers more reasons to install.
Choose the right category. Select the category that best represents your app so customers browsing or filtering can find it.
Localize. Translating your listing helps customers in other regions understand your app and may make them more likely to install it.

Earn positive ratings and keep your app healthy

Because customer engagement is part of how search works, the experience you deliver matters:

Encourage satisfied customers to rate and review your app.
Keep your app reliable — fix crashes and hangs, and update regularly.

Monitor your search performance

Use the search analytics in Partner Center to understand how customers find and install your app:

Your search terms. For each registered term, see the impressions, store-listing visits, installs, and conversion it drives.
Customer queries. Where available, see the search queries that led customers to your app. Use them to spot demand your app already meets but your listing doesn't yet describe.

Use these insights to refine your description and search terms over time — always keeping them accurate to what your app does.

For more info, see Analyze your app's performance.