The Application User Model ID (AUMID) is the identifier Windows uses to recognise a UWP app — and you’ll need it any time you want to launch one programmatically, pin it to the Start menu via Intune, target it in AppLocker, or surface a toast notification from the right “owner” application. The challenge is that this identifier is rarely visible in the UI, varies between OEM-installed apps and re-published store apps, and can change after an upgrade. This post documents the three reliable ways I retrieve the AUMID in production, plus how to use them in Intune assignments.
The AUMID is an ID which is assigned to each application installed on a device. It is used e.g. in the Kiosk multi app mode to select apps. Which possibilities exist to get this AUMID I want to explain you in this blog.
Why the Application User Model ID (AUMID) matters
Before we walk through the methods, it helps to understand what the Application User Model ID (AUMID) actually represents. For packaged (UWP/MSIX) apps the AUMID is built from the Package Family Name combined with the application ID declared in the app manifest, separated by an exclamation mark — for example Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App. For classic desktop apps the value is usually a relative path to the application’s shortcut. Because the format differs between app types, copying the value verbatim instead of guessing it is the only safe approach when you author Intune policy. Microsoft documents the underlying concept in detail on Microsoft Learn.
Table of contents
Possibility 1: Get the Application User Model ID (AUMID) from the Apps folder
Press WIN + R to open a Run dialog. Type in the following command and click OK:
shell:Appsfolder
A folder opens in which all applications are located. This view is the most beginner-friendly way to read an AUMID because it lists every launchable app — including OEM apps that never appear in the regular Start search.
Press F10 and click View -> Choose details
- Select AppUserModelId and click OK
- Change the view to Details
Here we are. Here you can see the AUMID. Simply right-click the column value and copy it; this is the exact string you should paste into your policy.
Possibility 2: Read the AUMID with PowerShell
Open a Powershell and enter the following command:
get-StartApps
This is my preferred method when scripting because the output is already a clean object. If you only need a single Application User Model ID (AUMID), pipe the result through a filter such as Get-StartApps | Where-Object Name -match 'Calculator' and you immediately get the matching name and AppID pair without scrolling through the full list.
Possibility 3: Find the AUMID in the Registry
Open the Registry Editor. Press WIN + R and type in regedit and click OK. The registry route is useful when an app refuses to show up in the Apps folder, since the underlying packages are always recorded here even for sideloaded MSIX bundles.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\ActivatableClasses\Package
Also here we can see all the AUMID.
Where AUMIDs actually matter in production
Knowing how to grab an AUMID is one thing; knowing where it shows up in real Intune work is what makes it worth memorizing.
- Toast notifications and ownership branding: custom toasts must reference an existing AUMID so Action Center attributes the message correctly.
- AppLocker and WDAC targeting: packaged-app rules match against the publisher and package family inside the AUMID, not the executable path.
- Pinned Start menu layouts via Intune: Start layout XML and the JSON pinning policy expect exact AUMIDs; one typo and the tile silently disappears.
- Per-user install tracking: AUMIDs correlate launches and crash telemetry back to the provisioned user, which matters on Cloud PC and shared devices.
- Upgrades and recovery: AUMIDs can change after feature updates or store re-provisioning, so always re-export them from a freshly imaged reference device before pushing policy.
Using the AUMID in an Intune Kiosk assignment
Once you have copied the value, the most common place it lands is a multi-app Kiosk profile. In the Intune device configuration profile you add each app and paste the AUMID into the application identifier field; for the single-app Kiosk you supply exactly one Application User Model ID (AUMID) and Windows boots straight into that app. The rule of thumb is simple: never type the value by hand. Even a single missing character means the assigned device shows an empty Kiosk shell, and because the failure is silent it is one of the most time-consuming issues to troubleshoot. If you manage many devices, store the exported AUMIDs alongside your other deployment artefacts so the next engineer can reuse them.
Troubleshooting and related reading
If an app launches manually but the AUMID still fails inside policy, confirm you are reading the per-user hive on the same account that provisioned the app, and re-run Get-StartApps after any feature update. For deeper automation around app deployment and Intune, you can browse more of my Intune and Endpoint Management articles here on the blog. With the three methods above you can reliably capture the Application User Model ID (AUMID) for any app on Windows and feed it into Intune with confidence.
Stay healthy, Cheers
Jannik