How to use desktop apps in Windows Mixed Reality

How Tos
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The best Windows Mixed Reality experience comes with UWP apps from the Store. But you can use win32 desktop apps as well if you know how.

It's a less than ideal scenario, for sure, but if you're going all in on the Windows Mixed Reality experience then that means gaining access to everything on your PC.

While you can't manipulate and interact with your win32 apps like you can those from the Microsoft Store, you can at least use them while you're inside your Mixed Reality headset. Here's how.

  1. Make sure your headset is on and your motion controllers are connected.
  2. Press the Windows button on either controller.
  3. Select all apps.
  4. Scroll down until you come to desktop.
  5. Click the trigger to open it.

Inside Windows Mixed Reality, your desktop becomes the app and everything inside it works just in that same window. It's not the most user-friendly experience, but it will at least give you access to a web browser that isn't Microsoft Edge or apps like Photoshop should you have a desire to use these.

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Once you click out of the desktop app window it'll go to sleep as with any other application and you can resize it and pin it to a wall if you so wish. It's one of those situations that it's good to have in a pinch, but it's not how you'll get the best Mixed Reality experience.

Richard Devine
Richard Devine
Managing Editor

Richard Devine is the Managing Editor at Windows Central, where he combines a deep love for the open-source community with expert-level technical coverage. Whether he’s hunting for the next big project on GitHub, fine-tuning a WSL workflow, or breaking down the latest meta in Call of Duty, Forza, and The Division 2, Richard focuses on making complex tech accessible to every kind of user. If it’s happening in the world of Windows or PC gaming, he’s probably already knee-deep in the code (or the lobbies). Follow him on X and Mastodon.