Launch Metro style apps using powershell

Store Apps can only be started by the shell. Try this:

explorer.exe shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App

You can locate the command to use with Start-Process by navigating here in the registry: Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Extensions\ContractId\Windows.Protocol\PackageId

Then expand ActivatableClassId, then the app, then in the CustomProperties folder look at the value for Name.

Start-Process must be run with PowerShell as is not recognised in CMD.

I used this to start the Windows Mail app.

If the appx has registered a URI protocol scheme, you can launch it using that. For example, to launch windows store in Win8/Win10, use the following code:

    Start-Process ms-windows-store:

I was amazed at how little documentation there is for launching metro style apps.