Windows Installation Guide

Minecraft Education is available in the Microsoft Store

Before you begin

Before installing Minecraft Education, ensure these prerequisites are met.

• Your PC must meet the system requirements.
• Users need to have the correct permissions based on the setup and installation method used at your organization.
• If installing the app from the Microsoft Store, all apps must be up to date. Minecraft Education cannot be installed if there are updates pending for other apps.

Installation Options

Minecraft Education is available as a desktop installer and through the Microsoft Store. Both versions function the same and have the same features. The difference is in how Minecraft is downloaded and installed. The Windows desktop version is downloaded from the Minecraft Education website. 

To install Minecraft via device management tools, you can choose to install and update via the Microsoft store or using a traditional desktop installer.

The version you choose may depend on your setup. These are the recommended Minecraft Education versions based on common setups.

NOTES:

• When Minecraft Education is installed with the Microsoft Store, app updates are installed through the Microsoft Store. If you block updates to apps, Minecraft Education will not update.
• The Microsoft Store and desktop installer versions of Minecraft Education are incompatible with each other. If you want to switch from one to the other, you must uninstall the other version.
• Delivery Optimization is only supported for the store version of Minecraft Education.

Installation instructions

Install on devices enrolled into Microsoft Intune using Microsoft Store app integration

Intune can deploy apps from the Microsoft Store. For more information, see Add Microsoft Store apps to Microsoft Intune. To deploy Minecraft Education to your Intune managed devices, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Microsoft Intune admin console
2. Select Apps, then select All Apps
3. Select Add
4. Select Microsoft Store app (new) and chooses Select
5. Select Search the Microsoft Store app (new)
6. Search for Minecraft Education
7. Choose Select
8. On the App information screen, select the install behavior, then select Next
   • System means install for all users (recommended for most scenarios)
   • User means only install for the targeted user or current user of a device
9. On the scope tags screen, select scope tags if necessary, then select Next
10. On the assignment screen, choose how you’d like to target the installation of Minecraft Education
    • Required assignments are installed without user interaction.
    • Available assignments enable Minecraft Education to be installed from Company Portal by the targeted users.
11. After you’ve made your selection, select Next
12. Then select Create
13. Result: Minecraft Education will be installed by Microsoft Intune on the targeted users or devices at the next check-in or be made available in Company Portal for optional install.

Install on Devices via Winget command in Command Prompt

Minecraft Education can be installed from the Winget utility in Windows 11/10. For more information regarding Winget and how you can use it in your deployment see Use the Winget tool to install and manage applications | Microsoft Learn

To install Minecraft Education by Winget: 

1. Open Command Prompt as an Administrator
2. Run Winget search "Minecraft Education"
3. Depending on how you wish to install Minecraft Education run one of these commands: 
   1. To install for just the currently signed in user: 
      1. Winget Install "Minecraft Education" --scope user
   2. To install for all users on the machine:
      1. Winget Install "Minecraft Education" --scope machine
          

Instruct users to install from the Microsoft Store

Provide the following instructions for your students and teachers to get the app themselves from the Microsoft Store.

1. Open the Microsoft Store app
2. Search for Minecraft Education
3. Follow instructions to get the app

Install desktop version

Follow these steps to manually install the Windows desktop version of Minecraft Education.

1. Download the Minecraft Education desktop installer.
2. Result: The installation file begins downloading to your PC.

2. Use the following command line to install the application quietly:
3. <exe name. eg MinecraftEducation_x86_1.20.1200.0> /qn

The full list of command line options are:

MinecraftInstaller.exe AppDir=C:\Test\ /qn /exenoui

3. If your software deployment tool has a detection method, you can use the following options:

Install Minecraft Education via Group Policy using PowerShell script

For organizations who would like to deploy the app using local Group Policy we have created PowerShell scripts designed to be deployed as startup scripts. You can find detailed setup instructions on this article: Deploying over Group Policy (via PowerShell)

Install the Microsoft Store version manually

Follow these steps to manually install the Microsoft Store version of Minecraft Education.

1. Download the Minecraft Education appxbundle.
2. Result: If a pop-up asks approval to open the app installer, select Open Installer

2. From the app installer, ensure Launch when ready is selected and select Install.
3. Result: After Minecraft Education finishes installing, Minecraft Education opens.
4. Note: This requires the Desktop App Installer application to be installed.