The Patch My PC catalog is a curated enterprise app catalog, with applications selected, tested, maintained, and supported by Patch My PC. This is our recommended source for application deployment. Because we own the packaging, testing, and maintenance, our catalog carries a level of reliability and quality assurance that customers should prioritize wherever an app is available there. See Curated vs. Crowdsourced: Why Enterprise Software Catalogs Require Professional Curation for more on why this distinction matters

External Apps in Patch My PC Cloud give you another option when an app isn’t in our catalog. This includes WinGet apps, which are classed as External Apps. Because these apps come from the WinGet repository rather than our own curated catalog, we don’t have visibility into how the installer or manifest was built, so we’re not in a position to guarantee or debug its behaviour. Doing so would mean making promises we can’t actually stand behind. As a result, External Apps are not equivalent to our catalog applications. They add deployment flexibility but don’t carry the same validation, maintenance, or support assurance

What We SupportCopy Link

Our support scope covers the Patch My PC Cloud experience and creating the app in Intune. Our support team will be able to help ensure:

  • Searching for and selecting External Apps (including WinGet apps) in Patch My PC Cloud works as expected
  • The Intune Win32 app is created successfully through Patch My PC Cloud
  • Supported customization options are applied correctly
  • Your configured deployment settings were applied as expected

Not SupportedCopy Link

Because External Apps come from repositories we don’t control, Patch My PC is unable to:

  • Validate, build, test, or maintain External App installers or manifests
  • Confirm whether a package source is vendor-approved or suitable for your environment
  • Guarantee install, upgrade, or uninstall behavior on client devices
  • Validate command-line switches, troubleshoot installer defects, or guarantee manifest accuracy

If Installation or Detection FailsCopy Link

We are not able to investigate or resolve installation or detection failures directly.

If a WinGet app fails to install or isn’t detected after deployment, support is limited to general guidance. For example, you may wish to:

  • Check that you’re targeting the correct architecture (x86, x64, or ARM64) and installer type (EXE, MSI)
  • Verify that an update deployment targets devices where the application is installed in the same context being used for deployment (SYSTEM vs USER)
  • Review the PatchMyPC-ScriptRunner.log on the client to ensure the expected configuration was included in the package delivered
  • Confirm that the configured deployment settings in Patch My PC Cloud are supported by the vendor
  • Test the application directly on the endpoint using the equivalent WinGet install command
  • If deploying in a SYSTEM context, use a tool such as PsExec to simulate the above installation under the SYSTEM account

Because we package strictly in accordance with the published WinGet manifest, installation issues should generally be reproducible when running the WinGet install command directly on the endpoint. If the application fails when installed directly from its source, the issue is likely outside the Patch My PC Cloud packaging and deployment workflow.

These are checks you’re welcome to perform yourself. Patch My PC cannot troubleshoot third-party installers, WinGet manifests, package content, or application detection logic maintained by the package owners.

Frequently Asked Questions Copy Link

Copy Link

Availability is evaluated at the installer level, not necessarily at the product level.

For example, if Patch My PC supports the MSI x64 variant of an application but WinGet also contains an EXE x64 variant, you may still be able to add the EXE variant through External Apps. However, the equivalent MSI variant will be blocked, and you will be directed to use the version from the Patch My PC catalog instead.

This helps ensure that customers use the curated version whenever Patch My PC already maintains an equivalent installer.

Copy Link

The benefit is not simply access to the WinGet community repository. It is the ability to manage eligible WinGet applications using Patch My PC capabilities and workflows. When deploying External Apps, you can use features such as:

This allows you to manage Patch My PC applications and External Apps from the same portal using consistent deployment workflows. External Apps are also published as Win32 applications, allowing them to participate in your existing Intune reporting and management workflows.

Copy Link

Detection for External Apps is generated using information derived from the WinGet manifest and installer.

Detection may fail when the manifest contains incorrect or incomplete information, or when the installer behaves differently from what the manifest indicates. For example:

  • The manifest may specify a machine installation when the application actually installs per user.
  • The manifest may contain inaccurate installer or version information.
  • The installer may register the application differently depending on the installation context.
  • The installer may behave differently from what the manifest indicates.

If detection fails, confirm that you are using the correct architecture, installer type, and installation context. You can also:

  • Review PatchMyPC-ScriptRunner.log to confirm that the expected configuration was included in the package.
  • Test the application directly on the device using the equivalent WinGet installation command.
  • If deploying in the SYSTEM context, repeat the test while running as SYSTEM.

If the application installs and is detected as expected using the equivalent WinGet command in the same context, but the deployment created by Patch My PC does not behave as expected, contact Patch My PC Support. We can review whether we correctly processed the published manifest and created the Intune application and deployment configuration as expected.

Patch My PC cannot validate or correct third-party installers or WinGet manifests, troubleshoot installer behaviour, or guarantee installation and detection behaviour on client devices.

Copy Link

The following application types are not currently supported:

  • MSIX
  • APPX
  • Portable applications
  • Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
  • Microsoft Store applications

If a WinGet application uses one of these technologies, it cannot be added through External Apps.

Applications must also use a version that can be interpreted using the standard major.minor.build.revision format. Applications with additional characters or non-standard version formatting, such as hyphens, may not appear in the External Apps catalog.

We are aware of this limitation and are working to support additional version formats.

Copy Link

If an equivalent installer is already available in the Patch My PC catalog, we will direct you there instead.

This is intentional because the Patch My PC catalog provides the curated and fully supported experience. Applications in our catalog are tested, maintained, scanned, and supported by Patch My PC.

External Apps are intended to expand the range of applications you can deploy, not replace the curated Patch My PC catalog.

Copy Link

Our curated catalog remains our recommended and fully supported option. Applications in the Patch My PC catalog are tested, maintained, and supported by our team. However, customers regularly request applications that are not currently available in our catalog. The External Apps catalog provides another option when an application is unavailable in the Patch My PC catalog, allowing customers to deploy and manage additional software from the same Cloud Portal experience.

External Apps is currently powered by the public WinGet repository.

Copy Link

If Patch My PC begins supporting an application that was previously available only through WinGet:

  • Existing External App deployments will continue working.
  • Existing deployments will continue receiving updates from the WinGet source.
  • The application can no longer be added from External Apps.
  • New External App deployments can no longer be created for the application.
  • Customers will be directed to the Patch My PC catalog version for future deployments.

This ensures that new deployments use the curated and fully supported catalog experience while avoiding disruption for customers who previously deployed the WinGet version.

Copy Link

External Apps relies heavily on metadata provided by the public WinGet repository.

If a manifest contains incorrect or incomplete information, such as:

  • An incorrect installer URL
  • An incorrect installation context
  • Incorrect version information
  • Missing or inaccurate installation parameters

The resulting deployment may not behave as expected.

Patch My PC does not own or maintain WinGet manifests, so we cannot directly correct these issues. We depend on the information provided by the manifest authors and maintainers.

Copy Link

Silent installation behaviour depends on the installer and the information available in the WinGet manifest.

If the manifest contains silent installation parameters, Patch My PC uses them. If the manifest does not provide silent installation parameters, Patch My PC applies the same installer-type logic used by WinGet.

Examples include:

  • Inno Setup: /SP- /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART
  • NSIS: /S
  • Burn/WiX: /quiet /norestart
  • MSI: /qn

For generic EXE installers, a known silent installation parameter may not be available. As a result, some installers may display prompts or require user interaction if the vendor’s installer does not properly support silent installation.