How Can You Find an App's AUMID in Windows 11?

An Application User Model ID, usually shortened to AUMID or AppUserModelID, is an identifier Windows uses to distinguish applications for shell features such as launching, switching, taskbar grouping, Jump Lists, and assigned-access configurations. It is not the app's installation path or a running process ID.

The quickest read-only lookup for an app represented in Start is the Windows PowerShell Get-StartApps command. I reproduced the command on Windows 11 Home Single Language version 25H2, build 26220.7872, in a non-elevated, no-profile Windows PowerShell window. The test did not launch Calculator, modify a package, enumerate another user, or change a file, Registry key, or setting.

What is an AUMID?

Windows associates an AUMID with an application identity used by shell experiences. Microsoft also calls it an AppId in some documentation, while PowerShell's Get-StartApps output labels the column AppID. These names refer to the same kind of application identifier in this lookup.

An AUMID is different from several values that may look related:

• File path: the location of an executable or package files.
• Process ID: a temporary number assigned to a running process.
• Package family name: one component often visible inside a packaged app's AUMID, but not always the complete launch identifier.
• Display name: the friendly name shown in Start, which can be localized or changed independently.

Table of contents

How can you find an app's AUMID with PowerShell?

1. Open Start, type Windows PowerShell, and open the regular non-administrator result.
2. Run Get-StartApps to list the names and AppIDs of apps that appear in Start.
3. Find the app by its displayed name and copy the corresponding value from the AppID column.
4. Close PowerShell when you finish. Reading the list does not launch or change an app.

Get-StartApps

Microsoft's AUMID guidance documents this exact command and notes an important limit: apps that do not appear in Start will not appear in Get-StartApps output.

How can you filter the result to one app?

A complete Start-app list can be long and can reveal software you would not want in a public screenshot. Filter before displaying the result when you already know the app's Start name. This example looks for the built-in Calculator entry:

Get-StartApps | Where-Object Name -eq 'Calculator' | Select-Object Name, AppID

The reproduced query returned exactly one Calculator row and a non-empty AppID. Your value can differ with the installed package or Windows configuration, so copy the result from your own device instead of relying on an identifier shown in a tutorial.

Why might the filtered command return nothing?

The most common cause is a display-name mismatch. The Start name can be localized, include extra words, or differ from the product name you expected. Run Get-StartApps without a filter, inspect the relevant friendly name privately, and then repeat the targeted command with that exact name.

The app can also be absent from Start. Microsoft explicitly limits Get-StartApps to apps represented there, so no result does not prove the executable or component is missing from the PC. Portable tools, background components, services, drivers, and apps without a Start entry need a different inventory method.

Can you search with only part of the name?

Yes. A wildcard is useful when the exact Start name is unknown:

Get-StartApps | Where-Object Name -like '*Calculator*' | Select-Object Name, AppID

Review every returned row before copying an ID. A partial search can match multiple apps, and choosing the first row automatically can produce the wrong identifier. Keep the command non-elevated and scoped to the current user's Start list for this task.

What should you avoid during an AUMID lookup?

• Do not publish the complete Get-StartApps output without reviewing the app names for privacy.
• Do not assume an AUMID is a file path or paste it into an unrelated command.
• Do not use another user's package inventory or an all-users query unless the administrative task truly requires it.
• Do not launch, register, reinstall, reset, or uninstall an app merely to confirm its AUMID.

Microsoft also documents Registry and Explorer-based discovery paths. They were not reproduced for this package, and the read-only PowerShell method already answers the lookup intent, so this guide does not present those alternatives as tested steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use a targeted read-only query

Open regular Windows PowerShell, run Get-StartApps, and filter by the exact Start display name when possible. Copy the AppID from your own device, remember that apps absent from Start will not appear, and keep full software inventories private when documenting the result.