Windows admins have been expressing their dismay at Microsoft’s decision to move the Quick Assist remote assistance tool to the Microsoft Store.

Quick Assist allows Windows 10 and Windows 11 users to receive or give assistance to other Windows users by taking control of their computer remotely.

The app makes it much easier to assist friends, family, and co-workers fix their computer problems without having to go to their location or install a third-party application.

“The end of service is planned for 5/16, after which point the existing inbox app will no longer work,” the official Twitter account for the Office Insider Program explained.

“Users will see a prompt whenever that app is opened advising that an update is required, along with a button to download the Store app.”

As many of them pointed out, the new version requires local admin privileges to be installed (something regular users don’t have on enterprise endpoints), removes support for the keyboard shortcut, and it installs next to the old, native version

“Best thing about the existing Quick Assist is that it’s guaranteed to be on every Windows 10 computer, which means we don’t have to walk someone through an installation over the phone, which always carries the risk that they will install an impostor (malicious) app,”

Microsoft’s reply

While Microsoft has not published any updates and the end of service date of May 16 (this Monday) still stands, some Redmond employees have replied to Windows admins’ complaints and suggestions.

For instance, Microsoft employee Nathan Pfeifer said the new Quick Assist also comes in offline versions that can be downloaded via the Microsoft Store for Business (which will also be retired in the first quarter of 2023).

Kapil Tundwal, a Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft, added that the Quick Assist store app requires admin rights when installing to allow remote helpers to take full control of the other user’s device.

He also said that Microsoft is working to address the older app not being removed when installing the new version in a Microsoft Store update that will also fix the no longer working keyboard shortcuts.

The company also published a new support document on Friday sharing info on how to install and open the Microsoft Store Quick Assist app.

Microsoft suggests pinning Quick Assist to the taskbar to avoid opening the old app and “refrain” from using the shortcut as it will launch the native app instead.

Original Posts: Windows admins frustrated by Quick Assist moving to Microsoft Store