The Microsoft Store on Windows 11 will soon have a new feature that helps you reduce how much space games take up on your PC. Alongside the announcement of Windows 11 Build 27788, which includes a clone of Apple’s Handoff feature, Microsoft announced a new feature for the Microsoft Store that lets you install individual components for some games.
The feature allows you to install specific parts of games, such as high-resolution textures. Alternatively, you can choose to not install components, reducing the amount of space a game takes up on your PC. The feature works as you install games and can be used to pick which parts of a game are on your system later.
Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels can update the Microsoft Store to version 22501.1401. Following that update, the Microsoft Store will support installing individual components for games. For example, installing all of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 would take up around 300GB on your hard drive. But if you prefer to only play multiplayer mode, you could choose to not install or remove the campaign, which would save 83.2GB on your system.
Microsoft did not share a list of games that support the feature.
The Xbox app already supports picking which parts of games are installed on a PC, but having the option to manage storage through the Microsoft Store is a nice addition. The interface and design of the Xbox app is far from perfect. The storage management options in the Microsoft Store appear easier to navigate.
Since the feature is in testing, it could change before it ships to general users. It could also not ship at all, though that seems unlikely for this specific feature, which is essentially a reskin of preexisting functionality that makes it easier to manage game storage.
