Disallow auto reboots on winget upgrade

[eldair]

Relevant area(s)

WinGet CLI

Relevant command(s)

winget upgrade

Brief description of your issue

Apps should not be allowed to execute PC reboot when update or install is finished without user consent and any prompt. Relevan app: ElectronicArts.EADesktop

Steps to reproduce

Use winget upgrade to update EA app to latest version from any of previous two

Expected behavior

App updates

Actual behavior

App install finishes, app opens and PC is rebooted without any prompt or UI or consent or anything!!! And the cherry on top is that EA app (triggering app) disappears and has to be reinstalled.

Environment

Windows Package Manager (Preview) v1.30.130-preview
© 2026 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.26200.9278
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.30.129.0

WinGet Directories
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Diag…
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\sett…
Portable Links Directory (User)    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links
Portable Links Directory (Machine) C:\Program Files\WinGet\Links
Portable Package Root (User)       %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root              C:\Program Files\WinGet\Packages
Portable Package Root (x86)        C:\Program Files (x86)\WinGet\Packages
Installer Downloads                D:\Downloads
Configuration Modules              %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Configuration\Modules

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Admin Setting                             State
--------------------------------------------------
LocalManifestFiles                        Disabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Disabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled
ProxyCommandLineOptions                   Disabled
ConfigurationProcessorPath                Disabled
DefaultProxy                              Disabled

[eldair]

Previous issue that did not solve the problem. This should not be left to developers making apps, no app should be allowed to initiate reboot without consent.
#229

[Zocker1999NET]

I understand your issue, but I think winget by itself can do nothing to actually prevent this in general, as every app / process running with at least your user permissions can just initiate an reboot (and Windows has no protection against this as I'm aware of). And winget does essentially delegate the actual installation to the installer EXE in case of EADesktop (see manifest). But maybe winget could improve the handling in this special case.

(So I think this issue could be moved to the winget-pkgs repo?)

First, to be on the same page: the manifest for EA App defines that upgrade works by uninstalling & then re-installing. And it also defines installer switches for the modes Silent, SilentWithProgress & Custom (see here), but not for Interactive (see all possible options here).

From what you wrote I think the following has happened:

• upgrade process starts with uninstalling the old EA App, as defined by the manifest
• some process finished & "new EA App" window opens
  • either, scenario A, maybe this was actually the installation of the newer version started by winget
    • (from my experience, installers from game clients like Steam, Ubisoft & EA can look like they are just opening & loading because of "modern design")
    • this would also explain why the app was missing after the reboot (because the reboot did abort the ongoing upgrade/installation process)
  • or, scenario B, actually the new installation was already finished by now
• computer suddenly reboots

Scenario A can be explained by either:

• winget does not supply the /norestart flag to the uninstaller
  • maybe winget can supply that there as well?
• or the EA App uninstaller just ignores that flag there
  • then winget can do nothing

Or Scenario B, when the uninstaller did not issue the restart, but the installer did, could also be explained by either:

• winget does not supply the /norestart flag to the installer
• or the EA App installer ignored that flag there

This raises to questions for me:

• have you upgraded the EA App with or without the --silent flag?
• do winget uninstall ElectronicArts.EADesktop (interactive) and/or winget uninstall --silent ElectronicArts.EADesktop have reboots attached to them?