ARP Package mismatch

[oreactko]

Relevant area(s)

WinGet CLI

Relevant command(s)

winget uninstall, winget list, winget upgrade

Brief description of your issue

Winget incorrectly detects the installed Microsoft Visual Studio Installer as Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders.
I previously had Visual Studio Professional 2026 Insiders installed, but uninstalled it using Visual Studio Installer.

Steps to reproduce

1.Run

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders

2.Open Visual Studio Installer and uninstall Visual Studio Professional 2026 Insiders
3.Run

winget list --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders

Expected behavior

winget list command will doesn't show anything about package id Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders,run winget uninstall will return error,winget upgrade same

Actual behavior

winget list show the package id Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders as Microsoft Visual Studio Installer,winget uninstall Visual Studio installer,winget upgrade same

Environment

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

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.29617.1000
System Architecture: X64
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.30.130.0

WinGet Directories
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logs                               %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir
User Settings                      %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\settings.json
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                %USERPROFILE%\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                        Enabled
BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore Disabled
InstallerHashOverride                     Enabled
LocalArchiveMalwareScanOverride           Disabled
ProxyCommandLineOptions                   Disabled
ConfigurationProcessorPath                Disabled
DefaultProxy                              Disabled

[albertosantini]

I add also this case.

winget upgrade --all
No installed package found matching input criteria.
1 package(s) have version numbers that cannot be determined. Use --include-unknown to see all results.

winget list | Where-Object { $_ -match "Unknown" }
Microsoft Windows Application Compatibility Fix Database                                         ARP\Machine\X64\{22221111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111}.sdb  

This appears to be a legitimate Windows system component, but it is surfaced by winget list as if it were a regular installed application:

Microsoft Windows Application Compatibility Fix Database
ARP\Machine\X64\{...}
Unknown

The entry comes from the ARP/uninstall registry data and has no meaningful package version or WinGet source. Although this is not harmful, it creates noise and may incorrectly suggest that the item can be managed or uninstalled by WinGet.

Could WinGet identify and filter out known Windows system components, or at least clearly label these entries as system components and exclude them from upgrade/uninstall operations? A generic Unknown version is misleading in this case.

[oreactko]

More info:

winget list --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders --details
Microsoft Visual Studio Installer [Microsoft.VisualStudio.Professional.Insiders]
Version: 4.10.30.62513
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Local Identifier: ARP\Machine\X64{6F320B93-EE3C-4826-85E0-ADF79F8D4C61}
Product Code: {6f320b93-ee3c-4826-85e0-adf79f8d4c61}
Installer Category: exe
Installed Scope: Machine
Installed Architecture: X64
Installed Location: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer"
Origin Source: winget
Available Upgrades:
winget [18.11206.111]