So, you've got a Universal App or Windows Store purchase game, like Quantum Break or Rise of the Tomb Raider that you want to add to your Steam library.
Or you want to pin on the Taskbar or Start Menu Steam purchase game or software (basically the reverse). Well, in this guide I'll cover both.
Adding Universal App or Windows Store purchased game to Steam
Overview
Universal Apps and Windows Store purchased games don't run like they do normally. The reason is that the package is running in a sandbox environment increase system security.
So, in order to run a Universal App, or any Windows Store purchased app or game, you need to go through Explorer with the app name as argument.
For example, if you want to open Netflix via command prompt, you need to do:
explorer.exe shell:appsFolder\4DF9E0F8.Netflix_mcm4njqhnhss8!Netflix.App
This means that Steam, technically, can support easily adding and running Universal Store apps, but so far (at the moment of writing this guide), does not, but we can see how we can work around the limitation already. Basically, we add explorer.exe in Steam Library, and set as "Launch option", the argument of the Windows Store App ID.
So let's go step-by-step:
We first need to find the App ID of the universal app. They are different ways to do this, but here is one method which I find is the easiest:
Go to: C:\Users\<Account name>\AppData\Local\Packages
From here you can see a list of folders. The folder represents the App ID of each Windows Store purchased apps. The App/game name is found within the App ID name. So, it is easy to find what we are looking for.
Once you find the App ID, simply copy it.
(Here we see Netflix Universal App, App ID)
Once we have it, we simply go on Steam, and go to the Library section. At the bottom of the list of games, you have the option Add a Game, click on that, and a menu will show. On the menu pick Add Non-Steam Game... option.
When you do a panel will show. On that panel, click on Browse, and navigate to C:\Windows\, and select explorer.exe.
Then click on Add selected programs button.
In your Steam Library, you'll notice a new item that has been added, called: explorer. Simply right-click on it, and select Properties. You'll see the following panel:
The first box is the program name. So you can change it to the game or app name you plan to add. In this example, I put Netflix, because this is what I want to add to my Steam library, for some reason. Then you click on Choose Icon button at the top, to select an appropriate image of the game or app.
Once you have done that, hit the Set Launch Options button. A window will open with a text box asking you to enter a launch option. In Steam, when they say "Launch option" they mean command line argument to execute with the program.
In the box you want to enter: shell:appsFolder\<App ID found>
So in this tutorial, I want to put: shell:appsFolder\4DF9E0F8.Netflix_mcm4njqhnhss8!Netflix.App
Click on OK, and once everything is setup, click on Close in the panel.
Now, your Windows Store app or purchase game is added to your Steam library, and ready to be launched from. Simply, select it form your library, and hit the "Play" button, and it will launch.
Adding Steam Game to the taskbar or Start Menu
Overview
So you prefer to not have your game in Steam, and run it directly from Windows. You try to create a shortcut in Steam but you can't pin it on your taskbar or Start Menu (Windows 8/10).
Here is how you do it. You have to manually create the shortcut of the game, place the shortcut where you want (I recommend where the game is installed), and from there you rename it to a nice name, and right-click on it, and select the pin option you prefer (Start or Taskbar).
Let's go in steps
Steam purchased games are usually located at: <Path of where Steam is installed>\steamapps\common. Go there.
From there you can see a list of folders which contains the each of your games from Steam that is currently installed on your system.
Go in the game folder of where you want a to have the game pinned on the Start Menu or Taskbar. In This example, we will go with Broken Age.
Inside the folder of the game, you should find the game main executable file (if you don't, look under the "bin" folder, if there is one inside). Right-click on the game executable, in my case: BrokenAge.exe, and select Create Shortcut. A shortcut has now been created next to the executable. Rename it to a nice name, say, in my case: Broken Age.
Depending on where Steam is installed and permission, Windows will tell you that it can't create a shortcut where the game is, and will ask you if you want Windows to put it on your Desktop. Click on Yes. And manually cut and paste the shortcut to where the game is.
Now, you can right-click on the shortcut, pick if you want to: Pin to Start to add it on the Start Menu (Windows 10) or Start Screen (Windows 8), or Pin to taskbar, to pin it on the taskbar.
Hope you found this tutorial helpful.
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