Windows 8 missing icon on Metro desktop

[kris44dad]

I installed windows solitaire and classic shell broke the link to the icon on the metro desktop.

I can't reinstall the app. Windows store says I have it.
Couldn't uninstall the app. No uninstall button.
Clicking on the tile just opened the store not the app, so I unpinned it.

Any suggestions on how one might

Repair links to missing apps on the metro desktop?
Or allow it to be uninstalled and reinstalled from the store?

 

[davehc]

Have you tried right clicking the icon and selecting Uninstall from the bottom bar?

 

[usasma]

I went throught this at work yesterday (most likely a different cause tho')
Right click on an empty area of the Start Screen and select "All Apps" in the lower right corner.
If the app is on that screen, right click on it and select "Pin to Start"

If it's not there (or it doesn't work), then you'll have to check in the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder.
It's not going to want to let you in there - and I had to take ownership in order to even see what's in mine.
And, once you're in there I can't see any obvious thing to use to launch the app (I think it runs under the WWAHost.exe process - quick description here: What is WWAHost.exe and Why is it Running?)

I can't seem to find any easy "fixes" for this. But I renamed the folder in the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder (in my case I was playing with the Amazon Kindle folder) and it stopped working (but the Kindle folder remains on my Start Screen). That leads me to believe that renaming the folder might enable you to reinstall the app (DO NOT delete the folder as there is no telling what consequences these experiments will have!!!!)

The usual caveats go here...
BACKUP everything before starting!
Set a Restore Point before starting
Make a System Repair disc before starting - Press "WIN" and "R" to open the Run dialog...type "RECDISC" (without the quotes) and press ENTER

etc, etc, etc

Just to document this I:
- clicked on "Uninstall" (right click on the Kindle app) in the bar at the bottom of the screen
- went to the Store and installed the Kindle app again
It took a long time (20 seconds or so) to install (the first time it was almost immediate)
The app appears to work normally and I still have the renamed Kindle folder in addition to the newly installed one.

 

[kris44dad]

In response to the first one, I indicated the uninstall button went missing in my original post.

To usamsa, the application was not even visible on the all apps screen. One of the testers of classic shell directed me to the location of the folders you spoke of, and told me to put the original 'app' file back (overwriting the newest version that didn't work). Thank God I didn't empty the recycle bin. After a reboot, I was able to re-pin the app from the all apps screen.