Official Dropbox app pulled from the Microsoft Store

Jul 13, 2018 05:56 GMT  ·  By

Windows 8.1 users can no longer download and install the official Dropbox app from the Microsoft Store, as the company has apparently pulled its client.

Basically, this means that those who are still on this particular Windows version need to switch to the desktop version of Dropbox or connect to their accounts in the browser, otherwise they would no longer be able to access the cloud-based files on Windows 8.1.

Somewhat surprising is that Dropbox hasn’t released an announcement in this regard, and this could actually be a sign that the app may return at some point in the future and it’s all just a big misunderstanding.

But for now, whoever attempts to download Dropbox from the Microsoft Store gets an error reading This item is no longer available. Sorry, this item has been remove and is no longer available for purchase from the Windows Store.

Windows 8.1 usage

While Dropbox continues to be available on Windows 10, removing the app from the Microsoft Store on Windows 8.1 shows that this older operating system is rapidly losing app support.

This shouldn’t be a big surprise though given that Windows 10 has become the platform of choice for Microsoft, and the market share of Windows 8.1 clearly reflects that. Only 4.95 percent of the PCs out there are still running Windows 8.1, slightly more than Windows XP, which is already 17 years old and is powering 4.08 percent of the systems.

Sticking with Windows 8.1, however, doesn’t make any sense for many users, especially because the upgrade to Windows 10 was free of charge in the first 12 months after launch.

Most likely, this is just the beginning of a more massive departure from Windows 8.1, and more apps are likely to drop support for this operating system version in the coming weeks and months, focusing instead on Windows 10.