Microsoft Store age ratings: the IARC questionnaire explained

What does the IARC questionnaire ask?

Microsoft's age ratings page says the ratings describe how suitable the content in your app is, rather than the age of the audience you're aiming at. A calculator app for kids and one for accountants can end up with the same rating.

1. 1

   Pick a category

   The first question asks which category best describes your app and its metadata. The questions after it depend on what you pick, so a game gets different questions from a productivity app.

2. 2

   Answer the multiple-choice questions

   IARC says the questions cover content such as violence, profanity, sexual content, nudity and gambling. They also cover what it calls interactive elements, which tell people up front whether the app has in-app purchases (including randomized ones), lets users interact with each other, shares their location or gives access to the internet. Each question has an info icon with more detail on how to answer it.

3. 3

   Save and generate

   Select Save and generate and Partner Center shows every rating your app was assigned. If something's wrong, select Edit to change your answers before you carry on with the submission.

Microsoft shares your publisher display name and email address with IARC as part of this. Once the app is published, IARC emails you a confirmation of the rating, which is the rating certificate.

Which rating boards apply in which regions?

Your one set of answers produces a rating from each participating rating authority, and Microsoft shows the one that fits the customer's market.

You'll also see the old Microsoft Store ratings (3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+) on Microsoft's page. Developers used to pick one of those themselves before the questionnaire existed. If your app was published that way, Partner Center asks you to fill in the questionnaire the first time you update it.

Can I use an IARC rating I already have?

Yes. If you've rated the same app on another storefront that uses IARC, choose the option on the Age ratings page to give Microsoft your IARC rating ID. Microsoft uses it to link the existing ratings to your app, so you don't answer the questions again. IARC describes this as completing the questionnaire once and letting other IARC storefronts read the rating through the certificate ID.

Do I redo the age rating on every update?

No. Microsoft says the rating your app gets is used for every update after it. There are two exceptions.

• Your content changed. If an update adds something that could change the rating, like chat between users, in-app purchases or more mature content, open Age ratings in that submission, select Edit and retake the questionnaire.
• IARC changed its questions. IARC updates the questionnaire now and then, and Partner Center may ask you to fill it in again when you submit an update.

Keeping it current is your job. Section 11.11 of the Store policies says the rating has to stay accurate for the whole life of the product, and if your product gets a new rating from any rating authority, you have to update Partner Center promptly. If your app shows content that might need a higher rating, like user-generated or web content, users have to opt in to it with a content filter or by signing in.

What happens if the rating is wrong?

• You think IARC rated it too high. Use the link in the rating certificate email to contact IARC or appeal. IARC's FAQ calls this a rating check, where you explain why the rating seems wrong and can send evidence like a video or a build.
• Your app can't be offered in some markets. A rating can make an app count as inappropriate in a country or region. Partner Center shows a message listing those markets, and you appeal through the same email link.
• Your answers were wrong. Microsoft requires accurate answers, and IARC says its rating authorities monitor ratings after they're assigned and can correct them through the storefronts. Fix it yourself by retaking the questionnaire in your next submission.

How do age ratings relate to certification?

The rating comes from IARC as soon as you finish the questionnaire, before you submit. Certification is Microsoft's review after you submit, and its content compliance check looks at your app and listing against the Store policies, including the age rating. If your app has content the rating doesn't cover, that's a policy problem the certification report can point to, and you fix it with a new submission. Our guide on why a submission fails certification covers how to read that report.

The rating also matters for automation. Microsoft's submission API docs say an app needs at least one completed submission with its age ratings filled in before you can create submissions through the API. That's one reason the first submission always happens in Partner Center, after you've set up your developer account.

Age ratings and StoreFast

StoreFast publishes updates for apps that already have a published submission. Each update starts from a copy of your last published submission, so the age rating you already have goes along with it. StoreFast doesn't show or change age ratings.

When an update needs a new rating, make that submission in Partner Center and retake the questionnaire there. Partner Center allows one pending submission per app, so StoreFast can start the next update once that one is published or deleted. For how the rest of an update works, see the best way to publish to the Microsoft Store.

Questions

How do I get an age rating for the Microsoft Store?

You answer the IARC questionnaire on the Age ratings page of your first submission in Partner Center. When you select Save and generate, IARC gives you ratings for each region, and Microsoft uses them to show your app in different markets. It's free.

Do I have to fill in the questionnaire again for every update?

No. Microsoft says the rating you get is used for every update you publish after that. You retake it when an update changes content that could affect the rating, or when Partner Center asks you to because IARC changed its questions.

I already have an IARC rating from another store. Can I reuse it?

Yes. On the Age ratings page you can choose to give Microsoft your IARC rating ID instead of answering the questions again, and Microsoft links the existing ratings to your app.

How do I change my age rating on the Microsoft Store?

Start a new submission in Partner Center, open Age ratings, select Edit and retake the questionnaire, then submit. If you think IARC got the rating wrong, use the link in the rating certificate email IARC sent you after your app was published.

Where is my IARC rating certificate?

IARC emails a confirmation of your app's rating once the app is published. Microsoft shares your publisher display name and email address with IARC for this, so check the inbox of that address.

Can StoreFast change my age rating?

No. StoreFast starts each update from a copy of your last published submission, so the rating you already have carries over. To retake the questionnaire, make that submission in Partner Center.