Microsoft Store ASO: how to pick search terms and write a listing people find

What Microsoft says about search terms

In Partner Center the field is called Keywords. Microsoft's additional information docs say keywords are single words or short phrases that customers don't see, and that they can help your app show up when people search with those words. The same page says the Store's search engine uses them.

Microsoft's tips are short. Focus on words people would actually search for, reflect your app's core features or use cases, and think about words that aren't part of your app's name. Avoid brand names that aren't yours and generic terms like free or best. Misleading or unrelated keywords may break Store policy.

Partner Center also has AI-Generated keywords, which recommends terms from your app name and description. Nothing is added until you pick it.

The rest of the listing

Policy 10.1 lists the title, description, screenshots, trailers, content rating, search terms and category as metadata that must accurately reflect your app. Here's what Microsoft's listing docs say about each part people see.

• Product name. It's one of the names you reserved, and policy says it must be unique, with no marketing text or extra keywords. If your name can be spelled or sorted in different ways, the optional Sort title helps people find it when they type that version.
• Short description. It may show at the top of the listing. Keep it under 270 characters, since some views cut it off there, and don't repeat the opening of your description.
• Description. Up to 10,000 characters of plain text, and the only text field you have to fill in. Microsoft's advice is to open with what the app does and why it's different, use clear language, explain any trial or in-app purchases, leave out HTML and links, and use keywords naturally to help discoverability in Store search.
• Product features. Up to 20 short lines, shown as a bulleted list next to the description.

Microsoft also suggests looking at listings for similar apps in the Store to see how they explain what they do. Every limit is in our listing limits guide.

Screenshots and trailers

Microsoft calls images one of the main ways to show your app to customers. You need one screenshot, and its screenshot docs suggest at least four per device family. Keep important visuals and text in the top two thirds, since text can be laid over the bottom third, and don't add extra logos or marketing messages. Each screenshot can have a caption of up to 200 characters.

Trailers show at the top of your listing, as long as you include a 16:9 Super hero art image. Microsoft recommends keeping them to 60 seconds or less and giving each one its own thumbnail.

Search terms in every language

Each listing language has its own fields, keywords included, so a listing in eight languages has eight sets of 7 terms. Microsoft's description advice includes localizing for every supported language, and policy 10.7 says the description must be localized in each language you declare.

In our experience, translating English keywords word for word often gives terms nobody types. Pick the words a speaker of that language would actually search for, in that language. Our translation guide covers adding languages in Partner Center.

Ratings and reviews

Reviews show publicly on your app's page, and Microsoft's ratings and reviews docs note that the average rating customers see depends on their market and device type. Microsoft suggests acting on what reviews ask for, shipping a fix and updating your description to say the issue is fixed. You can't offer anything in return for changing a rating.

What Microsoft doesn't document

Microsoft says keywords are used by Store search and that keywords in your description help discoverability. Beyond that, it doesn't say how results are ranked. It doesn't say how much the title counts next to keywords, whether ratings, downloads or update frequency move an app up, or whether a term repeated in both the title and keywords counts twice. Anyone who gives you exact ranking factors for the Microsoft Store is guessing, and so would we be.

In our own listings, we use all 7 terms on words the name doesn't cover, write a description that says plainly what the app does using those same words, keep each language's terms native to that language, and check the listing again after reading new reviews.

How StoreFast helps

• Limits checked as you type. The Store listing page counts each field in every language. Over 7 terms, a term over 40 characters or more than 21 words is an error that blocks sending. Pricing words, common product names that aren't yours, emoji and duplicate terms get a warning.
• Suggest terms. Under the search terms of the selected language, click Suggest terms. StoreFast reads that language's description, short description and features and returns up to 10 ideas written in that language. It drops terms you already have, your app's name, pricing words and other products' names, and each idea is at most three words and 40 characters. Nothing is added until you click one.
• Translate missing. Pick a language under Translate from and click Translate missing. It fills empty fields in every other language, search terms included, and asks for the terms speakers of each language would type, not word-for-word copies.
• Reviews in English. Reviews sync with your app and come with an English translation when they're in another language, so you can see what people in each market say.

Suggestions and translations count against the daily AI allowance. A coding agent connected to the MCP server can do the same with suggest_search_terms, translate_listing_missing and list_reviews, then save the terms it picks with update_listing. StoreFast doesn't edit trailers or the Sort title, so add those in Partner Center.

Questions

How many search terms can a Microsoft Store app have?

Up to 7 keywords, each up to 40 characters, with no more than 21 separate words across all of them. Microsoft now calls them keywords; they used to be called search terms. Customers don't see them.

Should I repeat my app name in the search terms?

Microsoft's docs suggest thinking about the words people might search for, especially ones that aren't part of your app's name. With only 7 terms, we'd spend them on words the name doesn't already cover.

Can I use words like free or best in search terms?

No. The Store policies say search terms can't include pricing terms, and Microsoft's keyword FAQ says to avoid generic terms like free or best and other brands' names unless they're yours.

Do ratings affect where my app shows up in Store search?

Microsoft doesn't say. Its docs explain how ratings and reviews are shown and reported, but they don't describe how search results are ranked.

Can I have different search terms in each language?

Yes. Keywords are part of each language’s Store listing, so every language has its own 7. Write them in that language, with the words its speakers would type.