Install or update Digital Design Studio on Windows without losing your work
Digital Design Studio 2.0.2: Install or update Digital Design Studio on Windows without losing your work. Check the selected host, account permissions and current support before use.
This guide applies to Digital Design Studio 2.0.2 for Windows. For platform-specific features, read 2.0.2 support. Save files and back up project folders before updating.
Prepare the machine and your work
The Windows guide targets Windows 11 x64, build 22000 or later, with WebView2 available. Save open files and keep a separate project backup before installing or updating. Check the current Downloads page for availability; the direct signed download and Microsoft Store distribution are separate channels.
A WSL-backed project additionally requires an existing x86-64 Ubuntu 24.04 WSL2 distribution with a non-root default user. DDS does not install that distribution for you. Use a normal Windows project if you are not intentionally opening a WSL workspace.
Download and verify the same release
Open the official DDS download page and choose the Windows signed package.
Keep the package with its matching release information. Compare the filename, version, SHA-256 and publisher; do not combine an old package with a newer release's verification data.
Follow the Windows installation guide to calculate SHA-256, then open the verified MSIX with Windows App Installer and review the publisher.
Proceed only if Windows accepts the package signature. Do not import a development certificate or turn off signature checks to bypass an error.
A matching checksum checks file bytes; it does not replace Windows' publisher and signature checks. A downloadable signed file also does not establish that installation has succeeded on your particular computer.
If the update cannot finish
For an app-in-use message or error 0x80073D02, save work, close DDS windows normally and retry the same verified installer. A deferred update is still waiting; check the installed version after reopening.
For publisher, certificate or package-identity errors, retain the exact message and package version. Store, development and direct-distribution packages may have different identities. Do not uninstall a working copy, delete its profile or reset project data merely to remove the conflict.
Confirm the result before returning to a production project
Launch Digital Design Studio from Start and check the installed version.
Open a small test project, save a harmless edit, close and reopen it, and confirm the saved content.
Check the local or WSL tool you actually need. Successful account login does not by itself confirm local entitlement or runtime availability.
If a step fails, send support the Windows build, package version, exact error and the step that failed. Keep the previous verified installer and project backup until the new installation is working.
Windows installation and verification steps
In-app update, moving and rollback
If DDS offers an update, review it, save work and follow the restart message when the package is ready. A prepared update is not the same as an already-running new version. Check Settings → About after restarting. The in-app updater only installs a newer signed version. For backups, moving to another PC and an earlier retained installer, use Update, move and roll back.
Using Digital Design Studio 2.0.2
Save files and keep a separate project backup before updating. Before installation, use Downloads and Verify downloads to match the exact filename, SHA-256, signature and publisher of the package you install; the 2.0.2 packages are listed there after their release. The in-app Windows updater accepts a newer signed version; it does not downgrade. Keep earlier installers for investigation, but do not treat an old forced-downgrade recipe as a supported 2.0.2 recovery path. Linux update and Windows update are separate channels. Tray Open/Quit preserves the unsaved-work check; automatic OS restart, restored windows and rollback preservation require acceptance for the exact installed package.