How to fix MuseScore installation error on Windows

A problem occurs when Windows doesn't know how to open the .msi extension: "This file does not have a program associated with it to perform this action."
  • Reassign the msi extension to msiexec.exe. Follow these steps, to be executed as Administrator:

    1. Press Window key+R on your keyboard to open up the Run dialog
    2. Copy paste this command: ftype msi.package="%SystemRoot%\System32\msiexec.exe" /i "%1" %*
    3. Press Enter or hit the run button

    When finished, double click on musescore.msi again.

  • A workaround for this problem is downloading a PortableApp package of MuseScore instead. You can get it from https://musescore.org/en/download/musescore-portable.exe (so far only for MuseScore 1.x and 2.x)


A similar problem is: I downloaded MuseScore but it asks for a password. Where can I find it?

This problem occurs when some third party Windows software wants to open the downloaded musescore.msi file, while it should not. Instead Windows should simply start installing MuseScore. So basically this has nothing to do with MuseScore, but the third party software.

  • Identify and uninstall the third party software.
  • Perform step 1-3 from above.

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