MD-102 Manage applications Practice Question
You manage Windows devices with Microsoft Intune. A line-of-business Win32 app is deployed as Required to a device group. Users report the app never installs, and in the Intune console the app shows installation status 'Not applicable' for those devices. You confirm the app is assigned to the correct group and the devices are online and healthy. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse requirement rules with detection rules, assuming a detection failure produces 'Not applicable' when it actually causes repeated install attempts or a failure status.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The app's requirement rules evaluate to false on those devices.
The 'Not applicable' installation status is unique to requirement rule evaluation. Intune checks requirement rules before downloading or installing a Win32 app; if no rule matches, the app is skipped and marked Not applicable. Since assignments and device health are confirmed, the requirement rules themselves must be excluding these devices, so they need to be reviewed and corrected.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The app's requirement rules evaluate to false on those devices.
Why this is correct
Intune evaluates requirement rules (OS version, architecture, disk space, registry, etc.) before attempting installation. If none of the rules match, the app is marked 'Not applicable' and no install is attempted, which exactly matches the observed status. Reviewing and correcting the requirement rules on the app's properties will resolve it.
- ✗
The app's detection rules evaluate to false on those devices.
Why it's wrong here
Detection rules determine whether the app is already installed, not whether it is applicable. A false detection rule typically results in repeated install attempts and a status such as 'Failed' or continued 'Installing', not 'Not applicable'. The 'Not applicable' status is produced by requirement rules, so this does not explain the observed behavior here.
- ✗
The app content was not uploaded to Intune before assignment.
Why it's wrong here
Missing content prevents installation and typically produces an error such as 'Failed' with a content-download error code, or the app cannot even be created as a Win32 app. The 'Not applicable' state specifically indicates that applicability checks failed, not that content is absent. Uploading content would not change the status in this scenario.
- ✗
The Intune Management Extension is not installed on those devices.
Why it's wrong here
Without the Intune Management Extension, Win32 apps cannot be processed at all, and the app would not appear in the device's app inventory with a requirement-evaluation status. Since the app is visible and evaluated as 'Not applicable', the management extension is present and functioning; the failure is in requirement evaluation, not agent installation.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Deploying Applications with Intune
Key term
Win32 app
A Win32 app is a traditional Windows program that runs directly on a Windows PC, using the same system resources and displaying a standard window with menus and buttons.
Key term
Microsoft Intune
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service that helps organizations manage employee devices, apps, and security policies without needing to own or control the physical hardware.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
This MD-102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MD-102 exam.