diff --git a/src/Files.App.Launcher/Files.App.Launcher.vcxproj b/src/Files.App.Launcher/Files.App.Launcher.vcxproj
index 1b7ac20e96db..c9fbaf6c3f91 100644
--- a/src/Files.App.Launcher/Files.App.Launcher.vcxproj
+++ b/src/Files.App.Launcher/Files.App.Launcher.vcxproj
@@ -66,8 +66,7 @@
     </Link>
     <PostBuildEvent>
       <Command>
-        xcopy /s /y "$(ProjectDir)$(OutDir)*.exe" "$(ProjectDir)..\..\src\Files.App\Assets\FilesOpenDialog"
-        certutil -hashfile "$(ProjectDir)..\..\src\Files.App\Assets\FilesOpenDialog\$(TargetFileName)" SHA256|findstr /R /V "^SHA256 ^CertUtil"&gt;"$(ProjectDir)..\..\src\Files.App\Assets\FilesOpenDialog\$(TargetFileName).sha256"</Command>
+        xcopy /s /y "$(ProjectDir)$(OutDir)*.exe" "$(ProjectDir)..\..\src\Files.App\Assets\FilesOpenDialog"</Command>
     </PostBuildEvent>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
diff --git a/src/Files.App/Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256 b/src/Files.App/Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256
deleted file mode 100644
index 11864831640e..000000000000
--- a/src/Files.App/Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-cb1ca000ef2f03f1afc7bde9ed4fb2987669c89a58b63919e67574696091f60f
diff --git a/src/Files.App/Helpers/Application/AppLifecycleHelper.cs b/src/Files.App/Helpers/Application/AppLifecycleHelper.cs
index 9998ab269836..ecbb8edc5f52 100644
--- a/src/Files.App/Helpers/Application/AppLifecycleHelper.cs
+++ b/src/Files.App/Helpers/Application/AppLifecycleHelper.cs
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ await MainWindow.Instance.DispatcherQueue.EnqueueOrInvokeAsync(async () =>
 
 			await updateService.CheckForUpdatesAsync();
 			await updateService.DownloadMandatoryUpdatesAsync();
-			await updateService.CheckAndUpdateFilesLauncherAsync();
+
+			if (IsAppUpdated)
+				await updateService.CheckAndUpdateFilesLauncherAsync();
 		}
 
 		/// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateSideloadService.cs b/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateSideloadService.cs
index e49c8dcf79d9..b79cb44016f4 100644
--- a/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateSideloadService.cs
+++ b/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateSideloadService.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Text;
 using System.Xml.Serialization;
 using Windows.ApplicationModel;
 using Windows.Management.Deployment;
@@ -125,52 +126,45 @@ public async Task CheckAndUpdateFilesLauncherAsync()
 			{
 				var destFolderPath = Path.Combine(UserDataPaths.GetDefault().LocalAppData, "Files");
 				var destExeFilePath = Path.Combine(destFolderPath, "Files.App.Launcher.exe");
+				var branchFilePath = Path.Combine(destFolderPath, "Branch.txt");
 
+				// If Files.App.Launcher.exe doesn't exist, no need to update it.
 				if (!File.Exists(destExeFilePath))
 					return;
 
-				var hashEqual = false;
-				var srcHashFile = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256"))
-					.AsTask().ConfigureAwait(false);
-				var destHashFilePath = Path.Combine(destFolderPath, "Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256");
-
-				if (File.Exists(destHashFilePath))
+				// Check if the launcher file is associated with the current branch of the app.
+				if (File.Exists(branchFilePath))
 				{
-					await using var srcStream = (await srcHashFile.OpenReadAsync().AsTask().ConfigureAwait(false)).AsStream();
-					await using var destStream = File.OpenRead(destHashFilePath);
-					hashEqual = HashEqual(srcStream, destStream);
+					try
+					{
+						var branch = await File.ReadAllTextAsync(branchFilePath, Encoding.UTF8);
+						if (!string.Equals(branch.Trim(), "files-dev", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+							return;
+					}
+					catch { }
 				}
-
-				if (!hashEqual)
+				else
 				{
-					var srcExeFile = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe"))
-						.AsTask().ConfigureAwait(false);
-					var destFolder = await StorageFolder.GetFolderFromPathAsync(destFolderPath).AsTask().ConfigureAwait(false);
+					try
+					{
+						// Create branch file for users updating from versions earlier than v4.0.20.
+						await File.WriteAllTextAsync(branchFilePath, "files-dev", Encoding.UTF8);
+					}
+					catch { }
+				}
 
-					await srcExeFile.CopyAsync(destFolder, "Files.App.Launcher.exe", NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting)
-						.AsTask().ConfigureAwait(false);
-					await srcHashFile.CopyAsync(destFolder, "Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256", NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting)
-						.AsTask().ConfigureAwait(false);
+				var srcExeFile = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe"));
+				var destFolder = await StorageFolder.GetFolderFromPathAsync(destFolderPath);
 
-					Logger?.LogInformation("Files.App.Launcher updated.");
-				}
+				await srcExeFile.CopyAsync(destFolder, "Files.App.Launcher.exe", NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
+
+				App.Logger.LogInformation("Files.App.Launcher updated.");
 			}
 			catch (Exception ex)
 			{
 				Logger?.LogError(ex, ex.Message);
 				return;
 			}
-
-			bool HashEqual(Stream a, Stream b)
-			{
-				Span<byte> bufferA = stackalloc byte[64];
-				Span<byte> bufferB = stackalloc byte[64];
-
-				a.Read(bufferA);
-				b.Read(bufferB);
-
-				return bufferA.SequenceEqual(bufferB);
-			}
 		}
 
 		public async Task CheckForReleaseNotesAsync()
diff --git a/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateStoreService.cs b/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateStoreService.cs
index 4d01a85c0da0..b259937d681f 100644
--- a/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateStoreService.cs
+++ b/src/Files.App/Services/App/AppUpdateStoreService.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 using Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Text;
 using Windows.Foundation.Metadata;
 using Windows.Services.Store;
 using Windows.Storage;
@@ -180,43 +181,39 @@ public async Task CheckAndUpdateFilesLauncherAsync()
 		{
 			var destFolderPath = Path.Combine(UserDataPaths.GetDefault().LocalAppData, "Files");
 			var destExeFilePath = Path.Combine(destFolderPath, "Files.App.Launcher.exe");
+			var branchFilePath = Path.Combine(destFolderPath, "Branch.txt");
 
-			if (Path.Exists(destExeFilePath))
-			{
-				var hashEqual = false;
-				var srcHashFile = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256"));
-				var destHashFilePath = Path.Combine(destFolderPath, "Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256");
+			// If Files.App.Launcher.exe doesn't exist, no need to update it.
+			if (!File.Exists(destExeFilePath))
+				return;
 
-				if (Path.Exists(destHashFilePath))
+			// Check if the launcher file is associated with the current branch of the app.
+			if (File.Exists(branchFilePath))
+			{
+				try
 				{
-					await using var srcStream = (await srcHashFile.OpenReadAsync()).AsStream();
-					await using var destStream = File.OpenRead(destHashFilePath);
-
-					hashEqual = HashEqual(srcStream, destStream);
+					var branch = await File.ReadAllTextAsync(branchFilePath, Encoding.UTF8);
+					if (!string.Equals(branch.Trim(), "files-dev", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+						return;
 				}
-
-				if (!hashEqual)
+				catch { }
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				try
 				{
-					var srcExeFile = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe"));
-					var destFolder = await StorageFolder.GetFolderFromPathAsync(destFolderPath);
-
-					await srcExeFile.CopyAsync(destFolder, "Files.App.Launcher.exe", NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
-					await srcHashFile.CopyAsync(destFolder, "Files.App.Launcher.exe.sha256", NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
-
-					App.Logger.LogInformation("Files.App.Launcher updated.");
+					// Create branch file for users updating from versions earlier than v4.0.20.
+					await File.WriteAllTextAsync(branchFilePath, "files-dev", Encoding.UTF8);
 				}
+				catch { }
 			}
 
-			bool HashEqual(Stream a, Stream b)
-			{
-				Span<byte> bufferA = stackalloc byte[64];
-				Span<byte> bufferB = stackalloc byte[64];
+			var srcExeFile = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/FilesOpenDialog/Files.App.Launcher.exe"));
+			var destFolder = await StorageFolder.GetFolderFromPathAsync(destFolderPath);
 
-				a.Read(bufferA);
-				b.Read(bufferB);
+			await srcExeFile.CopyAsync(destFolder, "Files.App.Launcher.exe", NameCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);
 
-				return bufferA.SequenceEqual(bufferB);
-			}
+			App.Logger.LogInformation("Files.App.Launcher updated.");
 		}
 
 		private bool HasUpdates()
diff --git a/src/Files.App/ViewModels/Settings/AdvancedViewModel.cs b/src/Files.App/ViewModels/Settings/AdvancedViewModel.cs
index 32816dd79508..805035588f1a 100644
--- a/src/Files.App/ViewModels/Settings/AdvancedViewModel.cs
+++ b/src/Files.App/ViewModels/Settings/AdvancedViewModel.cs
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ private async Task SetAsDefaultExplorerAsync()
 			var dataPath = Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables("%LocalAppData%\\Files");
 			if (IsSetAsDefaultFileManager)
 			{
-				if (!await Win32Helper.RunPowershellCommandAsync($"-command \"New-Item -Force -Path '{dataPath}' -ItemType Directory; Copy-Item -Filter *.* -Path '{destFolder}\\*' -Recurse -Force -Destination '{dataPath}'\"", PowerShellExecutionOptions.Hidden))
+				if (!await Win32Helper.RunPowershellCommandAsync($"-command \"New-Item -Force -Path '{dataPath}' -ItemType Directory; Copy-Item -Filter *.* -Path '{destFolder}\\*' -Recurse -Force -Destination '{dataPath}'; 'files-dev' | Out-File -Encoding utf8 -Force -FilePath '{dataPath}\\Branch.txt'\"", PowerShellExecutionOptions.Hidden))
 				{
 					// Error copying files
 					await DetectResult();