diff --git a/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/Winget-Upgrade.ps1 b/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/Winget-Upgrade.ps1
index 287b043..05b8d5e 100644
--- a/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/Winget-Upgrade.ps1
+++ b/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/Winget-Upgrade.ps1
@@ -349,14 +349,17 @@ if (Test-Network) {
                     }
                     #if app is in "excluded list", skip it
                     elseif ($toSkip.AppID -contains $app.Id) {
-                        if ($toSkip.PinnedVersion) {
-                            $regexPattern = $toSkip.PinnedVersion -replace '\.', '\.' -replace '\*', '.*'
-                            $regexPattern = "^$regexPattern$"
+                        $matchingToSkip = $toSkip | Where-Object { $_.AppID -contains $app.Id }
+                        if ($matchingToSkip.PinnedVersion) {
+                            $regexPattern = $matchingToSkip.PinnedVersion -replace '\.', '\.' -replace '\*', '.*'
+                            $regexPattern = "^$regexPattern$".Trim()
                             if ($app.AvailableVersion -match $regexPattern) {
                                 Update-App $app
                             }
                         }
-                        Write-ToLog "$($app.Name) : Skipped upgrade because it is in the excluded app list" "Gray"
+                        else {
+                            Write-ToLog "$($app.Name) : Skipped upgrade because it is in the excluded app list" "Gray"
+                        }
                     }
                     #if app with wildcard is in "excluded list", skip it
                     elseif ($toSkip.AppID | Where-Object { $app.Id -like $_ }) {
diff --git a/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/functions/Get-ExcludedApps.ps1 b/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/functions/Get-ExcludedApps.ps1
index ecaec07..05bae6b 100644
--- a/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/functions/Get-ExcludedApps.ps1
+++ b/Sources/Winget-AutoUpdate/functions/Get-ExcludedApps.ps1
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-#Function to get the Block List apps
+# Function to get the Block List apps
 function Get-ExcludedApps {
 
     $AppIDs = @()
 
-    #blacklist in registry
+    # Blacklist in registry
     if ($GPOList) {
         Write-ToLog "-> Excluded apps from GPO is activated"
         if (Test-Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Romanitho\Winget-AutoUpdate\BlackList") {
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ function Get-ExcludedApps {
             Write-ToLog "-> Successfully loaded excluded apps list."
         }
     }
-    #blacklist pulled from URI
+    # Blacklist pulled from URI
     elseif ($URIList) {
         $RegPath = "$WAU_GPORoot";
         $RegValueName = 'WAU_URIList';
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ function Get-ExcludedApps {
             }
         }
     }
-    #blacklist pulled from local file
+    # Blacklist pulled from local file
     elseif (Test-Path "$WorkingDir\excluded_apps.txt") {
         $AppIDs = (Get-Content -Path "$WorkingDir\excluded_apps.txt").Trim() | ForEach-Object {
             [PSCustomObject]@{
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ function Get-ExcludedApps {
         }
         Write-ToLog "-> Successfully loaded local excluded apps list."
     }
-    #blacklist pulled from default file
+    # Blacklist pulled from default file
     elseif (Test-Path "$WorkingDir\config\default_excluded_apps.txt") {
         $AppIDs = (Get-Content -Path "$WorkingDir\config\default_excluded_apps.txt").Trim() | ForEach-Object {
             [PSCustomObject]@{
@@ -64,11 +64,12 @@ function Get-ExcludedApps {
 
     $WAUExcludePinnedApps = $WAUConfig.WAU_ExcludePinnedApps
     if ($WAUExcludePinnedApps -eq 1) {
-        #blacklist pinned winget apps
-        $pinnedAppsResult = & winget pin list | Where-Object { $_ -notlike "   *" } | Out-String
+        # Blacklist pinned winget apps
+        $pinnedAppsResult = & $Winget pin list | Where-Object { $_ -notlike "   *" } | Out-String
         if (!($pinnedAppsResult -match "-----")) {
             Write-ToLog "-> No pinned winget apps found, nothing to exclude."
-        } else {
+        }
+        else {
             # Split winget output to lines
             $lines = $pinnedAppsResult.Split([Environment]::NewLine) | Where-Object { $_ }
 
@@ -90,31 +91,42 @@ function Get-ExcludedApps {
             $versionStart = $lines[$fl].IndexOf($index[2])
             $containsGating = $lines | Where-Object { $_.Trim() -like "*Gating*" }
             if ($containsGating) {
-                $pinnedAppVersionStart = $lines[$fl].IndexOf($index[5])
+                $pinnedAppVersionStart = $lines[$fl].IndexOf($index[4])
             }
 
             # Now cycle through the real package lines and split accordingly
             For ($i = $fl + 2; $i -lt $lines.Length; $i++) {
-                $line = $lines[$i] -replace "[\u2026]|", " " # Fix "..." in long names
+                $line = $lines[$i] -replace "[\u2026]", " " # Fix ellipsis in long names
                 if (-Not ($line.StartsWith("-----"))) {
 
                     # (Alphanumeric | Literal . | Alphanumeric) - the only unique thing in common for lines with applications
                     if ($line -match "\w\.\w") {
                         $softwareId = $line.Substring($idStart, $versionStart - $idStart).TrimEnd()
+
                         if ($line -like "*Gating*") {
-                            $pinnedVersion = $line.Substring($pinnedAppVersionStart).TrimStart() # Get the pinned version
-                            $AdditionalLogText = "with version $pinnedVersion"
-                        } else {
+                            # Ensure start index is within bounds
+                            if ($pinnedAppVersionStart -lt $line.Length) {
+                                $pinnedVersion = $line.Substring($pinnedAppVersionStart).TrimStart() # Get the pinned version
+                                $pinnedVersion = $pinnedVersion -replace "^Gating\s+", ""
+                                $AdditionalLogText = "with version $pinnedVersion"
+                            }
+                            else {
+                                Write-ToLog "Cannot extract pinned app version; invalid start index"
+                                $pinnedVersion = $null
+                            }
+                        }
+                        else {
                             $pinnedVersion = $null
                             $AdditionalLogText = $null
                         }
+
                         if ($null -ne $softwareId) {
                             # Add the extracted software ID and version to the list
                             $AppIDs += [PSCustomObject]@{
                                 AppID         = $softwareId
                                 PinnedVersion = $pinnedVersion
                             }
-                            
+
                             Write-ToLog "Excluding $softwareId from WAU updates, as this app is pinned in winget $AdditionalLogText"
                         }
                     }