An attempt was made to reference a token that does not exist Error [Fix]

In order to keep the Windows system healthy, most users update their Windows system to its latest version regularly. Also, they try to upgrade their system to the latest Windows release.

Many Windows users started getting an error message window on their system screen while trying to launch File Explorer on the Windows system. This happened while opening not just file explorer but also recycle bin, task manager and other wizards. These wizards are essential components for using the system effectively.

The error message that was shown in the window is displayed below.

An attempt was made to reference a token that does not exist.

Now after receiving this error, users cannot open any of the wizards like recycle bin, etc. on their system which is actually a serious issue. As per the reports and data available on this matter, the corrupted files could be the main possible reason for this error message.

Several users also claim that after upgrading their Windows system, they started noticing this error. Therefore resetting the Windows system also can be tried to resolve the issue.

After researching this topic, we gathered some information and came up with a bunch of solutions which will fix this problem in this article.

Fix 1 – Repair the Corrupted DLL Files in the system

Sometimes, a few DLL files get corrupted due to obvious reasons and this causes such errors discussed above in this article. So we can repair those corrupted DLL files using the command prompt.

Follow the steps below on how to repair the corrupted DLL files in the system.

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together on the keyboard to open the run box.

Step 2: Then type cmd and press the Ctrl, Shift and Enter keys together at once to open the elevated command prompt app.



NOTE – You may have to accept the UAC will be prompted on the screen by clicking Yes to continue.

 

3 Run Cmd Optimized

 

Step 3: Once the elevated command prompt window opens, type cd %WINDIR%\System32 and press Enter.

Step 4: Next, you need to type the below line in the command prompt window again and hit the Enter key.

for /f %s in ('dir /b *.dll') do regsvr32 /s %s

 

Repair Corrupt Dll Files 11zon

 

Step 5: This will start to detect any corrupted DLL files from the system and will try to repair those corrupted DLL files.

Step 6: After it is done, you can close the command prompt window and restart the system.

Fix 2 – Restore the System Health using the DISM tool

Some users claimed to resolve this error by simply restoring the system’s health using the DISM tool. Therefore, we suggest our users try restoring the system’s health and see if this works for them too.

Here are the steps on how to perform restore health using the DISM tool below.

Step 1: Press the Win key and type cmd on the keyboard.

Step 2: Right-click on the Command Prompt app in the search results as shown in the below screenshot.

Step 3: Then select Run as administrator from the context menu as shown below.

 

Command Prompt Run As Admin 11zon

 

Step 4: Click Yes on any UAC prompted on the screen to continue.

Step 5: Once the command prompt app opens as an admin, type the below command and execute it by pressing the Enter key.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

 

Dism Health Restore 11zon

 

Step 6: This starts restoring the system’s health using the DISM command.

Step 7: When it is done, you can close the command prompt and restart the system once.

Fix 3 – Update your Windows system

An outdated Windows system could possibly be the reason behind this error on your system. So it is always better to keep the system updated regularly by downloading and installing the updates released by Microsoft.

Follow the steps explained below on how to update the Windows system.

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together to open the run command box.

Step 2: Type ms-settings:windowsupdate in the textbox and press Enter key.

 

Run Ms Settings Windows Update Min

 

Step 3: This opens the Windows Update page on the Settings app on your system.

Step 4: Click Check for updates on the top right-hand side of the Windows Update page.

 

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Step 5: On clicking, it starts checking for any updates available for your Windows system.

Step 6: If there are any updates available, please download and install them all.

Step 7: Once everything is downloaded and installed, the system gets updated.

Step 8: Now you can close the Windows Update page and make sure you restart the system.

Step 9: After the system starts, check if the error still persists or not.

Fix 4 – Revert Windows back to the Previous Build

If this error is occurring on your system because of the recent build released by Microsoft for the Windows system, then you can always try to revert your Windows back to its previous build.

Steps to follow for reverting back the Windows to its previous build.

Step 1: Press the Windows key and type recovery options on your keyboard.

Step 2: Then click the Recovery options from the search results to open the Recovery page as shown in the below image.

 

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Step 3: After the page called Recovery opens, Click Restart now of Advanced startup as shown below.

 

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Step 4: This will restart the system and you will get to see the Choose an option page on the blue screen.

Step 5: Click Troubleshoot option to open the troubleshooting page.

 

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Step 6: Then you need to select Advanced options as shown below.

 

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Step 7: In the Advanced options, you have to select Go back to the previous build option at the bottom.

 

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Step 8: Follow all the onscreen instructions henceforth to complete the reverting process to the previous build.

Step 9: After it is done, restart the system and see if this helped.



Fix 5 – Perform System File Checker

System File Checker scan when performed on any Windows system starts scanning the entire system for any corrupted system files present and repairs it. So this makes sure there are no corrupted system files which are causing any errors in the system.

Follow the steps explained below on how to perform the system file checker using the command prompt.

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together to open the Run command box.

Step 2: Type cmd in its textbox and then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys altogether at once.

 

3 Run Cmd Optimized

 

Step 3: This will prompt a UAC on the screen and you need to accept it by clicking Yes for continuing.

Step 4: This opens up the Command Prompt as an admin.

Step 5: Now type sfc /scannow in the command prompt and press Enter key.

 

Sfc Scannow Command Prompt

 

Step 6: On executing this command, it starts scanning the entire system for any corrupted system files and repairs them.

Step 7: This might take a while so please wait until it is done.

Step 8: Once done, you can close the command prompt window and reboot the system.