Microsoft’s latest release Windows 11, has proved to be a better version of Windows 10 with its structural changes, more user-friendly, rearranged taskbar, etc. Even though Windows 11 is an excellent version among the
Many Windows users have noticed an unusual problem on their Windows 11 PC where they are not able to launch most of the Windows 11 Apps. No matter what and how many times they tried launching the apps, it just simply crashes and does not open on the system.
There could be a lot of reasons why this is happening all of a sudden and some are listed below.
- The Windows Update Service is stopped.
- Virus attack on the system.
- Some problems with the user account on the system.
- Outdated Apps and Windows system.
- Changes in the Registry File.
Researching these points mentioned above in this article, we have compiled a bunch of solutions below, which might help the user to resolve this problem and be able to open any apps on their Windows 11 PC.
So please continue reading if you are also facing this problem on your system.
Workarounds that you can try beforehand –
- Try scanning your entire system for any virus or malware which probably would have done its job in damaging the system. If any are found, please clean the system using the anti-virus software.
- Restart your system a few times and see if this works.
- There might have been some problem with the user account that you are currently using. So we recommend creating a new user account and logging in to the system using that account.
Fix 1 – Check Application identity and Windows Update Services
For Windows to get updated on a regular basis, it needs the service called Windows Update, to be running on the system. If it is stopped, such errors are bound to occur. Also, we need to make sure that the Application Identity service is also running which is essential for the apps to run smoothly.
Follow the steps below on how to check these necessary services.
Step 1: Press the Windows and R keys together on your keyboard to open the Run command box.
Step 2: Once the run command box appears on the system, type services.msc and press Enter key.
Step 3: This opens the Services app on the system.
Step 4: Locate the Application identity service from the list of services.
Step 5: Double-click on the Application identity service to open its Properties window.
Step 6: In the Properties window, ensure you are on the General tab.
Step 7: In the General tab, if the service is stopped, click the Start button.
Step 8: This will take a few seconds to start the service.
Step 9: Once the service has started, you can click Apply and OK.
Step 10: Now search for the Windows Update service and double-click on it.
Step 11: In its properties window, go to the General tab and select Automatic from the dropdown list of Startup type option and click Start.
Step 12: Then finally, click Apply and OK.
Step 13: Once you make sure all the necessary services are running, close the Services app.
Fix 5 – Repair or Reset the App that is causing an issue
Many a time the issues caused are not because of the system but the application itself. Therefore, repairing or resetting the application which is not opening properly on the Windows system is the best solution.
Here are the steps on how to do it.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type installed apps on your keyboard.
Step 2: Then select Installed apps system settings from the search results as shown below.
Step 3: In the Installed apps page, look for the app which is causing issues.
Step 4: Click the show more options horizontal ellipsis icon of the app and select Advanced options from the list.
Step 5: Scroll down the Advanced options page and click either Repair or Reset depending upon your requirement.
NOTE – Repairing only repairs the app without losing the data but resetting will delete all the data associated with the app and when the app is opened, you might need to sign in, etc.
Step 6: Once done, close the Installed apps page.
Fix 2 – Edit the Registry File on your system
Some users have claimed to have resolved this issue by doing some changes to the registry file which is essential for the system. So we suggest our users try editing the registry file by following the steps explained below.
Before continuing with this method, we request our users export or backup the registry file so they can revert the registry file back whenever they want in future if something goes wrong while editing.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type registry editor on your keyboard.
Step 2: Select the Registry Editor app by clicking on it from the search results as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 3: Accept the UAC prompted on the screen by clicking Yes for continuing.
Step 4: Once the registry editor window opens, clear the address bar and then copy the below line and paste it into the address bar as shown below.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Step 5: After you reached the System registry key, on the right side locate a DWORD value called FilterAdministratorToken.
NOTE – If the FilterAdministratorToken DWORD value is missing on your registry file, you need to create a new DWORD value by following the steps below.
- Right-click on the System registry key and navigate to New > DWORD (32-bit) Value from its context menu as shown below.
- Then rename the newly created DWORD value as FilterAdministratorToken.
Step 6: Open the FilterAdministratorToken by double-clicking on it.
Step 7: In the Edit window, enter 1 in the Value data textbox and click OK.
Step 8: Now go to the Path given below by copy-pasting it in the address bar and pressing the Enter key.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe
Step 9: On the right side, make sure the Default string value is set as exefile.
Step 10: Now again go to the path below and on the right side, ensure the value of the Default string value is Application.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile
Step 11: Next, go to the registry key called open by typing the below line in the address bar and pressing Enter.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open
Step 12: For the open registry key, make sure the Default string value is empty which displays as value not set. If not, please double-click on it and clear the Value data field and click OK.
Step 13: After it is done, close the registry editor window and reboot the system.
Fix 3 – Run Microsoft Store apps troubleshooter
Suppose the apps are downloaded and installed from the Microsoft store. In that case, they can be resolved by running the Microsoft store apps troubleshooter, which detects any problem related to the apps mentioned above in this article and tries to fix them.
Follow the steps below on how to run the Microsoft Store apps troubleshooter on your system.
Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys together to open the run box and type control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting in its textbox.
Step 2: Then press Enter key to open the troubleshoot page on the system.
Step 3: Select Other troubleshooters from the options on the page as shown below.
Step 4: Next scroll down the page to the Microsoft Store apps option and then click its Run button.
Step 5: This starts the troubleshooter window and starts detecting any problems.
Step 6: Follow the onscreen instructions here on and get it fixed.
Fix 4 – Update the Windows system
Keeping the Windows system updated often avoids many problems and users can have a great experience without many errors and issues. So let us try updating the system using the steps below.
Step 1: Press the Windows and I keys together to open the Settings app on your system.
Step 2: Then click Windows Update on the left side menu as shown below.
Step 3: On the right side, you need to click Check for updates on the top right corner of the page as shown below.
Step 4: It then starts to check for the latest updates from Microsoft for the Windows system.
Step 5: If any are found, please download and install them all.
Step 6: Once done, restart the system to reflect those changes.