Microsoft introduced some new things while releasing the Windows 11 operating system. One amongst them is the Chat icon present on the taskbar along with the start and search buttons. This chat icon when clicked opens the Microsoft Teams app’s chat window directly on the system.
Some Windows users have reported that when they clicked the chat icon on the taskbar, it threw an error window that said –
C:\Programs Files\WindowsApps\MicrosoftTeams_21224.700.938.1333_x64_8weky3d8bbwe\zlib1.dll is either not designed to run a on Windows or it can contains an error. Try uninstalling the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support. Error status 0xc0000020.
This error might have caused due to the corrupted system files. If the installation process of the Microsoft Teams were interrupted, this also creates such problems mentioned above. Any issues with the current user account on the system also lead to such errors.
If you are going through the same stuff, do not fret! In this article, we have gathered some solutions to resolve this error on Windows 11 system.
Fix 1 – Repair or Reset the Microsoft Teams app
If there is some internal issue with the Microsoft Teams app, this can be fixed by repairing the Microsoft Teams app on the windows system.
Follow the steps on how to repair/reset the Microsoft Teams app on your system.
Step 1: Press the Windows key on your keyboard and type installed apps.
Step 2: Select the Installed apps system settings from the search results as shown in the image below.
Step 3: This will launch the Installed apps page on the system.
Step 4: Next, type Microsoft teams in the search bar.
Step 5: This will generate the search results on the same page as shown below.
Step 6: Now select the Microsoft Teams app from the search results and click the three horizontal dots to see more options.
Step 7: Then, select Advanced options from the list as shown below.
Step 8: Scroll down the Advanced options page to Reset section, click Repair button once which starts repairing the Microsoft Teams app.
Step 9: Now check if the problem still persists.
Step 9: If the issue is not resolved, then click Reset and see if this worked out.
If this does not resolve this error, try the other solutions given below in this article.
Fix 2 – Re-install the Microsoft Teams app
If there is some problem while installing the Microsoft teams app, this might also be the reason behind this error. So we suggest our users uninstall the Microsoft Teams app and delete the Teams folder inside the WindowsApps folder and then reinstall the Teams app again.
Let us see how this can be done with the help of the steps explained below.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type installed apps on the keyboard.
Step 2: Then select Installed apps system settings from the search results as shown below.
Step 3: This opens the Installed apps page on the system.
Step 4: Once it opens, locate the Microsoft Teams from the list of programs.
Step 5: Click three horizontal dots and click Uninstall.
Step 6: This will start uninstalling the Microsoft Teams app. Follow any onscreen instructions to complete the uninstallation process.
Step 7: Once done uninstalling, close the window.
Step 8: Now go to File Explorer by pressing the Windows+E keys together.
Step 9: After the File Explorer opens, go to View > Show > Hidden items from the top menu bar as shown below.
Step 10: This will make all the hidden items visible to the users.
Step 11: Now type C:\Program Files in the address bar of the file explorer window and press the Enter key.
Step 12: In the Programs Files folder, look for a folder called WindowsApps.
Step 13: You need to set the ownership to everyone first. To do so right-click on the WindowsApps and click Properties from the context menu.
Step 14: Go to the Security tab in the Properties window and then click Advanced.
Step 15: In the Advanced Security Settings window, click Change for changing the owner of the folder.
Step 16: Type everyone in the textbox available in the window and click Check Names.
Step 17: This will start checking for the name entered and returns with the output Everyone that is being populated in the textbox as shown.
Step 18: You need to click OK to make changes.
Step 19: Now you can see that the Owner is changed to Everyone and then check the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects checkbox by clicking on it.
Step 20: Then click Apply.
Step 21: This will start applying the ownership to all the subcontainers and objects under the WindowsApps folder, which might take a while.
Step 22: Once done, it will pop up a Windows Security window. Click OK to close it.
Step 23: Now close the Advanced Security Settings window by clicking OK.
Step 24: After closing, open the Advanced Security Settings window again as explained in Steps 13, and 14.
Step 25: Now click Change permissions as shown in the below image.
Step 26: Click Add to make a permission entry.
Step 27: Next, click on Select a principal.
Step 28: In the Select User or Group window, type everyone and click Check Names.
Step 29: This will generate an object name called Everyone in the textbox and then click OK.
Step 30: After adding the Principal as Everyone, select Allow from Type dropdown, and This folder, subfolders and files option from Applies to dropdown list.
Step 31: Then, select all the checkboxes under Basic permissions and click OK.
Step 32: Finally, you can see that the Permission entry for Everyone with full control has been added and you can click Apply.
This will take some time to apply. Please wait till then.
Step 33: After that close all the open windows by clicking OK on them.
Step 34: Now double-click on the WindowsApps folder and search for all the Microsoft Team folders which look something like this MicrosoftTeams_22196.1703.1462.9942_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe and delete it.
Step 35: Close all the windows and restart the system.
Step 36: After the system starts, go to the downloads page of the Microsoft Teams website by clicking here.
Step 37: Download the app and then install it by double-clicking on it its setup file.
Step 38: Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation process.
Step 39: Once done installing, check if clicking the chat icon still throws any errors message.
Fix 3 – Repair the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime
Some users claimed that they were able to resolve this error by repairing the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime which has been installed on the system. So we recommend our users also try repairing Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime and see if this fixed the issue for you.
Follow the steps below on how to do it.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type installed apps.
Step 2: Then press Enter key which opens the Installed apps page on your system.
Step 3: On the Installed page, search for Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime by typing in the search bar.
Step 4: Next, click three horizontal dots of the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime and click Modify.
Step 5: This will open up the Repair window and starts repairing after you click Repair as shown below.
Step 6: Then it will start downloading and then installing the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime.
Fix 4 – Disable Microsoft Teams from the Startup apps
If the Microsoft Teams app is disabled from launching at the startup, this can fix this issue. Let us see how to disable Microsoft teams from startup apps.
Step 1: Firstly, go to Desktop by pressing Windows+D keys together.
Step 2: Right-click somewhere on the empty space and click Personalize from its context menu as shown below.
Step 3: Next scroll down the Personalization page and click Start.
Step 4: On the Start page, click on the Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists and File Explorer toggle button to turn it Off as shown below.
Step 5: After that, close the Start page.
Step 6: To disable Microsoft Teams from startup, open the Task Manager window by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys altogether at once.
Step 7: Click the Startup apps tab and search for Microsoft Teams from the list.
Step 8: Right-click on it and click Disable from the context menu as shown below.
Step 9: This will disable Microsoft Teams from launching at the system startup.
Step 10: You can close the Task Manager window now.
Fix 5 – Perform SFC scan and DISM to restore health
If there are any corrupted files in the system, this can create such problems mentioned above in this article in any applications. So it is always a good practice to repair and fix these corrupted files using the system file checker scan and also try to restore the system health using the DISM tool.
Here are the steps on how to run the SFC scan.
Step 1: Press the Win+R keys together which opens the Run command box.
Step 2: Type cmd in it and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together.
Step 3: Accept the UAC prompt on the screen to continue.
Step 4: This opens the elevated command prompt window.
Step 5: Type sfc /scannow and press Enter key.
Step 6: This will start checking for all the corrupted files on the system and then it will try to fix them.
Step 7: Once it is finished, type the below line and press Enter.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Step 8: This will restore the system’s health.
Step 9: Once done, close the command prompt window.
Fix 6 – Restore System using System Restore
If none of the methods worked for you, you can always restore your system back to the last saved restore point where the system and all the applications were running without any errors or problems. Click here to refer to the article which explains how you can restore the system using system restore on your windows system.