It is really beneficial to keep notes on hand while working on a project or something else. So Microsoft introduced Sticky Notes, pretty useful software for remembering general passwords, usernames, any URLs, and so on.
Many Windows users have recently reported that the sticky notes application on their Windows 11 system has stopped working and they are unable to advance regardless of how many times they have rebooted the system.
It might be because of some changes done to its app settings, not updating the windows system, enabled insights feature, etc. So here are some solutions given below and illustrated with brief steps in this post which can assist the users in fixing this issue.
Workaround – Try updating the Windows system and after it is done, restart the system and check if this worked.
If not, try other better solutions given below.
Fix 1 – Reinstall the Sticky Notes app on your system
Sometimes, there is a chance that the installation process might have got interrupted in middle because of an unstable internet connection or due to force shutdown, etc. This leads to such problems in any app, so it is recommended to uninstall and then reinstall the sticky notes app once to see if this works in fixing the issue. First, let us uninstall the Sticky Notes app using PowerShell.
Uninstall the Sticky Notes using PowerShell
Step 1: Press the Windows and R keys together on the keyboard to open the Run command box.
Step 2: Once the run box appears, type powershell in it and press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER keys simultaneously on the keyboard.
Step 3: This will prompt the UAC on the screen, which should be accepted by clicking Yes to continue.
Step 4: Now the PowerShell app window will get launched as an admin.
Step 5: In the PowerShell app, copy and paste the below-given command and hit Enter key to execute it which removes/uninstalls the Sticky Notes app from the system.
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes | Remove-AppxPackage
Step 6: After the command gets executed, close the PowerShell window and restart the system once.
After the System has started, install the Sticky Notes app using the Microsoft Store app.
Install the Sticky Notes app Using the Microsoft Store app
Step 1: Open the Microsoft Store app on your system by pressing the Windows key and typing microsoft store.
Step 2: Then select the Microsoft Store app from the search results as shown below.
Step 3: Once the Microsoft Store window launches, type sticky notes in the search bar which is present at the top bar of the window.
Step 4: From the search results, click Microsoft Sticky Notes to go to its app as shown in the below image.
Step 5: Click the Install button of the Microsoft Sticky Notes app to start installing it on the system.
Step 6: It will start downloading the app and then installs it. So wait till it gets finished. It won’t take much time.
Step 7: Once it gets installed, click Open to see if the Sticky Notes app gets opened and works fine.
Fix 2 – Re-Register the Sticky Notes app using PowerShell
Step 1: Press the Windows key and type powershell.
Step 2: Then, right-click on the Windows Powershell App from the search results as shown below.
Step 3: Select Run as administrator from the context menu as shown below.
Step 4: Accept the UAC prompt to continue by clicking Yes.
Step 5: Once the PowerShell window opens up, type the following line and press Enter key to re-register the Sticky Notes app on your system.
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" -Verbose}
Step 6: Once done, close the Powershell window and then, try to open the Sticky Notes app on your system and see if it is working fine now.
Fix 3 – Disable the Insights Feature of the Sticky Notes app
The insights feature is actually excellent and efficient for better user experience if the insights feature is enabled on the sticky notes app, which allows Cortana and bing to use the notes so that users can make it handy while making a call, or setting a reminder.
This can sometimes cause problems in the app because it’s getting synced with all the windows devices. So let us see how to disable this feature with the steps below.
Step 1: Open the Microsoft Sticky Notes app on your system.
Step 2: After it opens up, go to the Settings icon (gear-shaped) on the top right corner of the window.
Step 3: Click on the toggle button of Enable insights to turn it Off as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 4: Once done, restart the sticky notes app and check if it is working fine or still the same.
Fix 4 – Perform Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter
Step 1: Press the Windows and R keys simultaneously on the keyboard to open the Run box.
Step 2: Type control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting in it and then press Enter key.
Step 3: Now the Troubleshoot page opens up and then you click the Other troubleshooters option as shown below.
Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom and select the Windows Store Apps option and click its Run button.
Step 5: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.
Step 6: Once done, close the Troubleshoot page.
Fix 5 – Reset the Sticky Notes app
Step 1: Press the Windows key on the keyboard and type installed apps.
Step 2: Select Installed apps system settings from the search results as shown below.
Step 3: Next, search for the sticky notes app by typing sticky in the search bar on top as shown.
Step 4: Then, click on three horizontal dots (show more options icon) to see the list of options as shown below.
Step 5: Next, click Advanced options from the list.
Step 6: Later, scroll down the advanced options page to the Reset section and click the Reset button as shown in the below screenshot.
Once it is done, close the advanced options page and check if the sticky notes app is working!
Fix 6 – Restore the System using System Restore
If nothing works, then restore your system to the last saved point where all the settings and all the applications installed on the system were working fine. To do so, you should use the system restore feature on the system and the steps on how to do it are explained here in this article.