Fix Windows 10 App Opens Then Closes

We’ll show you step-by-step

Are some or all of your Windows 10 apps not working properly? Previously, I wrote an article on how tofix the problem of missing Windows Store appsand recently I had a client who bought a Windows 10 machine to me where the Windows apps would appear to open, but then would close immediately.

If you are having this issue where an app fails to load, then it’s probably a permissions issue. There are lots of reasons why Store apps fail to start and one of them is because the permissions for certain Windows folders and registry settings have been changed, either manually or by group policy.

You can fix this problem by checking all the permissions for these folders and registry settings and making sure they are all correct. In this post, I’ll walk you through the steps for doing this so you can get your Store apps running again.

Windows 10 Event Log

You can confirm whether this is the cause of the issue by opening the event log and checking for theEvent ID 5961in the event log. You can open the event log by clicking on Start and typing inevent log.

You’re going to have to navigate to the following log file to see if this particular event exists or not:

Once there, you’ll see a whole bunch of events listed there, probably thousands. You can’t really manually go through this, so click on the Find button at the very right and type in 5961. It’ll search through that log and if it finds anything, it will highlight that row. Double-click on the row and you should see some information like below:

If the event exists, you can be pretty certain that it’s a permissions issue for a new group in Windows calledAllApplication Packages. What is All Application Packages? Well, it’s similar to the built-in Administrators or Users groups. All Application Packages includes any store app that is installed in Windows 10. If this group doesn’t have permissions to certain folders and registry settings, it will cause store apps to fail launching.

Fix File System Permissions

First, let’s fix the file system permissions. This is basically checking the permissions on three folders: Program Files, Windows and Users.

Go to Explorer and right-click onC:\Windowsand click on theSecuritytab. Here is what it should look like with the correct permissions.

If that is not what your permissions are showing for the directory, then click on theAdvancedbutton at the bottom right. On the next dialog, click on theChange Permissionsbutton.

You then want to click theAddbutton. Note that if the Add button is grayed out, it probably means the files are all owned by TrustedInstaller. Read my previous post on how tochange permissions so that you can gain full control over the files and folders.

Here you need to click onSelect a principaland then type inall application packagesinto the object name box. Make sure to click theCheck Namesbutton also before clicking OK.

Make sure theTypeis set toAllowandApplies toisThis folder, subfolders and files. Under permissions, make sure you haveRead & execute,List folder contentsandReadchecked. Then click OK.

You’ll be brought back to the main permissions screen. Here you need to make sure to check theReplace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object.

Once you have done this for the Windows directory, you need to do the same thing for C:\Users and C:\Program Files. For C:\Users, everything is the same except you give the All Application Packages groupFull Control.  Also, if you’re running 64-bit Windows, you’ll need to do this for C:\Program Files (x86) too.

Fixing Registry Permissions

For registry entries, open regedit by going to Start and typing inregedit. Once you have it opened, you need to check the permissions for HKEY_USERS. Right-click on HKEY_USERS and click onPermissions.

Make sure thatAll Application PackageshasReadpermission.

Now do the same thing forHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Next expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and do the check forHARDWARE,SAM,SOFTWAREandSYSTEM.

If you haven’t gone crazy by now, then congrats! The main issue that I saw with this whole process is changing the permissions on the system folders because you have to overcome TrustedInstaller in order to make changes to the permissions. Half the time that never works properly and then trying to get everything back to normal is just as risky.

You may be better off just resetting Windows 10, but it’ll require you to install all your third-party apps again. You can reset Windows 10 by going toSettings, click onUpdate & Securityand then clicking onRecovery. If you’re trying to change permissions and running into errors, post a comment and we’ll try to help. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio

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