This app can’t open error for Photos, Xbox Game Bar, Calculator, etc, apps

If you receive This app cannot open error opening Photos, Xbox game bar, calculator, Skype or any UWP app from Microsoft Store on Windows 10, this message will help you fix the problem. The error message varies and may ask you to contact your administrator about repair or reinstallation, updating Windows 10 PC, the need for an administrator account to open the application and asking you to check on the Microsoft Store.

This app can’t open error on Windows 10

Here is the list of solutions that can help you open the application on Windows. Some of them will need administrator access, so it’s best to have an administrator account or have someone do it for you.

1. Check if the app is blocked
2. Enable user account control (UAC)
3. Run the Windows Store application troubleshooter
4. Reset application
5. Clear the Windows Store cache
6. Reinstall the app
7. DISM and SFC control
8. Reset PC

Some of the solutions offered can be extreme. Use it only when there is no other way, and using the app is crucial.

1]Check if the app is blocked

Some other administrators may have blocked access to the program on this PC. If you also have an administrator account, you check blockers through Group Policy and the Registry Editor.

Group Policy

• Open the Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc at the Run prompt (Win + R), then pressing the Enter key
• Move towards User settings > Administrative Templates, then select System.
• Locate the policy that says: do not run the specified Windows applications.
• Double-click to open and check under the list of unauthorized applications if your application is available.
• If it is disabled, you can ignore it.

Registry Editor

• Open Registry Editor by typing Regedit at the Run prompt (Win + R), then pressing the Enter key
• Go to the following path

ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

• Check if you have a DWORD entry with a name DisallowRun
• If yes, double-click it to open it and set the value to 0 to disable any application blocking.
• You can deepen your research by developing the explorer’s file. If there is a folder named DisallowRun, expand it.
• Here, you should have one or more entries showing the list of blocked apps.

2]Enable user account control (UAC)

UAC guarantees that no malware or viruses can do anything that only administrators can do. It applies to the whole system and to all applications. If an application gets tired to modify the system parameters, its opening will be blocked. In case it turns off on your computer, you should activate it.

• Type UAC in the Start menu search
• Click on Change user account control parameters in the result
• Change the cursor to the second level from the top where you are notified when apps try to change

Relaunch the application causing the problem and you may receive a prompt.

Similar article: This application cannot open – Office Word error.

3]Run the Windows Store application troubleshooter

Applications like Photos, Xbox Game Bar, Calculator are also available in the Microsoft Store app. You can correct them by running the troubleshooter.

• Open parameters (Win + I)
• Go to Update & Security> Troubleshooting
• Find and open Windows Store apps
• Click Run the Troubleshoot button to start the wizard.

Once finished, relaunch the application and verify that the problem has been resolved.

4]Reset and repair the application

You can reinstall any app, but the apps in the store can be reset if they offer options.

• Go to Settings> Applications, select the application and click Advanced Options.
• Here you can choose to reset or repair the application by clicking on the corresponding button.
• Although the repair does not change anything, resetting will cause you to configure the application again.

5]Clear the Windows Store cache

The Windows Store Cache ensures that the browsing experience is accelerated. However, an application may sometimes need an update, but the cache restricts it. You can clear the Windows Store cache with WSReset.exe. Find all the details in the detailed post on resetting the store cache.

Similar article: This app cannot open, it cannot open when user account control is disabled.

6]Reinstall the app

Note that if you plan to uninstall these applications, this may not be possible unless you are forced to use PowerShell commands. So once you’ve uninstalled them using it, you’ll need to reinstall from the Microsoft Store app.

7]DISM and SFC control

The DISM and SFC commands can help you resolve issues related to file corruption. They repair files or system image corruption. While SFC protects registry keys and folders as well as critical system files, DISM is useful for fixing corruption in the Windows component store or if a Windows image becomes unusable.

8]Reset PC

Resetting a PC is a bit extreme and should only be done when you have no options left, and this app should work. This may be due to an incompatibility or an application causing the problem on the PC and is restricted. We suggest that you use this option only where you have nothing left. It would be best to connect with Microsoft or your IT team before running this.

Follow the guide on how to reset the PC if that’s what you have left.

I hope that the message was easy to follow and that you had to launch the application, which gave an error – This app cannot open.

• Keywords: Errors, Windows applications