Fixing the “App Can’t Run on PC” Error in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7
If you’ve ever run into that annoying message saying an app can’t run on your PC — especially after upgrading Windows or reinstalling — you’re definitely not alone. It tends to pop up across all sorts of Windows versions, making some apps suddenly seem incompatible or just plain broken. I’ve been there, scratching my head trying to figure out why some programs refuse to launch. The good news is, there are some straightforward things to try, even if it takes a bit of tinkering. Honestly, in my own experience, it was a bit of trial and error, so don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work right away.
Adjusting User Account Control Settings
First off, UAC — User Account Control — can sometimes be the culprit. That prompt that asks if you really want to give certain apps permission? Sometimes, it’s all or nothing and blocks apps that don’t have the proper signatures or are considered legacy. So tweaking UAC can help.
Start by hitting that Windows search bar — or press Win + S — and type “Change User Account Control settings.” If you’re not seeing the obvious result, try opening the Control Panel and navigate to User Accounts > Change User Account Control settings. When you get there, you’ll see a slider bar with settings like “Always notify” at the top and “Never notify” at the bottom. What worked for me was dragging the slider down to the second position from the bottom — roughly, it’s called “Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer.”
This setting isn’t perfect, and it might be labeled differently depending on your Windows version, but that’s usually enough to help apps start running, especially if UAC was blocking something secretly. After you move the slider, click “OK” and accept any prompts. Sometimes, restarting Windows Explorer helps — press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer in the list, right-click it, and hit Restart. This refreshes the environment without needing a full reboot, but if things still aren’t fixed, a reboot can sometimes clear out lingering permission issues.
Once you’ve done that, try launching the app again. If it’s still not working, don’t worry — I’ll get into some more advanced tweaks below.
Digging into Local Security Policies
This was where I finally got somewhere — but yeah, it’s a bit more involved. You need to open the Local Security Policy editor, which isn’t always readily accessible on Windows Home editions, but if it is, you can type “secpol.msc” into the Run dialog (Win + R) and hit Enter. To get there, just type secpol.msc in the Run box, or search for “Local Security Policy” from the start menu if available.
Once open, expand the left menu: Local Policies > Security Options. Here’s where things get tricky—I was hunting through this for a bit because some options are tucked away. Look for entries like “User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account”. If it’s set to “Disabled,” try toggling it to “Enabled.” Odd, I know — but this setting can influence whether apps that need admin approval succeed or not, especially on newer Windows versions running tighter security. Also, check “User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode” — setting that to “Enabled” is usually recommended.
Another one to keep an eye on is “User Account Control: Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure desktop”. Enabling this can sometimes help bypass permission bumps that block the app from starting. To find these options, you can scroll through or use the filter box if you’re lost (some of these have long, confusing labels). Just right-click and select Properties on each, and tweak accordingly.
Let the changes settle, close everything, and then restart your computer — a full reboot is much better than just logging out, because it resets all the policies and permissions freshly. If you’re feeling nervous about this, running gpupdate /force in an elevated Command Prompt (right-click Start > Command Prompt (Admin)) can force policies to refresh faster.
Additional Tips and Things to Watch Out For
If these tweaks don’t do the trick, check if the app is compatible with your current Windows version. Right-click the app’s executable, go to Properties, then the Compatibility tab. Here, you can try setting it to run in Windows 8 compatibility mode or older. It’s not guaranteed, but many older apps run better this way. Also, always try “Run as administrator” for apps that still misbehave — sometimes, elevated privileges are the key.
In certain cases, a fresh install of the app or even updating Windows can help. But in my case, adjusting UAC and security policies did the heavy lifting, especially with apps that stubbornly refused to start after a Windows update or reinstall. But just a heads-up: changing these settings can impact your system’s security. Be cautious: don’t disable or tweak anything you’re unsure about, and consider making a System Restore point beforehand if you’re messing with security policies.
And a quick tip for the tech-savvy — if you’re comfortable with CLI commands, running secpol.msc via PowerShell or the Run window opens the policies directly. That’s handy if you’re troubleshooting multiple machines.
TL;DR — double-check your UAC settings, tweak the “Security Options” in secpol.msc, and run an elevated gpupdate /force if needed. Sometimes, just redoing permissions or toggling the admin approval mode makes all the difference. And if none of that works, it’s likely a compatibility issue or a corrupted app — but the above steps have helped me fix most app launch headaches.
Hopefully, this saves someone else a serious headache. It took me way longer than it should’ve to finally crack the code — good luck out there!