How do I identify the app or process causing "This app can't run on your PC" error message?

Question

How do I identify the app or process causing "This app can't run on your PC" error message?

JohnC 25

I keep getting the "This app can't run on your PC" blue box and can't get rid of it.

There are plenty of fixes suggested to repair the windows installation or individual apps to be found online. There are many people asking the same question as me but in the comments and replies to "This app can't run on your PC" posts. I have tried them all. It has been over a year now and I keep getting the error message which - although VERY annoying - is simple to clear and there seems to be no problems with any of my apps otherwise. It most often appears when I click on a Microsoft Edge (137.0.3296.93 64-bit official version) link from the Widgets board (version 525.15301.20.0) on the taskbar.

It seems to me that the error message should identify and report the failing app or process that triggered it. This appears to be a very basic programming flaw and should be fixed.

I'm running Windows 11 (24H2 26100.4351 with Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0) on Dell XPS 8930 and using Bitdefender antivirus.

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Answer 1

Henry Mai 8,235 Independent Advisor

Hi, I'm Henry, and I’d like to share some thoughts on this.

I looked into some forums and found that others experienced a similar issue, particularly with Chrome. In those cases, disabling all extensions helped resolve the problem. I’m not entirely sure if your issue affects all browsers or just Microsoft Edge, but based on what you shared where the error pops up specifically when clicking a link from the Widgets board. It seems like Edge is having trouble handling the incoming request.

I recommend you try to disable the browser extensions:

Open Microsoft Edge
Click the three dots (⋯) in the top-right corner and choose Extensions
Select Manage extensions
Use the toggle switches to disable all extensions
Close Edge completely
Try clicking the link from the Widgets board again

If the error no longer appears, then one of the extensions was likely causing the issue. You can re-enable them one by one, testing each time, to pinpoint the problematic one.

Hope this helps you out!

JohnC 25 Reputation points

2025-06-30T23:08:34.2766667+00:00

Thank you. I had two McAfee extensions in Edge that were defunct. I removed them and have not had a recurrence of the "This app can't run on your PC" blue box since. Many thanks! I wasted too much time trying to find the problem by myself so thank you for your suggestion!
Barbara Quinlan 0 Reputation points

2026-01-23T21:24:04.4066667+00:00

I don't have Microsoft Edge.
Al Burkhardt 0 Reputation points

2026-05-17T16:17:16.8+00:00

My McAfee Anti-Tracker, Web Boost, and Web Advisor extensions were causing my problem. I disabled those extensions. It appears to be working OK now. I use Google Chrome as my default browser. They were extensions in Google Chrome. Thanks for the advice! AL Burkhardt.