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Settings hangs after closing on Windows 11 Home Beta 26220.7961 - CloudExperienceHost missing from provisioning

Larisa Kudisheva 0 Reputation points
2026-03-10T07:46:41.1866667+00:00

Hi everyone,

I'm on the Windows 11 Beta Channel, currently running Build 26220.7961. After installing this update, I started experiencing a consistent issue:

Symptoms

  • Settings hang after closing (SystemSettings.exe goes into "Suspended" state). SystemSettings.exe never terminates on its own
  • Repair install fails with error: 0x8007042B - 0x200D (FIRST_BOOT phase)
  • ISO repair install fails (Setup crashed during FIRST_BOOT)
  • SFC /scannow finds no integrity violations
  • DISM /RestoreHealth finds no issues

Key discovery

When I run: Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Select DisplayName

I see that Microsoft.CloudExperienceHost is not listed at all. The folder is also missing from: C:\Windows\SystemApps

This means CloudExpressionHost is missing from provisioning, not just unregistered.

Before installing 26220.7961, Settings did not hang after closing, so CloudExperinceHost was present in the previous build—unfortunately, Windows.old was removed during the update, so rollback is no longer available.

Is this a known issue with Beta build 26220.7961? And is there any way to restore CloudExperienceHost without doing a reset? I'm trying to avoid resetting the PC if possible. Any help or insight would be appreciated! Let me know if you need more information.

Windows Insider program | Windows Insider preview | Repair and recovery
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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-03-10T07:46:54.3066667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    This behavior is consistent with system component issues in recent Windows 11 24H2/25H2 Insider builds, where XAML‑dependent system apps (including Settings) can misbehave if key system app packages such as CloudExperienceHost are missing or not correctly provisioned.

    CloudExperienceHost is delivered and serviced via Out of Box Experience (OOBE) updates. For Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, multiple OOBE updates include the CloudExperienceHost binaries and related metadata (for example, CloudExperienceHostAPI.winmd, CloudExperienceHostBroker.RetailDemo.winmd, CloudExperienceHostAPI.SyncSettings.winmd, SystemSettings.DataModel.winmd, and resources.pri). These are part of the Microsoft.CloudExperienceHost system app that Settings and other XAML experiences depend on.

    In enterprise and managed environments, Microsoft documents that after certain cumulative updates, XAML‑dependent apps such as Explorer, Start menu, SystemSettings, Taskbar, and Windows Search can fail to start or behave unexpectedly when required app packages are missing or not correctly installed. The documented scenario is for Windows 11 24H2/25H2 cumulative updates installed at specific provisioning times, but the symptom pattern (XAML apps hanging or failing) matches what is seen when CloudExperienceHost is absent.

    From the available documentation, the supported way to restore these components is to ensure the system receives the appropriate OOBE and cumulative updates that contain the CloudExperienceHost payload, or to perform a reset/clean installation so that all inbox system apps (including Microsoft.CloudExperienceHost) are re‑provisioned correctly. The documentation does not provide a supported method to manually add back a completely missing CloudExperienceHost provisioning entry on a running system without reset.

    Given that:

    • Settings (SystemSettings.exe) is XAML‑dependent and is hanging after close.
    • SFC and DISM report no integrity issues at the component store level.
    • CloudExperienceHost is missing from both provisioning and C:\Windows\SystemApps.

    The documented, supported remediation paths are:

    1. Apply the latest OOBE update for the target Windows 11 version (24H2/25H2) so that CloudExperienceHost and related files are refreshed from Microsoft‑provided packages.
    2. If the issue persists, perform a Reset this PC / clean reinstall so that all inbox apps, including Microsoft.CloudExperienceHost, are re‑installed and provisioned from a known‑good image.

    The documentation does not state that this specific Beta build (26220.7961) has a known CloudExperienceHost removal bug, nor does it document a supported in‑place repair for a missing CloudExperienceHost package beyond the above update/reset paths.

    References:

    2 people found this answer helpful.

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