"This App has been blocked by your system administrator"

Question

I keep getting a pop up in Windows 11 saying "This App has been blocked by your system administrator" with no further information given.

There's no way of finding out what app it's referring to. I get it a fair bit when using Google Chrome but cannot be sure it only happens when using this app?

I'd like to contact Microsoft through live chat about this but can see no way of doing this hence my post on this community forum today. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

That message is usually caused by a Windows security or application-control policy. Since it happens randomly, it would help to identify which app is being blocked.

Check Event Viewer → Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → AppLocker around the time the popup appears. That may show the exact program being blocked.

If this is a personal PC, also check Windows Security → App & browser control and make sure Smart App Control or another security policy isn't blocking Chrome or one of its components. AppLocker can also cause this exact message.

If it's a work/school-managed PC, the restriction may be coming from an administrator policy.

Answer 2

Hi David,

That message usually means Windows is blocking an application through AppLocker, Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC), or another application-control policy. It does not necessarily mean Chrome itself is the problem.

Since Windows isn't telling you which app was blocked, check the logs:

Open Event Viewer.

Go to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > AppLocker.

Check EXE and DLL, MSI and Script, and Packaged app-Execution around the time the popup appears.

The event should identify the executable or package that was blocked. Microsoft specifically recommends using these logs to identify applications affected by AppLocker policies.

If nothing appears under AppLocker, check Windows Defender CodeIntegrity logs as well, since WDAC can produce the same type of blocking behavior.

I would not disable AppLocker or change registry settings just to remove the message. First identify the process being blocked. If you post the relevant Event Viewer event details here, we can narrow down exactly what is causing it.