The System Restore of windows (System Restore) is a maintenance tool that can save users a lot of time when their computers are not working properly.
The restore points are copies security features that allow the operating system to be restored to a working state without performing a clean installation and lose data.
Unfortunately for Windows 11 22H2 users, the very useful ally app has turned into an enemy. As Microsoft has confirmed, using System Restore points in its latest operating system can break some applications. Apps show “This app cannot be opened” message.
Fortunately, not all apps are affected by this problem. According to a official announcement of support by Microsoft, the bug breaks applications that use Windows' MSIX, a packaging format software (Notepad, Paint, Office, Cortana, Terminal, etc.), resulting in one or more of the following:
- An error message “This application cannot be opened” appears instead of launching the application.
- The application can have multiple entries in the menu Inception.
- An application may become unresponsive when you try to launch it.
- An I/O error may occur, the application responds but then does not open.
- If you try to start the app again, the app runs.
Microsoft says that its affected customers should try the following to repair the damaged apps:
- Open the app again
- Reinstall the app from the Microsoft Store or the original source
- Install the available ones updates of Windows
You can also use other methods that are mentioned in the official documentation on how to repair broken applications in Windows.