Fix: File System Error (-2147219196) When Opening Windows Photo App

windows10freeapps

5 years ago

In this tutorial, learn how to fix “File System Error (-2147219196)” when trying to open pictures via the Windows Photo app.

We all know that, Photos app set as the default in your Windows 10 PC. When you double-click on any image file (such as JPG, PNG), error 2147219196 may appear and the app may crash.

File System Error (-2147219196)

This File system error (-2147219196) may happen after installing a Cumulative Update, and a lot of Windows 10 users reported this issue after installing the July KB4345421 (17134.167) Cumulative Update. If you’re also getting same situation, here’s how you can proceed now.

How To Fix the File System Error -2147219196 in the Photos app

Follow these solutions to fix Photos App Error 2147219196 in Windows 10:

Method 1. Using Windows Photo Viewer

Using Windows Photo Viewer and making it your default picture viewer is the fastest, easiest and the safest method for this error. Windows Photo Viewer is an image viewer and it is still available on Windows 10. Other methods usually require some kind of technical steps or using a third party application (which might not be safe).

In order to use Windows Photo Viewer, you simply right-click a picture > click Open with > click Windows Photo Viewer.

Method 2. Update the Photos app

To begin, check if an update exists for the Photos app at the Windows Store.

In the search box on the Taskbar, type Microsoft Store > select Microsoft Store > select Open > More > Downloads and updates > Get updates.

If an update for Microsoft Store is available, it will start installing automatically. If you’ve already got the latest Photos app, go to the next step.

Method 3. Uninstall Windows Photo and Reinstall

1. Click Start menu and type “Powershell“. Then right-click on Windows PowerShell in the result and click Run as administrator.

2. In the Powershell window, run this command to uninstall the Photos app.

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.Photos | Remove-AppxPackage

3. Click this link and download PsExec (part of PsTools package) from Windows Sysinternals website.

4. Right-click the downloaded file and select Extract files… Extract the contents of the archive to a folder, say D:\PSTools.

5. Open Command Prompt as administrator (elevated), and then run this command:

D:\PSTools\PsExec.exe -sid c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe

This will open a new Command Prompt process launching it under the SYSTEM account.

6. In that (new) Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:

rd /s “C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_2017.37071.16410.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe”

Note: the version number in the folder name will vary according to the version of the Photos app installed in the system. Here are the steps to find the exact folder name:

Press Windows key + R, type your folder path and let the Run utility autocomplete it. The Run utility will autocomplete to the correct version.
Once it autocompletes the full path, simply copy the path from the Run and paste it in the Command Prompt.
Note: Your folder name will also be shown in Step 2. You can get the folder name from there as well
Press “Y” when prompted for confirmation. This deletes the Photos app package folder.

7. Once done, open Windows Store, search for Microsoft Photos and install the app. Check if this resolves the problem or not.

VIDEO TUTORIAL:

Method 4. Run the Microsoft Store Apps Troubleshooter

The Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter helps you identify and fix the issues with the store apps. Hence, we would recommend you run the Windows Troubleshooter to identify and fix the problem with the “Windows Photo Viewer” application.

1. Press the Windows key + I.

2. Select on the “Update and Security” option.

3. From the left pane, select on “Troubleshoot”.

4. Scroll down and select on the “Windows Store Apps“.

5. Select the “Run the troubleshooter” option.