How to fix “Element Not Found” error on Windows 10?

Question

Issue: How to fix “Element Not Found” error on Windows 10?

When I try to open pictures on Windows 10, I receive “Element Not Found” error. How can I get rid of the error in order to access images?

Solved Answer

“Element Not Found” is a Windows error^[1] message that might show up when using picture viewing app, Microsoft Edge, File Explorer or other services. Due to the error, users might be unable to access Settings, Universal apps or open images. However, the problem can be fixed.

If “Element Not Found” error occurs when opening pictures, the problem seems to be related to the default image viewer app. Therefore, setting another default photo viewer can help to solve the problem.

Problems with explorer.exe might be another reason for “Element Not Found” error. If the error pops up when using File Explorer, you should consider restarting the explorer.exe process to solve the problem.

Corrupted files might be the reason why Microsoft Edge^[2] delivers the same error message. Moreover, the source of an error might be related to Windows 10. Unfortunately, some updated gives more problems instead of fixing previous problems.

This Windows error prevents from accessing needed programs and using the computer normally. Fortunately, you can fix “Element Not Found” error in Windows quite easily. Below you will find instructions that will help you to eliminate the source of the problem.

Possible ways to fix “Element Not Found” error in Windows

As we have already explained, the error might be triggered by various programs, meaning that there is more than one source of the problem. For this reason, we suggest trying a couple of methods to fix “Element Not Found” error.

This video will provide you with information about elimination of this issue:

Option 1. Choose another default picture viewer

The majority of Windows users who encounter an “Element Not Found” pop-up reported that it happened when they tried to open pictures. However, the problem can be fixed very easily. All you need to do is to choose another picture viewer app:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Go to Apps section.
3. Click on Default apps in the left pane.
4. Click on Photo viewer app in the right pane.
   
5. From the appeared list of applications, choose Windows Picture Viewer^[3] or another app as your default Photo viewer.

Option 2. Uninstall recently installed Windows update

Nevertheless, updates are supposed to improve Windows; sometimes they give an opposite result. In some cases, uninstalling recent updates^[4] helps to get rid of Element Not Found error.

1. Open Settings app.
2. Go to Update & Security.
   
3. Click on View installed update history option.
   
4. Click Uninstall updates.
   
5. From the list of updates, choose the ones that you suspect may have caused the error, or you can uninstall them all.

Option 3. Restart explorer.exe process

This method should help to fix “Element Not Found” error if it popped up when using File Explorer:

1. Open Task Manager by clicking Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
2. In the appeared list of processes, find explorer.exe (Windows Explorer). Right-click this entry and choose End task option from the menu.
   
3. Open File and choose Run new task option.
4. In the Run box, enter explorer.exe and click Enter to restart Windows Explorer.

Option 4. Run SFC scan

Corrupted system files might also be causing the error. Hence, you should run SFC scan to check for corrupted files and fix them if needed.

1. Click Windows key + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the appeared menu.
2. Type sfc /scannow in the Command Prompt and click Enter.
3. Wait until the scan is over. If there were any issues with system files, you would be informed about fixed items.

Option 5. Run DISM scan

If you were unable to run SFC scan or you want to double-check scan results, you can run DISM scan by following these steps:

1. Run Command Prompt as Administrator like it was explained in the previous method.
2. Type this command DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and click Enter.
3. Wait until the scan is finished and check if it helped to solve “Element Not Found” error.

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