How to fix
“The application is not responding” error
on Windows

Hello. I lately get the problem with my Windows 10, and the "The application is not responding" error. It seems that no matter what program gets opened, the issue persists. Games, browser, looking for pictures. I can only reset, and this still appears. Help me, please.

"The application is not responding" error on Windows is the issue that can occur on Windows 10 or Windows 11 devices and is often caused by the malfunction of the application or the corrupted files related to the program that fails to lead to the error. It is possible that the machine runs too many applications, and those fail when there are not enough resources, so the system crashes in some cases.

Users[ref en-1] report these issues on various machines, and it can be an annoying problem when the person is working on a major project, and the "The application is not responding" error on Windows appears to disturb the work. These errors can appear due to buggy programs or even operating systems or problematic OS updates.[ref en-2]

It is possible that these issues occur after the upgrade of the Windows or the installation of other programs, so those recent changes might be responsible for the error that appears when a program is crashing. This error can be triggered by outdated drivers and memory issues, so checking those parts of the machine could be helpful. 

You might experience the error due to malware[ref en-3] too, so these problems can be fixed by running a tool like [d1] that finds malware leftovers and repairs issues with the altered or damaged system files, corrupted data on the machine. So try to fix the "The application is not responding" error on Windows with the proper system tool first to improve the performance overall. Then, you can follow the guide below.

Method 1. Run the file checker

• Type in cmd in Windows search.
• Right-click on Command Prompt and pick Run as administrator.
  

  

  
  
• When the User Account Control window shows up, click Yes.
• In the new window, type in sfc /scannow and press Enter.
  

  

  
  
• Restart the machine.

Method 2. Update faulty drivers

• Right-click on Start and pick Device Manager.
  

  

  
  
• Expand one of the sections, for example, Network or Display adapters.
• Right-click on your network adapter and select Update Driver.
  

  

  
  
• Pick Search automatically for drivers.
  

  

  
  
• Wait till the drivers are found and installed on your system.
• Restart your PC.

Method 3. Install latest Windows

• Right-click on Start and pick Settings.
  

  

  
  
• Go to the Update & Security section.
• Click Check for updates.
  

  

  
  
• You might see the View optional updates option – click it.
• Select everything you want and then pick Download and install.
  

  

  
  

Method 4. Check for memory leaks

• Press Win + R key combination to open the Run dialog box.
• Enter mdsched.exe and press Ok.
• Choose whether you want to perform a full scan now or when you restart the computer.
• Once the computer is restarted, the scan starts automatically.
• Detected errors will get solved.

Method 5. Reinstall the problematic program

• Click the Start button and select Settings.
• Choose Apps from the menu.
• Scroll down in the right pane, click on the app you want to eliminate, and select Uninstall.
• Reinstall the app and check if it works.

Method 6. Check for malware

• Press the Windows key.
• Go to the Gear icon and find Settings.
  
• Type in Virus & threat protection at the top.
  

  

• Hit Enter.
• Click Scan options.
• Select the radio button present before the Full scan.
• Click Scan now.
• If any malware is found during the scanning, hit Clean Threat.
• Click Remove and then Start actions.
• Restart Windows.