Have you ever come across a situation on your Windows 11/10 computer where Windows Store apps are not able to connect to the internet, but desktop apps can? This is a common situation very likely to occur after a network hardware change or driver updates. In this post, we’ve tried to cover a few possible solutions to this problem. As I mentioned, this problem has to do something with the network adapter, but it is very unlikely that your hardware is faulty. So you can easily come out of this situation by using the following fixes.
Windows Store Apps won’t connect to the internet
If your Microsoft Store apps cannot connect to the Internet on Windows 11 or Windows 10, try the following suggestions:
- Change the Internet connection
- Run Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter
- Run Internet Connection Troubleshooter
- Reset Windows Store Cache
- Using a Dial-Up connection?
- Reset Windows Sockets
- Perform Network Reset.
Let us see these methods in detail.
1] Change the Internet connection
If you are using a WiFi connection, then change to a cabled Ethernet connection – or vice versa, and see if that makes the problem go away. If this fixes your problem, it makes it pretty much clear that the problem is with the internet connection. Try contacting your ISP and bring this to their notice.
2] Run Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter
If Windows Store Apps are not able to connect to the internet, then this might have to do something with the apps itself. You can try running Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter to resolve any common errors and problems.
To run the troubleshooter:
- Open Settings.
- Go to Update & Security and open Troubleshoot from the left menu.
- Scroll down to the bottom to find Windows Store Apps and click it.
- Click on Run the troubleshooter.
This should start the troubleshooter, and it will start scanning your computer for any problems with Windows Store Apps. Towards the end, you can fix all the issues detected, from the troubleshooter itself.
2] Run Internet Connection Troubleshooter
Similarly, you can use the Internet Connection Troubleshooter to look for any issues with the internet connection. There is a good possibility that a faulty internet configuration is causing this issue. Apply all the fixes from the troubleshooter, and you are good to go.
4] Reset Windows Store Cache
Clearing Windows Store Cache will not delete any apps or settings; it will clear temporary data and give Windows Store a fresh start. This might also help you in resolving the issue that we are talking about in this post. It is very simple to reset the Windows Store Cache.
5] Using a Dial-Up connection?
There are reports that a Dial-Up connection is not enough to either download Store apps, or even if they get downloaded, the apps are unable to connect and throw out a ‘No connection‘ message. You may need to change to WiFi or Ethernet.
6] Reset Windows Sockets
Winsock is a technical specification that defines how Windows network software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. Windows comes with Dynamic Link Library (DLL) called winsock.dll that implements the API and coordinates Windows programs and TCP/IP connections. But sometimes Windows Sockets or Winsock may get corrupted as a result of which you may not be able to connect to the Internet. It may, therefore, need to be repaired.
To Reset Winsock in Windows, open CMD as admin, type the following and hit Enter:
netsh winsock reset
If you are using IPv4, type netsh int ipv4 reset and hit Enter. If you use IPv6, type netsh int ipv6 reset and hit Enter. If you’d like to generate a log file of the changes, append a logfile path to the above command, e.g., netsh winsock reset c:\winsocklog.txt. You will have to restart your computer.
Related: Some Programs or Apps not connecting to the internet.
7] Perform Network Reset
The last solution that we are left with is performing a complete Network Reset.
Open Settings, go to Network & Internet, and select Network Reset. Now click on Reset Now button to start the reset process. Remember that this will remove and reinstall all the network adapter with their default configurations. This will clear all the proxy or VPN settings that you might have configured.
These were a few possible solutions to the situation where Windows Store apps are not able to connect to the internet.
I hope something helps!
Related read: Edge & Store apps not connecting to Internet, Error 80072EFD.
