Standard apps crash on Windows 11 22H2

Windows 11 22H2 users started complain to problems with the work of a number of standard programs after installing the next system update. Crashes are observed after receiving the KB5023152 update package.

Microsoft has confirmed that various issues can occur after system restore:

• Instead of launching the application, the error message "Application failed to start" is displayed.
• An application can have multiple entries in the start menu.
• Spontaneous shutdown of programs.
• The application may not respond when trying to launch, and may freeze while running.

All this applies to Notepad, Paint, Office suite programs, Cortana and Windows Terminal.

The bug lies in the use of the MSIX package format by all these applications. Although Microsoft boasted in a support document back in 2021 that MSIX was 99.96 percent reliable, and optimizes disk space usage and reduces bandwidth requirements networks.

The company suggests that users try restarting the problematic app or reinstalling it. Interestingly, Microsoft usually states that they are working on fixing the root cause of the crashes, indicating the approximate release date for the patch. But now this has not followed, so it is likely that the problem is deep enough and it will not be possible to solve it quickly.