How to fix Snipping Tool not working on Windows 11

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On Windows 11, the Snipping Tool app is causing problems among many users. According to various reports from users at Microsoft’s community forums (via WindowsLatest), the app is crashing with the “This app can’t open – A problem with Windows is preventing Screen Snipping from opening. Refreshing your PC might help fix it” error message.

It’s unclear the problem, but it appears that this is happening due to a recent update that Microsoft has published to the app through the Microsoft Store.

One person at Microsoft’s community forums explains that using the Windows key + Shift + S keyboard shortcut does not open the experience to take screenshots. Also, it’s possible to launch the app, but creating a new capture will result in the error mentioned above, and repairing or resetting the Snipping Tools through the Settings does not fix the issue. However, it appears to change the system date something before October 31 mitigates the problem temporarily.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to mitigate the “this app can’t open” error message for Snipping Tool on Windows 11.

Fix Snipping Tool not opening on Windows 11

To resolve the Snipping Tool problem, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Click on Time & language.

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3. Click the Date & time page on the right side.

4. Turn off the Set time automatically toggle switch.

   

5. Under the “Set the date and time manually” setting, click the Change button.

6. Set the date to something equal or less than October 31.

7. Click the Change button.

Once you complete the steps, the Snipping Tool should work as normal.

If the mitigation still doesn’t work, and the device was recently upgraded from Windows 10, you may still be able to use the legacy tool from the C:\Windows.old\Windows\System32\SnippingTool.exe path.

It’s important to note that Microsoft is aware of the problem, it has pulled the update from Microsoft Store, and it’s working on a permanent fix.