Fix: File System Error -2147219196 When Opening Windows Photo App

You might see a File system error 2147219196 when trying to open pictures via the Windows Photo App. In some cases, you might also see this error when trying to open other Windows apps like Calculator etc. This File system error (-2147219196) is only on Windows 10 and it will prevent you from using a certain app (in most cases your photo app) or a group of apps.

The 21472119196 error is caused by a bug in Windows Update. One of the latest Windows Updates introduced this bug into the Windows Photo App and a lot of people are experiencing this issue. There isn’t anything that will permanently solve this issue other than a Windows Fix but there are a couple of things that you can try. You can use the Windows Photo Viewer or a third party photo viewer. All of these solution are given below. So start by following the steps given in method 1 and keep going to the next method until your problem is solved.

Tip

Windows Photo Viewer is the classic photo viewer and it is still available on Windows 10. Your best bet is to use this. Other solutions usually require some kind of technical steps or using a third party application (which might not be safe). Using Windows Photo Viewer and making it your default picture viewer is the easiest, fastest, and the safest solution for this problem. Also, you won’t have to download anything else.

So, try to use Windows Photo Viewer first. You can simply right click a picture > select Open with > select Windows Photo Viewer.

Note: You can also download and use any other photo viewer from the internet.

Method 1: Uninstall Windows Photo and Reinstall

Uninstalling and then reinstalling the Windows Photo App has resolved the issue for a considerable number of users. Follow the steps given below to uninstall, clean the left over files, and reinstall the Windows Photo App

1. We have to uninstall the Windows Photos App first. So, press Windows key once
2. Type powershell in the Windows Start Search
3. Right click Windows PowerShell from the search results and select Run as administrator

4. Type Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.Photos | Remove-AppxPackage and press Enter

5. Click here and download PsTools package. Simply click Download PsTools link from the website

6. The downloaded file will be in zip format. Right click the file and select Extract files… Select appropriate location and extract the files.
7. Press Windows key once
8. Type command prompt in the Windows Start Search
9. Right click Command Prompt from the search results and select Run as administrator

10. Type <PsExec location address>PsExec.exe -sid  c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe and press Enter. Note: Replace <PsExec location address> with the actual address. This should be the location where you just extracted the contents of the downloaded file. For example, I extracted the files into e:\pstool so my location will look like this e:\PsTools\PsExec.exe  -sid  c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe

11. Click Agree when it asks

12. You’ll notice a new command prompt open up after pressing the enter key

13. Type rd /s “C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_2017.37071.16410.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe” and press Enter in the newly opened Command Prompt. Note: The Windows Photos App version number will vary. Since the version number is in the folder name, the folder name will also vary. Here are the steps for getting the exact folder name
    1. Hold Windows key and press R
    2. Type your folder path and let the Run utility autocomplete it. The Run utility will autocomplete to the correct version.
    3. Once the folder name is autocompleted, simply copy the path from the Run and paste it in the Command Prompt
    4. Note: Your folder name will also be shown in step 4. You can get the folder name from there as well
14. Press Y once the system asks for confirmation

Once done, you should be good to go. Open Microsoft Store and download the Photos App. Check if this resolves the issue or not.

Method 2: Windows Update

Since this is a known issue and a lot of Windows users are facing this issue, there will be a bug fix released in the latest Windows Updates. So, if the method 1 didn’t solve your issue then keep an eye on the Windows Updates. Make sure that your system is up to date.

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