How To Fix Application Not Found In Windows 10/8/7

Application Not Found Appears in a Prompt Window

The Application not found error message pops up now and then on users’ computers. Obviously, it is an application error. But what causes this Windows application error? The root reason is that the system registry points to a certain location where there’s no application (of course, the missing of application can also cause such error). That is to say, the default program-handling settings on your computer have been changed due to registry corruption.

The application not found error can occur in many cases:

• Users insert a removable storage like USB drive, CD, DVD, or external hard disk into the computer.
• Users click on a hyperlink in an email or elsewhere.
• Users try to open a program on desktop or elsewhere in the local drive.

You’d better use MiniTool software to backup existing files or recover lost files before starting to fix app not found.

Fix Application Not Found Windows 10

There are many ways available to troubleshoot when system prompts Application not found.

*1. Edit system registry.

1. Right click on the Start button in the lower left corner of your PC screen.
2. Choose Run from the WinX menu appears just now. (How to fix WinX menu not working issue?)
3. Type regedit and press Enter on your keyboard to open Registry Editor.
4. Expand these folders one after another: Computer, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, and Explorer.
5. Find MountPoints2 under Explorer and right click on it.
6. Choose Export from the pop-up menu.
7. Choose a safe location to save the exported reg file and click Save.
8. Right click on MountPoints2 again and choose Delete this time.
9. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer.
10. If the problem persists, you should restore your registry to previous state by using the backup file you get after step 7.

*2. Make use of Populate option.

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the USB/CD/DVD drive with app not found error.
2. Right click on the drive and choose Properties from the context menu.
3. Shift to the Hardware tab at the top.
4. Click on the Properties button under the Device Properties area.
5. Now, shift to the Volumes tab.
6. Click on the Populate button at the bottom.

How to fix File Explorer/Windows Explorer when it’s not responding or stopped working?

*3. Turn off Windows Media Player.

1. Press Win + S to open the search box.
2. Type windows features.
3. Select Turn Windows features on or off.
4. Scroll down to find and expand Media Features folder.
5. Uncheck Windows Media Player.
6. Click Yes in the pop-up window to confirm your action.
7. Click OK to save changes and reboot your PC.

*4. Modify AutoPlay settings.

1. Find the problematic drive in File Explorer and right click on it.
2. Select Open AutoPlay from the menu.
3. Choose Take no action.

*5. Change the AutoPlay settings to Ask me every time.

1. Press Win + I to open Settings app.
2. Choose Devices.
3. Select AutoPlay from the left sidebar.
4. Choose Ask me every time from the drop-down list of Removable drive and Memory card in the right pane.

You can also complete the changes through Control Panel.

*6. Modify the default zip program.

1. Open Settings app.
2. Choose Apps this time.
3. Select Default apps in the left sidebar.
4. Scroll down in the right pane to click Choose default apps by file type.
5. Scroll to the bottom to find .zip and choose a suitable default application for it.
6. Close Settings and reboot.

Also, you can change default program by using Control Panel.

The methods for application not found Windows 7 are basically the same.