Windows 10 apps won't open fully on first try - have to close and reopen for them to work

Hello,

One of the possible reasons why you're having issues opening your Windows apps is due to corrupted system files on your computer. We recommend that you run the troubleshooter for Windows apps and follow the on-screen instructions to address this matter.

Keep us posted with the result.

I have the identical problem on my Dell XPS desktop.  I have a Samsung laptop that never has this problem, but I have the problem on the desktop all day.

I have no idea why corrupted files would be the answer, since the problem only occurs after some period of inactivity for me.  I leave my computer on all night.  First time I open any Windows 10 app in the morning, I get exactly what you are getting.  Just close it and reopen it and its fine.  During the day, again, if there is a period of inactivity, it will happen again, just like early in the morning.  

I don't think the inactivity is per app either.  This seems to be across the board.  Just came back from lunch and computer was idle for 1 hour.  Calculator would not open 1st time just like the poster showed in his graphic.  Just blue screen.  Close and immediately reopen and it runs fine.  Once I open it, all the other Windows 10 apps will open fine, so its not about the calculator its about all of the Windows 10 "store" apps.  Leave them alone for some time and whichever one is opened next gets stuck and won't open.  Close and reopen, all is good.

I would think corrupted files would prevent it from opening all the time.  This has something to do with inactivity, at least on my Dell system.

Hi,

Based on your post, it seems that the apps that shows such behaviour are only those from the Windows Store. Having said that, it would still be recommended for you to run the app troubleshooter to diagnose and repair any issues related to Windows apps. At the same time, it's also possible that there are other programs or drivers that can caused conflict. To help us idetify the proper solution, kindly provide us with the answer to the following:

• How often does the issue happen? Is it sporadically or it started after recent changes have been made?
• Have you tried performing a **clean boot**to check if the same issue will occur? The clean boot environment can help you diagnose if certain programs causes Windows apps to freeze after being idle.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you for your response, Jennifer.

This behavior of Windows 10 "apps" not opening the 1st time, but always opening the 2nd time, occurs, as I stated originally, every single time there is a period of inactivity on the computer.

For example.  If I workaround the problem once and open Facebook twice, so I can get into the Windows 10 Facebook app, I can close and reopen Facebook many times.  I have never timed this, but if I do not open Facebook again for a long time, it will not open again the 1st time I try to open it, but will open just fine the 2nd time, 3rd time, 4th time, etc., as long as the time between attempts is short.  How short, I'm not sure.  I haven't put a stopwatch to this but it absolutely has something to do with the interval between openings.

The apps are not broken or corrupted.  They work 100% perfectly once they are opened the 2nd time, 3rd time, 4th time, etc.  Once opened, I can close them and reopen them many times without any problem, "as long as I am doing it quickly".  If I let the store app remain closed for some period of time, the problem reoccurs.

Every single day, this happens when I wake my computer up from sleep.  Every single day, if I don't open the Facebook app or Calculator app or as far as I know ANY of the other store apps for a long period of time, they will not open the very 1st time I try.  But they will open and they will function perfectly the 2nd and 3rd and 4th time.

Recently, I purchased an SSD drive, thinking perhaps the traditional drive might be spinning down into a sleep mode, as this was happening before I bought the SSD drive, but there was no change.  It happened on the traditional hard drive and continues to happen on the SSD drive.

Because this is absolutely something to do with inactivity, my guess is that Windows itself has some kind of sleep setting that is causing this.  I was just checking my screen saver time to see how long that is.  I right clicked on my desktop and selected display settings.  The Windows 10 settings applet would not open.  It froze.  I closed it and repeated the request.  Windows 10 settings applet opened fine.

So now this seems to go beyond store apps.  Many inherent Windows 10 screens exhibit the same behavior after inactivity.

We appreciate your detailed response. We'd like to ask for your cooperation so we can further isolate the issue. Although it may seem that the issue has something to do with the power settings, we would like to also check other possible causes to make sure that we won't miss out on anything. Please answer the following:

• What build and version of Windows 10 are you currently running?
• Have you already tried entering Safe Mode and experienced the same issue?
• Were you able to check and install the latest updates both for Windows and the device drivers?
• Have you already updated your display driver?

After you have run down the list, please try the Power troubleshooter for initial troubleshooting found in the Settings app. See image below:

We'll keep an eye on your response.