When critical Windows system files are missing or corrupted, your operating system may begin to malfunction. Common symptoms include Windows features not working properly, system errors, or Windows becoming unresponsive or freezing.

There are different ways to remove apps and programs, so if you can't find the one you're looking for, you can try another location. Note that some apps and programs are built into Windows and can't be uninstalled. You can try to repair a program first, if it's just not running correctly.

Provides links to the uninstall tools and directions for many security programs.

Use this tool to find and remove specific prevalent threats and reverse the changes that they made (see Covered malware families). For comprehensive malware detection and removal, consider using Windows Defender Offline or Microsoft Safety Scanner.

Get Help has troubleshooters, or diagnostic tests, that can check your system configuration for anything that might be causing issues using your devices. View troubleshooter results. After you run any troubleshooter, Get Help provides details on any findings and suggestions for possible remedies.

After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, but we recommend moving to Windows 11. Learn more. Note: Use these steps for Windows programs.

Windows 11 might shut down or restart unexpectedly when a serious problem occurs, causing you to briefly see an error message, such as “Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart.” Windows 11 will then restart automatically.

The installation file is typically named Autorun.exe or Setup.exe, but this may vary. If you're not sure, check the Readme file in the folder for instructions about how to run the installation process.

Find out the steps you can take if you receive a message telling you a driver can't load on your device.

In this article, we will help you find your error code and suggest what you might try to correct the error. Follow the recommended resolutions for that error code. You may also click the specific error code to get more detail information. Note: This article doesn't contain all error codes generated by Device Manager.