3CX Desktop App (Microsoft Store version) closes instantly on startup / flashes for a second

[nikolay971]

I am having a major issue with the 3CX Desktop App installed from the Microsoft Store. It completely refuses to open on three different laptops.

Symptoms:

• When I click the app icon, nothing happens on the screen.
• If I open Task Manager and try to launch the app, I can see the 3CX process appear for a split second, and then it immediately disappears.
• There are no error messages, no windows opening, and no crash reports shown to the user.

What we already tried:

• Completely uninstalled and reinstalled the app from the Microsoft Store.
• Used the "Reset" and "Repair" options in Windows Apps Settings.
• Tried changing the Windows region.
• Completely disabled the antivirus software.
• The Web Client version works fine in the browser, but the Desktop App from the Store just flashes and dies instantly.

All laptops are standard standalone Windows 10/11 machines (not in a corporate domain). Interestingly, if I download the same app from the Store on my personal home laptop, it works perfectly fine. But on these specific machines, it just won't start.

Please help, what could be causing the Store app to crash instantly without any error?

 

[ThiloB]

Try to delete the following folder for the 3CX Softphone Client:
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Packages\3CXDMCC.3CX_*
Then restart the Softphone client. 3CX will automatically generate a new folder.

 

[nikolay971]

Try to delete the following folder for the 3CX Softphone Client:
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Packages\3CXDMCC.3CX_*
Then restart the Softphone client. 3CX will automatically generate a new folder.

I tried it yesterday. There were no results. I also discovered that Windows hadn't been updated since 2023. I ran the Windows update, but the result was the same; could that have broken everything?

 

[Philiqqz]

Hello everyone,

we are experiencing the same issue on multiple users' machines since July 1st. Based on our investigations so far, I suspect this may be a bug in the software rather than an environment-specific issue.

I am already in contact with Pierre regarding this topic and have been sharing our findings with him. As several users are affected, any updates or additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Best regards,
Philipp Zimmermann

 

[bitn2]

I also have a client with a Windows 10 machine where the Store app won't launch. In this case, however, absolutely nothing happens when clicking on the app, neither when running as an administrator nor as a standard user. Nothing shows up in Task Manager, either. Reinstalling didn't make a difference.

 

[Philiqqz]

Hi,

Pierre from 3CX told me that the R&D team is already investigating this issue. It may be a bug in the software, as we have been experiencing the same problem across multiple users in our company since July 1st, which is also when the new 3CX App version was released.

Perhaps you could also help escalate this to ensure the issue receives the necessary attention from 3CX. At this point, it is clear that this is not an isolated case but rather a more widespread problem affecting multiple customers.

 

[nikolay971]

Yes, this is definitely not an environment or network issue. Two of the problematic laptops are right here in my office, and the third one is located in completely different city, running on a local home network. So, we can rule out the network entirely.

Right now, I am going to try reinstalling Windows on one of the laptops. I highly suspect the operating system itself is the culprit, because the app works perfectly fine on my personal work laptop running Windows 11. However, I will be clean-installing Windows 10 for this test, as it is still the most widely used version across our fleet.

Hi,

Pierre from 3CX told me that the R&D team is already investigating this issue. It may be a bug in the software, as we have been experiencing the same problem across multiple users in our company since July 1st, which is also when the new 3CX App version was released.

Perhaps you could also help escalate this to ensure the issue receives the necessary attention from 3CX. At this point, it is clear that this is not an isolated case but rather a more widespread problem affecting multiple customers.

 

[nikolay971]

Hello everyone,

we are experiencing the same issue on multiple users' machines since July 1st. Based on our investigations so far, I suspect this may be a bug in the software rather than an environment-specific issue.

I am already in contact with Pierre regarding this topic and have been sharing our findings with him. As several users are affected, any updates or additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Best regards,
Philipp Zimmermann

Hi,
Just an update on this issue we managed to resolve it on one of the laptops. A simple Windows reinstall did the trick; the app installed successfully and is now working perfectly. The issue is definitely on Microsoft's side.

 

[Philiqqz]

Hi,

I hope it works for you. We tried the same in our company, but after 1-5 days the issue returned because the Desktop App automatically updated itself again.


So unfortunately, a Windows reinstall seems to be only a temporary workaround.


For now, I'm waiting for a 3CX hotfix and using the Web Client as a workaround.

 

[bitn2]

We also did a reinstall and it doesnt work for long.

 

[fortech]

Just curious to ask, can someone comment why they strongly prefer the windows-store-standalone binary app version of 3cx vs the PWA web-app 'kind of windows app in disguise' version of 3cx for windows? I used to use the standalone binary ~bunch-of-years ago but went over to the PWA version at least ~2-3+ years ago and - "it just works" - no drama, does what I need. But maybe there are some core features outside my use case which I am missing.

 

[nage2e]

We're experiencing the same thing on multiple machines. At first thought it may be our antivirus or EDR software, but I completely uninstalled both and tried launching the app without any luck.

Reinstalling Windows could potentially fix it apparently, but not exactly the most convenient option in a corporate environment.

Hoping 3CX will release an updated version soon that will resolve this issue.

 

[nage2e]

Not sure why I didn't think to try sooner, but I just tried launching the app as Administrator, and it loaded up normally. Logged in with my credentials and the extension came up. Closed the app completely, restarted it and it now seems to be working normally.

 

[krieg-it]

Same issue here. Bump. Please fix

 

[longtimefirsttime]

Same issue for us as well. Please advise.

edit: this resolved for me
$path = "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.Singleton.1.8.msix"

Add-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackagePath $path -SkipLicense -LogPath "C:\Temp\Singleton_Provision.log"

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

Hello,

Please take a look here: https://www.3cx.com/docs/troubleshoot-softphone/

 

[nage2e]

The fix posted by KyriacosS which was also provided to me by IliasL_ has worked fine so far, but I just came across a PC whereby it did not work. The scripts ran successfully, however, the 3CX app continues to start/stop immediately. It will only start if I run it as Administrator.

Anyone else having a similar issue after running the scripts?

 

[longtimefirsttime]

anything in event viewer?

Applications and Service Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Appx DeploymentServer > Microsoft-Windows-Appx DeploymentServer/Operational

 

[nage2e]

I'm seeing this error in Event Viewer:

AppX Deployment operation failed for package MicrosoftCorporationII.WinAppRuntime.Main.1.8_8000.921.1539.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe with error 0x80070005. The specific error text for this failure is: Deployment operation failed.