Program exe won’t open when you click on it in Windows 10

If you are not able to open the .exe file on your computer and you see a message Can’t open .exe file, read this article for some suggestions that may help you fix the problem.

Some users upgraded to Windows 10 and experienced not able to open the exe files on their PC. However, some users running Windows 8.1 reported the same error. At the first glance, it seems the problem is related to the corrupted system files or the virus-infected files.

In this guide, we have compiled some quick easy tricks that will help you get out of this mess. So, let’s get started.

Program exe won’t open when you click on it in Windows 10

If you’re not able to run executable files (.exe) on Windows 10, you can try the following suggestions:

1. Scan PC with your antivirus software
2. Fix broken EXE file association
3. Change .exe Value data in Registry Editor
4. Use Command Prompt
5. Create a new user account
6. Run DISM.

Let’s now explain each method in detail.

1] Scan PC with your antivirus software

It is possible that there could be some malicious programs trying to prevent opening the .EXE files when you click on them. That being the case, we recommend you scan your PC with your antivirus
software and see check whether it works or not.

If the antivirus software successfully detects & removes the problem then restart your device to complete the cleaning process.

2] Fix broken EXE file association

Fix broken EXE file association and see if it works. But before you begin, don’t forget to backup your Registry or create a System Restore Point first.

3] Change .exe Value data in Registry Editor

After running the Microsoft Safety scanner tool, if you are still not able to open the .exe file on your computer then you need to reset the registry settings to their default settings. To do this, follow the suggestions below:

To get it started, open the Registry Editor first.

Press the Windows+R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog box. Inside the text box, type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry.

If a UAC prompt appears on the screen, click on the Yes button to give your approval.

Inside the Registry Editor window, browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.exe

With .exe selected, double click on Default to edit it. Here the Value data should be “exefile”. So if you have any other data, change it to exefile and then click on the OK button to save it.

Now, again go to the left side of the Registry window and browse to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTexefile

Select the exefile folder and then move to the right pane of the window.

Then double click on the Default string and set the Value data “%1” %*

Now click the OK button to save the changes.

After that, browse to the following registry key:

KEY_CLASSES_ROOTexefileshellopen

From the left pane, select the open registry key and then double click on the Default string.

In the dialog box, set the Value data “%1” %* and then click on the OK button to save it.

Once you have done the above changes, close the Registry Editor window and restart your computer.

4]  Use Command Prompt

Modifying the registry is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. So, if you’re not okay with it then you can use the Command Prompt to delete the service.

In order to do this, open an elevated Command Prompt with admin rights.

When UAC prompts on the screen, click on the Yes button to grant the administrative privileges

Inside the Command Prompt window, type the below command and hit Enter:

assoc .exe=exefile

After running the above command, see if you now can open the .exe file on your computer.

5] Create a new user account

Create a new user account and check whether you can now open the .exe file on your computer. If it works fine it means the old user account is corrupted. 

6] Run DISM tool

Another possible reason behind this issue might be System file corruption. If that is the case, you need to run the DISM command tool to fix any system image corruption and repair the Windows Component Store itself.

To do this, open the Start menu and type Command Prompt. Then right click on the result and select Run as administrator.

If a UAC prompt appears on the screen, click on the Yes button to give your approval.

In the command prompt window, type in the below command line and press the Enter key –

Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Wait for a while until the process gets completed. Once it gets completed, restart your computer and check whether it resolves the issue.

That’s it. Let us know which method of this guide helped you solve the issue.

Related: Program exe or COM Surrogate has stopped working in Windows 10