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Workaround to fix Office Preview app error “This app can’t open”

Office Preview app or several other modern apps, either didn’t open or displayed an error “This app can’t open, Check the Windows Store for more info” when launched on Windows 10 TP. Microsoft has identified the cause and provided workaround with script to purges all licenses cached on device and allow refresh of all valid licenses because the issue was related to Store Licensing Service.

Workaround to fix Office Preview app error "This app can’t open"

Workaround to fix Office Preview app error “This app can’t open”

Store Licensing Service fails to acquire a new license if one already existed, even if the license had expired. Removing and reinstalling doesn’t clear the cache so the app fails to get the license at startup. If you had installed the app prior to Feb. 23 then you would hit this issue and removing and reinstalling the app won’t fix the problem.

Step-by-step Instructions:

1. Open Notepad and paste below text

echo off
net stop clipsvc
if "%1"=="" (
echo ==== BACKING UP LOCAL LICENSES
move %windir%serviceprofileslocalserviceappdatalocalmicrosoftclipsvctokens.dat %windir%serviceprofileslocalserviceappdatalocalmicrosoftclipsvctokens.bak
)
if "%1"=="recover" (
echo ==== RECOVERING LICENSES FROM BACKUP
copy %windir%serviceprofileslocalserviceappdatalocalmicrosoftclipsvctokens.bak %windir%serviceprofileslocalserviceappdatalocalmicrosoftclipsvctokens.dat
)
net start clipsvc

2. Save the file with some name as “activelic.bat” (note the .bat extension)

3. Right click Start button (window logo), open ‘Command Prompt (Admin)’. Execute the batch file from this admin command prompt.

4. Go to Start menu and uninstall the App exhibiting the behavior.

5. Reacquire the App. Launch it and it should now open, reacquire a new, valid, license.

Script is actually stopping client license service, renaming the cache and restarting it again. The cache will update as apps are launched.

Alex Lim is a certified IT Technical Support Architect with over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting complex IT systems and networks. He has worked for leading IT companies, such as Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, providing technical support and solutions to clients across various industries and sectors. Alex has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and a master’s degree in information security from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also the author of several best-selling books on IT technical support, such as The IT Technical Support Handbook and Troubleshooting IT Systems and Networks. Alex lives in Bandar, Johore, Malaysia with his wife and two chilrdren. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Website | Twitter | Facebook

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