Capacities spontaneously uninstalling on Windows 11
under review
G
Gordon Walker
Twice now I have clicked on the Capacities icon to find that there is nothing there, Windows report no target for the shortcut and the Capacities folder is gone, as if the app has uninstalled itself. Manually downloading the installer from the website and reinstalling restores everything
Capacities 1.51.2 (now, I didn't check the last install)
Windows 11 Pro version 24H2 on a Lenovo E14
Log In
Beth
Merged in a post:
Need to install Capacities from new version of .exe file, old version disappeared from desktop.
J
Jovin Lim
I had the windows app installed. When I started my desktop, the Capacities application (1.51.2) disappeared from my computer. I had to install it from the new version of the .exe (1.52.6). It would be great if Capacities issued auto-updates through the app itself.
G
Guilherme Augusto
Hello Capacities Team,
Just wanted to add my experience to this thread. I'm having the same issue on Windows 11, and after doing a bit of digging, it definitely looks like an application crash, not an antivirus problem. I've attached a screenshot showing what the final result looks like on my end.
Here’s what I found:
- Application Crash Confirmed: The real story is in the Application logs (application.evtx). There's a clear Application Error (Event ID 1000) logged right when the app disappeared (for me, it was 13/08/2025 at 17:49:50). The log points directly to Capacities.exe as the app that crashed, with the error happening in ucrtbase.dll. This confirms it's an internal crash, which leads to the broken shortcut we're all seeing.
- Missing Updater Log: I also checked the capacities-updater folder in AppData\Local, and there are no .log files. It seems like the process is failing before it can even write a log.
A Possible Solution?
Since the silent background updater seems to be the issue, maybe a more straightforward approach would work better? For example, just prompting us to download and run the new installer manually. It's a more common update method on Windows and would likely prevent these crashes since the app wouldn't be running while its files are being changed.
Thanks for looking into it.
Steffen Bleher
Guilherme Augusto: Thanks for sharing. That's super helpful!
d
dju D
It happens to me as well, it's probably the fourth time already. Every time there is an update, I have to reinstall the app. I'm on Windows 11 with Bitdefender
D
Doc Hawk
I'm using Windows 10, Avast Antivirus, personal computer so no group policies. I suggest that it is a problem with Capacities since various people, with differing Windows versions and antiviruses are experiencing the same issue after an update was pushed.
Steffen Bleher
under review
This is most likely due to some settings on Windows, as the app does not uninstall itself. Most likely, permissions are set in a way that blocks the updater when trying to install the app.
Steffen Bleher
Merged in a post:
The app doesn't ask for login after reinstalling
E
Elizaveta Orlova
I guess this might be a security issue??
It happened after the app deleted itself after trying to install the latest update (check the other bug I reported: https://capacities.io/feedback/p/capacities-app-windows-itself-is-deleted-after-an-attempt-to-install-updates )
Then I tried to delete and reinstall by myself, and the bug didn't occure.
Beth
Merged in a post:
Capacities app (Windows) itself is deleted after an attempt to install updates
E
Elizaveta Orlova
I have to reinstall it from zero, after it tried to install 1.52.4. It happened to me twice.
I noticed it when I saw an empty shortcut on the app place in the task bar. Windows system just asked me whether I want to delete empty shortcut or not.
Beth
We don't uninstall the app, so we presume it's something to do with administrator settings that we have no control over. Could this explain your experiences?
G
Gordon Walker
Thanks for your response. Mine is a personally owned laptop and so no group policies are being applied which might remove unapproved software. In addition this has never happened with any other application so I don't think the proposed explanation is that likely.
Beth
Gordon Walker: Do you have any security/anti-virus software that could be interacting with it?
G
Gordon Walker
I use only the basic Windows Defender on default settings. If it was that or some other Windows setting, the question would remain as to why Capacities is so distinctively affected by it.
D
Doc Hawk
I have the same issue. I have tried asking on the Discord and no one is answering there so far. I have not yet reinstalled, since I don't want to overwrite and lose my data.
M
Michel Br
Same happened to me and came here to report it. Windows 11 home 24h2 - capacities 1.50.4
Load More
→