I have installed Windows 8/10 on several home computers and ran into problems from time to time. I recently tried to open the Windows Store and received the following error message:
Unable to connect to the Store. This could be due to a server problem or a network connection timed out. Wait a few minutes and try again.
This is what the message looks like on Windows 10:
After playing around with some tweaks, I was able to get the Store working again. In this article, I’ll show you various solutions I’ve tried and hopefully one of them will work for you.
First method – check the date and time
The first thing you need to do is make sure the date and time on your Windows 8/10 PC is set correctly. You will not be able to connect to the store if your system time is not accurate. You can set the time by clicking “Start” and entering “Date and Time”.
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In Windows 10, you’ll be taken to the new Settings app where you can manually adjust the time or set it automatically.
In Windows 8, the Control Panel dialog box opens. Here you can click Change Date and Time to set the correct time on the system. Also make sure you set the correct time zone.
Or you can click Internet Time, click Change settings, and then click Update now. This will automatically sync your computer with time.windows.com.
Now try opening the Windows Store app and see if you can connect. Hope so!
The second way – a proxy server
You also want to check if your system is going through some kind of proxy server. If so, you can try disabling the proxy and see if that will allow you to connect to the store. You can do this by clicking the gear icon in the upper right corner of IE and then clicking Internet Options.
You can also click “Start” and enter “Internet Options”. Then go to the “Connections” tab and click the “LAN Settings” button.
Go ahead and uncheck the “Use a proxy server for your local network” box.
Now try connecting to the Windows Store and see if it works. If not, keep reading.
Method 3 – Logout / Use the local account
The next thing you can try is to sign out of your account and then sign in again, especially if you are using a Microsoft account. Alternatively, go to https://login.live.com/ and make sure you can sign in with your Microsoft credentials. If you are locked out for any reason (such as password cracking, etc.), you will have to regain access to your Microsoft account and then log back in to Windows 10.
You can also try switching from your Microsoft account to your local account and then try to open the Windows Store. You can do this by opening the Settings app, clicking on Accounts and then Your Details.
Method 4 – Troubleshoot Windows Store apps
Another thing you can try before the kernel option below is using the built-in troubleshooter in Windows 8/10. Click Start, type Troubleshoot and press Enter. Scroll down to the bottom and select Windows Store Apps.
It might not work, but it’s worth a try.
Fifth method – reset your computer
The last thing you can do is restart your computer. This is not ideal as it will reset all your Windows Store apps and remove any third-party programs you installed from CD / DVD or from the Internet. However, if nothing else works, this may be your only option.
You can go back to the Settings app, click Update & Security, then Recovery, and then Get Started under Reset this PC. In Windows 8, this option is called Refresh Computer. You can simply find it using the search charm.
Hopefully one of these methods fixed the problem of not being able to connect to the Windows Store on your Windows 8/10 computer. If not, leave a comment here and I’ll try to help. Enjoy!
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