Running wt from "Run" dialog box doesn't work

[sungvzer]

Windows Terminal version (or Windows build number)

10.0.19042.0 1.7.1091.0

Other Software

Windows run dialog

Steps to reproduce

• Press Windows+R to open the run dialog
• Type "wt" or "wt.exe"
• Press enter or ctrl+shift+enter, it doesn't launch with either

Expected Behavior

The application would launch normally when launched from a run dialog.

Actual Behavior

Open dialog closes, cursor goes to "loading" state, then everything turns back silent.
Running Get-Command wt | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Definition, it echoes back %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe, and pasting this string into the run dialog actually opens the terminal.
That path is already in the system AND user paths.

[sungvzer]

Video describing the different behaviors.

2021-05-21_17-41-49.mp4

[zadjii-msft]

This feels like one of the many issues we've had with the app execution alias in the past. @DHowett is usually the best at helping get to the root cause.

[KaranKad]

This happened to me when I tried to gain access to WindowsApps folder by changing permission, after that files were all messed up inside and some store apps stopped working properly. Terminal would work when normally launched by clicking the icon but opening from run dialog did not work. My only option was to do a clean install of windows.

[DHowett]

Unfortunately, that is one of the "NO FLY ZONES" in Windows -- editing the permissions on that folder. Sorry that happened to you!

[KaranKad]

Ah! no worries, I learnt my lesson.

[zadjii-msft]

@sungvzer Could you try toggling the "App Execution Alias" for the Terminal, in the Settings App? That might just fix it for you. Otherwise, there's an option in the Settings app to "Repair" an app (Settings > Apps and Features > Terminal > Advanced Options > Repair) which might work.

[ghost]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[sungvzer]

Did both things, no success

[Chaphasilor]

@sungvzer Could you try toggling the "App Execution Alias" for the Terminal, in the Settings App? That might just fix it for you.

This should be in the FAQ (if it isn't already)! :D
I recently had a strange bug where I couldn't run wt.exe, even when inside the folder containing the file. Got an error that the "file doesn't exist", when it obviously did. Toggling the App Execution Alias twice fixed it for me.

[zadjii-msft]

Sorry for the long turnaround on these. I'm gonna try reaching out to the App Execution Alias team to see if they have more guidance here. If the Terminal can be launched just fine from the Start Menu, but specifically wt.exe doesn't work^[1], then there's something outside our control that's going wrong that we'll need some help figuring out.

Usually toggling the app execution alias in the Settings app should fix this. Worst case, repairing the app via the settings app should also help. But for some reason those don't seem to help everyone, so we need to figure out what's wrong when those don't work.

In the meantime, can you share the output of icacls "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" (from an admin shell?) Filing feedback on "Developer Platform > Desktop Bridge" might also help get some traces to the folks that own this.

Correct WindowsApps permissions

\Program Files\WindowsApps NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(F)
                           NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)
                           S-1-15-3-1024-3635283841-2530182609-996808640-1887759898-3848208603-3313616867-983405619-2501854204:(RX)
                           S-1-15-3-1024-3635283841-2530182609-996808640-1887759898-3848208603-3313616867-983405619-2501854204:(OI)(CI)(IO)(GR,GE)
                           NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F)
                           NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)
                           BUILTIN\Administrators:(CI)(RX)
                           NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                           NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                           NT AUTHORITY\RESTRICTED:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                           BUILTIN\Users:(Rc,S,RD,REA,X,RA)

As a matter of cross-linking:

• [MSIX Bucket] Launch issues caused by bad permissions on WindowsApps, and others #9452 is our bucket for "the permissions are wrong on WindowsApps, and that will break wt.exe
• Running wt from "Run" dialog box doesn't work #10149, windows terminal don't open from Win + X menù #12249 and Unable to launch Windows Terminal Preview from Windows + X #12204 all seem to be the same "none of the above fixed it" issues. VERY good chance I de-dupe these all.

^[1]: The Win+X menu is also powered by wt.exe on builds above 22000.490. Before that, it only used Windows Terminal stable. If you only have Windows Terminal Preview installed, that won't work right below that build.

[zadjii-msft]

Another debugging question from the AEA team: Do any other App Execution Aliases work from the run dialog or a console window? You can find all of them in the settings app. spotify.exe, snippingtool.exe, winget.exe are all good examples.

[ghost]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[sungvzer]

Hi, in the meantime I completely wiped the system, obviously that fixed the problem I had, so unfortunately I have no longer access to the faulty instance.

[zadjii-msft]

Welp that's alright. We've clearly got more than enough other reports, we'll use one of those to track this down. Thanks for the follow-up!

[Zubbbz]

I also have this issue. It appears that the process starts, and shortly after, closes. I never see it appear on screen. https://youtu.be/uoBcX7uYYTg

[zadjii-msft]

@Zubbbz Do you have the "App execution alias" for the Terminal enabled in the Windows Settings app?

From Start menu search, look for "App execution alias", which should take you to the Settings app:

If that's enabled, then try running where wt. If that can't find it, then either the wt App Execution Alias isn't enabled, or your %PATH% is messed up.

First try toggling the App Execution Alias for WT off then in the Settings app.

If that doesn't work, then make sure C:\Users\<your user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\ is on your PATH.

[Zubbbz]

oddly enough, since I have windows terminal set as my default terminal, even when the execution alias is off, if i run cmd from the win + r menu, it opens cmd in a windows terminal window

[zadjii-msft]

Turn that on

[Zubbbz]

I just now turned it off when I took that screenshot, when I had it on, the issue persisted.

[nwalkewicz]

@zadjii-msft I've been having the same issue and have too much important data to merit doing a clean install, so I'm working with a faulty wt.exe alias if you need some more diagnostics. Just so we're caught up, I tried toggling the App Execution Alias and performing an app repair via Settings, but neither worked for me. Symptoms for me are identical as the original video posted in this issue. I can't remember, but I might've messed with the permissions a while back, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause. Looking back through the thread a bit, I saw you posted the correct permission for the WindowsApps folder; could you please elaborate on (or send a link that explains) the :(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)(c,S,E)... bit? I take it (F) means Full Control, then (R|W|X) mean Read|Write|Execute respectively, but I'm not familiar with the others.

Edit: I ran icacls "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps", here's my output:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(OI)(CI)(F)
                             S-1-15-3-1024-3635283841-2530182609-996808640-1887759898-3848208603-3313616867-983405619-2501854204:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                             NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(F)
                             BUILTIN\Administrators:(CI)(RX,W)
                             NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                             NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                             NT AUTHORITY\RESTRICTED:(OI)(CI)(RX)
                             LAPTOP\Nick:(OI)(CI)(F)
                             BUILTIN\Users:(Rc,S,RD,REA,X,RA)

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