Since November 6 we’ve been getting the same call from several offices. Someone clicks Microsoft Edge and instead of a browser they get a small error box: “The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b). Click OK to close the application.” On many more PCs, Edge opens fine and it’s the new Outlook, Teams, Copilot, Acrobat or the ChatGPT app that throws it instead. Every machine we’ve looked at traces back to the same thing, an Edge update to version 157.0.4341.42 that didn’t install cleanly. Nobody on your team clicked anything wrong.
Key takeaways
- The error comes from a broken Microsoft Edge update (157.0.4341.42), not from anything your staff did, and nothing we’ve seen points to malware.
- It usually breaks more than Edge. Apps that borrow Edge’s engine (WebView2) fail too: the new Outlook, Teams, the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, Acrobat, the ChatGPT desktop app and Windows Widgets. In our own scan, broken WebView2 was about three times as common as broken Edge, so Edge opening fine doesn’t rule this out.
- Windows has a built-in repair for Edge that fixes some PCs. It doesn’t fix all of them.
- It can come back after it’s been fixed.
- BMIT clients don’t need to do anything: we’re finding and fixing affected PCs remotely. If you see the error, open a ticket.
What does the error look like?
You click Edge, a small box pops up with the 0xc000007b message, you click OK, and nothing else happens. Clicking again gives the same result. Restarting the PC doesn’t help either, because the problem is in the program files on disk, not in anything that’s still running.
Which apps can it break?
Edge is the obvious one, but it’s actually the less common case. A lot of Windows apps don’t draw their own windows. They borrow Edge’s engine to show their content, through a component Microsoft calls WebView2, and WebView2 got the same bad update. Apps built on it either fail with the same error or open to a blank window: the new Outlook, Teams, the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, Adobe Acrobat, the ChatGPT desktop app and the Widgets panel in Windows. Edge itself can open perfectly well while all of those fail.
Of roughly 300 PCs we’ve scanned so far, 117 had a broken WebView2 157 and 37 had a broken Edge 157. If several unrelated programs stopped working on the same morning, this is a likely reason, even if Edge still opens.
Why is this happening?
Edge updates itself quietly in the background. On the affected PCs the 157 update failed partway through and left a mismatched install behind. Windows runs Edge as a 64-bit program, but the new version folder ended up mostly full of 32-bit files: 37 of the 48 program files on the PCs we checked. WebView2’s folder had the same problem (38 of 46). When 64-bit Edge tries to load a 32-bit piece of itself, Windows refuses to start it, and 0xc000007b is the code it shows for that. Edge’s own installer log confirmed the update stopped partway.
Not every PC on version 157 is affected. Plenty updated fine. We aren’t the only ones seeing it, either. IT admins have been comparing notes in a r/sysadmin thread, including one organization with more than 80 PCs hit. As of November 9, Microsoft’s Edge known issues page doesn’t list it.
What can you try yourself?
If you’re comfortable in Windows Settings, this is safe to try on a single PC:
- Save your work. Close Edge and any app showing the error (ChatGPT, Acrobat, Teams, Outlook).
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, go to the Details tab, and end any
msedge.exeormsedgewebview2.exeentries still running in the background. - Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, find Microsoft Edge, click the three dots next to it and choose Modify, then Repair.
- Let it finish. It downloads a fresh copy of Edge, so the PC needs to be online. Restart when it’s done.
- If Edge opens but Outlook, Teams, Copilot, Acrobat or ChatGPT still won’t, go back to Installed apps and repair Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime the same way.
Windows may ask for an administrator password at step 3. If you don’t have one, stop there and call your IT provider.
If Edge opens after the restart, you’re done. If it still won’t, don’t keep repeating the repair. On some PCs it skips the broken files because it thinks they’re already in place. Fixing those means setting the bad version folder aside and reinstalling Edge from Microsoft’s own installer, which is a job for IT.
For IT staff and comfortable do-it-yourselfers, we’ve published the repair script we use as a free download: Repair-Edge157 on GitHub. Run it with -CheckOnly first. That mode doesn’t need admin rights and only reports whether Edge or WebView2 is affected. The repair itself renames the bad version folder to <version>.x86bad and reinstalls from Microsoft’s signed 64-bit installer. The README covers the details.
Can it come back after it’s fixed?
Yes. One admin in that Reddit thread fixed their machines and saw the error return the next day. Others said a reinstall moved them to a newer build (158.0.4370.1), and some rolled back to Edge 156. Until Microsoft ships a clean update, treat a fix as good for now and keep an eye out for a repeat.
What we’re doing for BMIT clients
We built a repair that runs remotely through our management tools. It checks each PC’s Edge and WebView2 for the mismatched files, moves the broken version out of the way and reinstalls a clean 64-bit copy of Edge from Microsoft’s signed installer. We’re scanning every managed PC for the problem instead of waiting for calls. If you’re a client and you see the error, open a ticket and we’ll fix that machine directly. You don’t need to try the repair yourself first.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a virus or a hack?
Nothing we’ve seen points to that. It’s an update that didn’t install correctly.
Will the repair delete my bookmarks or saved passwords?
The Repair option reinstalls Edge’s program files, not your profile, so bookmarks and saved passwords should stay where they are. If you sign in to Edge with your work account, they’re synced there as well.
Should we just use Chrome for now?
For websites, another browser is a fine stopgap. It won’t help apps like Acrobat or the ChatGPT desktop app, because they use Edge’s engine no matter which browser you prefer.
Are Macs affected?
No. This is a Windows problem.
If you aren’t a BMIT client and several of your PCs started showing this error at once, it’s worth knowing who keeps an eye on your updates and how quickly they catch a bad one. We offer a free 15-minute review of how updates and patching are handled on your PCs. Call (617) 322-5155 or visit bostonmit.com/contact.
Nick Salem
Boston Managed IT
