How to Fix Battle.net App Scan and Repair Loop on PC?
Some Battle.net players are reporting a weird issue where the game launcher is stuck in a Scan & Repair look that always ends with the error message “Whoops. It looks like something broke. Give it another shot.“. This problem is reported to occur on both PC and Mac.
We’ve investigated this issue thoroughly and we discovered a couple of common scenarios with the potential of causing this issue. Here’s a list of potential culprits that are most likely producing this error:
- Game data corruption – In most cases, this type of issue is associated with some time of game data corruption. If this game repair loop is only happening with one particular game, uninstalling and reinstalling the game is the fastest way to fix the problem.
- COD: MW file glitch – If you’re only experiencing this issue with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, chances are you will be able to escape the repair loop without the need to reinstall the game by selectively deleting a series of game data files. This will force Battle.net to acknowledge that you’re missing some key game dependencies and re-download them.
Delete the small data files (Call of Duty Modern Warfare ONLY)
If you are experiencing this issue with Call of Duty Modern Warfare, there is a fix that’s been circulating online that allows you to break the scan & repair loop without the need to reinstall the game completely.
Keep in mind that COD: Modern Warfare is a big game, so uninstalling it completely will take a lot of time (and bandwidth) if you’re working with a limited or slow connection.
The fix below will spare you from having to re-download the game in order to escape this repair loop – it involves selectively deleting small game data files in order to force Battle.net to recheck the integrity of the game and re-download the missing files.
Follow the instructions below to delete these small data files and escape the scan and repair loop of Battle.net:
- Open Battle.net and click on the listing associated with Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Next, click on the gear icon associated with the game and click on Show in Explorer from the context menu that just appeared.
Access the game installation folder Note: This will take you directly into the installation folder of Call of Duty Modern Warfare.
- Close the Battle.net app and make sure it’s not running in the background.
- Once you’re inside the root location of the game installation, delete everything inside except for the Data folder.
Delete everything except the data folder - Next, access the Data folder and type ‘.idx‘ inside the search bar (top-right corner) to make Explorer display only the files that interest us.
- From the list of results, delete everything that shows inside.
- Once all the .idx files have been deleted, double-click on the data subfolder and delete every file that is under 2 MB.
Delete all all the data files under 2 MB Note: You can order the list by ‘Size’ in order to easily select and delete the entries under 2 MB.
- Open the Battle.net app once again, select the Call of Duty Modern Warfare entry and click on Update. Now the app should figure out that some game files are missing and will re-download them while leaving the rest alone, allowing you to escape the repair loop.
If this method was not effective in your case or you’re experiencing this issue with a different game, move down to the next potential fix below.
Uninstall and reinstall the game
If the Battle.net app installation only triggers this error with one particular game, it’s usually an indication of some game data corruption. Depending on the gravity of the problem, you might be able to fix the issue simply by uninstalling the game via Battle.Net’s interface before triggering a reinstallation.
To uninstall a problematic game via Battle.Net, go to the home screen of the app and right-click on the game that is currently stuck in the scan and repair loop, and click on Uninstall from the context menu.
Next, follow the remaining prompts to complete the uninstallation, then reboot your PC.
Once your PC boots back up, open Battle.net app once again and reinstall the problematic game from Games tab and see if the problem is now fixed.
There will be situations (a rare occurrence) where you might need to manually uninstall the game in order to escape this repair loop. If the method above didn’t allow you to uninstall the game directly from the Battle.Net app, follow the instructions below to do it manually (via the Programs and Features menu):
- Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ inside the text box and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open up the Programs and Features menu with admin access.
Open up the Programs and Features menu - At the User Account Control prompt, click Yes to grant admin access.
- Once you’re inside the Programs and Features menu, scroll down through the list of installed programs and locate the game that you’re having issues with, right-click on it and choose Uninstall from the context menu.
Uninstall the problematic game - Follow the remaining prompts to complete the uninstallation, then reboot your PC and re-install the game from Battle.Net the next time your PC boots back up.
If you’re still getting stuck in a repair loop even after you reinstalled the game, move down to the next potential fix below.
