Fix: Remote Procedure Call Failed Error When Opening Photos or Pictures

A “Remote Procedure” is a sequence of instructions which exists outside the current (local) program. The current program sends a message to the remote program to execute these instructions. If this process fails i.e. the remote program is unable/doesn’t execute the instructions, we get the error Remote Procedure Call Failed.

Many users face this error when they are trying to open an image with the Windows default Photos applications. There can be many reasons behind this as each computer has a different computer configuration. There are several workarounds present for this problem. Start from the first and work your way down.

Solution 1: Opening the image with another program and restarting computer

The simplest solution to this program is to open the image you are trying to view using another application. After viewing the image, you should restart your computer. It seems that after the image type is loaded with another application, the computer automatically fixes the problem of its viewing with the Photos app.

1. Right-click on the image file, select “Open with” and select any program other than Photos (such as Paint).

2. After viewing the image, restart your computer properly. After the restart, try opening the image with the Photos app. Hopefully, the problem will be solved.

Solution 2: Reinstalling Photos Application

Before we try any other methods, we can try reinstalling the Photos application. Thus if there is a problem with your application, it will get fixed instantly. Do note that this solution requires administrative privileges so make sure that you are logged in as an administrator account.

1. Press Windows + S, type “powershell” in the dialogue box, right-click on the application and select “Run as administrator”.
2. Once in PowerShell, execute the following command:

Get-AppxPackage *photos* | Remove-AppxPackage

3. If the uninstall worked perfectly, you would see the following process in your PowerShell windows. Wait for it to complete. After the uninstallation is completed, execute the following command to install the application again. This process will consume some time so be patient and let the process complete. Do not cancel at any stage.

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Note: This command will install all the default apps again on your computer. Which means if you have deliberately uninstalled a default Microsoft application from your computer, it will be installed again using this method.

4. After the installing process is finished, check if the Photos application works. If it doesn’t, restart your computer and check again. Do note that you might get some red lines of error during the process. Don’t panic and just let the process complete.

Solution 3: Resetting the Photos Database

If the above solution doesn’t work, we can try removing the Photos application database. We will not delete the entire folder, just the local files/configurations present. This will essentially clear all the files because of which you might be experiencing the error.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application. Type the following address in the dialogue box and press Enter. You will be navigated to the target location.

2. Once in the folder, delete all the contents. Select all of them, right-click and click “Delete”.

3. Restart your computer and check if the problem got solved.

Solution 4: Resetting the Photos Application using Settings

Another workaround to solve this problem is to reset the Photos application using settings. This option resets all the configurations and user data associated with your Photos and makes the application go into a state when you first used it. This method solves any discrepancies that your application might be facing.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search bar. Type “settings” in the dialogue box and open the application.
2. Once in Settings, select the category of “Apps”.

3. A list of applications installed on your computer will be listed accordingly. Scroll through them until you find “Photos”. Click on “Advanced options” present under its name.

4. Click on the “Reset” button present on the next screen. A new popup will come up stating that all the preferences and sign-in information will be lost. Press “Reset” anyway and let the computer reset the application.

5. Once the reset is done, restart your computer and check if the problem is solved.

Note: There are also third-party applications known to cause problems with the Photos application. Try disabling CCleaner and install the photos application again. Alternatively, you should also check if your user account is working properly and isn’t corrupt. If all the above isn’t working, check if your Nvidia drivers are up to date.