How to Fix OneDrive Installation Error Code 0x80040c97
On Windows 10, OneDrive is Microsoft’s storage service for storing files in the cloud and it offers you a simple way to store, synchronize and share your files. Even though it is a great user-friendly and feature-proof application but it still has buggy ends. It has been reported by many users in the online community that OneDrive encounters a couple of installation and functional errors. Among which, Error Code 0x80040c97 is a persistent one that resists the users from installing OneDrive successfully on their PC.
Users receive the error message to be “OneDrive couldn’t be installed”. The core reason is notified that either the downloaded setup file is damaged or there are problems with the certificates on the PC. The error notification is as follows:
What Causes OneDrive Installation Error Code 0x80040c97?
Our technical researchers drafted a list of causes that may be causing the error under consideration as it becomes easy to rectify the problem once the cause is known. The list is as follows:
- Damaged Setup File: It has been observed that this error may occur due to a corrupt OneDrive setup file that you are going to install the setup with. This file may be damaged or incomplete due to unsuccessful download or third-party interference.
- Corrupt Certificates: Sometimes, when network certificates or protocols are not correctly configured then you may face the error under consideration. Inappropriate configuration of the certificates may lead to connection failure with Microsoft servers, ultimately causing the error under consideration.
- Windows Registry: It has been observed that the error may occur due to a problem in the Windows Registry settings. The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that saves low-level settings for the Microsoft Windows operating system and for applications that opt to use the registry and OneDrive is one of those applications.
- Third-party Software: It is obvious that the installed antivirus may be blocking your downloaded setup file to install its components on your PC. Microsoft installers normally do not alarm anti-virus for infiltration but in some rare cases, they do. Thus, blocking the setup file to extract its components and ultimately causing this error.
- Windows Firewall: As OneDrive works when the internet works then it is understood that if the OneDrive setup file can not access the internet, it will cause errors just like the one under consideration.
Solution 1: Terminate OneDrive Process (PowerShell) & Reinstall OneDrive
Sometimes, the OneDrive installation process breaks down due to many arbitrary reasons i.e. Corrupted or incomplete setup file, inappropriate certificates configuration, etc. Even though the installation process breaks down but it still runs in the background. The right approach would be to kill these hidden background processes, download the latest fresh OneDrive setup, and install it. This proved to be helpful for many users online. Please go through the steps given below:
- Click Start, search Windows PowerShell, and click Run as administrator. This will open Windows PowerShell utility with admin privileges. It is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft.
Opening Windows PowerShell as Administrator - Copy-paste the following command in Windows PowerShell and press Enter. It will terminate all the hidden background OneDrive processes of any kind i.e. installation, execution, etc.
taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe
Running Command to Terminate OneDrive Processes - Now that all OneDrive hidden background processes have been terminated, we need to make sure that OneDrive components do not exist on your PC (though installation has failed but still some files may or may not be extracted on your PC). For this, click Start, search Control Panel, and open it. This will open the Control Panel window that is comprised of all Windows settings i.e. Hardware & Software, Accounts, etc.
Opening Control Panel - Click Uninstall a program under Programs. This will open the list of currently installed software on your PC.
Opening the List of Currently Installed Programs - Check if Microsoft OneDrive is available in the list of programs. In case it is available then select Microsoft OneDrive and click Uninstall. This will completely remove OneDrive and its files from your PC.
Uninstalling Microsoft OneDrive - Restart your PC to save changes and to reset cache memory as well.
- Navigate to the Official Microsoft OneDrive Download webpage and click Download to download the fresh & latest OneDrive Setup File. Downloading may take time so wait until it gets finished.
- Try installing Microsoft OneDrive now. Your problem should be fixed now. In case it does not then most likely, it is because of the version incompatibility (Windows Build & Microsoft OneDrive). Proceed with the next solution to understand and solve the problem.
Solution 2: Downgrade to Older Version
If the above solution did not work for you then the problem is related to the version compatibility (Windows Build & Microsoft OneDrive). Sometimes, Microsoft developers publish updates for different software i.e. Office, Teams, etc. including OneDrive.
It is not always the case that these updates are perfect and they contribute to the betterment of the relative product/software. It has been reported that the recent updates may be causing the error under consideration. In this situation, downgrading to an old version of Microsoft OneDrive i.e. 19.152.0801.0008 that is proved to be error-free suggested by the Microsoft Developers, helped many users online to solve the problem. Follow the steps given below to sort out your problem:
- Repeat steps 1-6 from the first solution. It will cover terminating Microsoft OneDrive’s hidden background processes and uninstalling its inappropriate setup files.
- Navigate to the OneDrive Versions Download webpage developed by META Online Network Corporation.
- As soon as you open the above webpage, your browser will prompt you to translate the page into English (as META Online Network Corporation works in Vietnam). Click on Translate. This will translate the whole webpage into English for better understanding.
Translating Foreign Language to English - Click on the See more option available under the list to view the hidden features of the webpage.
Revealing Hidden Features of the Webpage - Once the whole list has been revealed, press Ctrl + F keys together on your keyboard to initiate the finding tool of your web browser. Copy-paste the following version in the search box and press Enter. Now click on the Download option right next to the result found, to start downloading this specific OneDrive Version Setup File. Downloading may take time so wait until it gets finished.
19.152.0801.0008
Downloading the Specified OneDrive Version Setup File - Try installing Microsoft OneDrive now. This should finally fix your problem.
