Browsers are crashing with error code 0xc0000022 after installation of the April 2022 Windows Updates

Microsoft released updates for its Windows operating systems on the April 2022 Patch Day. The company did not highlight any major issues in the release notes and the installation appears to have went well on most devices.

Some users are reporting that they can't launch popular web browsers anymore after installing the most recent Windows updates. The error message "the application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000022)" is thrown on these devices, and the issue appears to affect browsers such as Firefox, Chrome and even Microsoft's own Edge browser.

Reports suggest that the issue is not affecting all browsers, and users who are affected by this may want to try others, for example, Brave or Vivaldi, to see if these can be launched. The uninstallation of the updates, e.g., KB5012599, resolves the issue.

A search on Microsoft's Feedback Hub returns several reports of the issue. Some reports have been published in the past 24 hours, but others have been posted months ago in Insider builds.

After installing KB5012599 I got a 0xc0000022 error launching Edge, Firefox and Chrome, so they don't work anymore. Fortunally Vivaldi and Brave work perfect, so I can still internet.
Uninstalling KB5012599 solves this problem.

The low number of reports on the Feedback Hub suggests that the issue may not be widespread. Still, some users are reporting crashes after installing the updates.

Reports suggest that Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices are affected by the issue. Microsoft has not responded to the claims yet.

While it looks to be an issue that is caused by the latest Windows updates, some suggest that antivirus products could also play a role. Windows Latest mentions ESET in particular, but there is a chance that other antivirus solutions may cause the issue as well.

Affected users who need to use the crashing browsers may need to uninstall the update to resolve the issue.

Tip: check out our instructions on uninstalling Windows updates if you need assistance.

Now You: are you affected by the crashes?

Browsers are crashing with error code 0xc0000022 after installation of the April 2022 Windows Updates