Some Windows 10 users are reporting that they regularly see new entries of the ‘AppModel Runtime Error 0x490‘ inside Event Viewer. After expanding on the error event, most affected users reported that the general description of the error is ‘Failed with 0x490 modifying AppModel Runtime status for package XXX‘.

After investigating this particular error code, it turns out that there are several different underlying causes that might force your OS to trigger these types of event viewer errors. Here’s a list of potential culprits:

Now that you are up to speed with every potential culprit that might be responsible for the apparition of this error code, here’s a list of verified methods that other affected users have successfully used to get to the bottom of this issue:

Method 1: Running the Windows App Troubleshooter

Since this particular issue is related to an inconsistency with a built-in UWP (Universal Windows Platform) app like Windows Photos or Windows Movies & TV, the first thing you should do is run the Windows App troubleshooter. This is a utility that contains a series of generic automated fixes that will be effective if the ‘AppModel Runtime Error 0x490‘ is occurring due to a scenario that Microsoft has already covered.

Several affected users have reported that new instances of the error have stopped popping up inside Event Viewer after running the Windows App Troubleshooter and applying the recommended fix.

If you’re looking for specific instructions on how to deploy this particular fix, follow the instructions below:

1. Start by pressing the Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type ”ms-settings:troubleshoot” inside the text box and press Enter to open up the Troubleshooting tab of the Settings menu.
   

2. At the first Troubleshoot window, click on Additional Troubleshooters at the bottom of the screen.
3. Once you’re inside the screen with every Windows 10 troubleshooter,  the Find and Fix other problems section. Next, click on Windows Store Apps and click on the Run the Troubleshooter to open up the utility.
4. Once you’re inside the Windows Store Apps utility, wait patiently until the initial scan is complete. If a viable repair strategy is found, follow the on-screen prompts to apply the recommended fix (depending on the issue that you’re dealing with). Click on Apply this fix to apply the recommended fix.Note: Depending on the problem that is identified, you might need to do a series of manual adjustments.
5. Once the fix is successfully applied, restart your computer and see if the problem is resolved once the next startup is complete.

In case you’re still finding new instances of the ‘AppModel Runtime Error 0x490‘ error, move to the next potential fix below.

Method 2: Resetting the Windows Store Cache

If the Windows App troubleshooter didn’t allow you to identify a potential culprit in your case, the next thing you should do is investigate for a potentially corrupted store cache. Several affected users have reported that they managed to fix the issue by resetting the Windows Store cache.

Note: Keep in mind that this operation will not delete any application data – All it does is it removes any cached data related to UWP (Universal Windows Platform) applications.

In order to reset the Windows Store Cache, press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Inside the text box, type ‘wsreset.exe’ and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to perform this action with admin access.

Note: After you initiate this operation, you’ll see a CMD prompt named wsreset.exe. Wait until the window auto-closes – That’s your cue that the cached data has been cleared. Once the operation is complete, restart your computer and see if the AppModel Runtime Error 0x490 is fixed after the next startup is complete.

Method 3: Resetting the People / Photos app via Powershell

If the first two methods above have not resolved the issue in your case, you can almost assume that the AppModel Runtime Error 0x490 error is either caused by the People or the Photos apps.

These two Windows 10 native apps are the most susceptible to trigger this error due to a licensing issue with the Store app. Several affected users that were also encountering this error code have reported that the issue was finally resolved after they used Powershell to effectively reinstall the People or Photos store app.

If you haven’t tried this fix yet, follow the instructions below to do so:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Inside the text box, type ‘powershell‘ then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open up an elevated Powershell Windows. When you are prompted by the UAC (User Account Control), click Yes to grant admin access.
2. Once you’re inside the elevated Powershell window, copy-paste one of the following commands depending on the application that is causing the error inside to essentially reinstall the app that is causing issues:

   get-appxpackage *Microsoft.People* | remove-appxpackage            
   get-appxpackage *Microsoft.Windows.Photos* | remove-appxpackage 

   Note: If you don’t know which application is causing the error, check Event Viewer to see which UWP app is mentioned in the General tab of the error log.

3. After the command has been successfully processed, check the Event Viewer to see if new instances of the AppModel Runtime Error 0x490 issue is still occurring.

In case the same problem is still occurring, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 4: Reinstalling the Visual Studio RunTime Dependencies

As it turns out, you can also expect to see this particular error if some Visual Studio runtime dependencies have become corrupted and are affecting the stability of certain Windows native applications that make use of them. If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to resolve the issue by uninstalling every Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package before reinstalling it from scratch using the official channels.

To enforce this particular fix, follow the instructions below to reinstall every potentially corrupted Visual Studio dependency:

1. First things first, ensure that you uninstall every Visual Studio dependency you currently have installed – To do this, press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ and press Enter to open up the Programs and Features screen.
2. Inside the Programs and Features menu, locate and uninstall each Visual Studio installation by right-clicking on each one and choosing Uninstall from the context menu.
3. Next, follow the on-screen prompts until every install package is removed.
4. Restart your computer and wait until the next startup sequence is complete.
5. Once your computer boots back up, install Visual Studio 2015, Visual Studio 2017, and Visual Studio 2019 using the all-in-one installer. Use the correct installer below depending on your OS infrastructure:

   x86 (32-bit) Windows 10
   x64 (64-bit) Windows 10

6. Wait until the download is complete, then open the vcredist installation executable and follow the on-screen prompts to install the redistributable package on your computer.
7. Once the installation of every missing Visual Studio is completed, restart your computer one final time and see if the ‘AppModel Runtime Error 0x490′ error is now fixed.

Method 5: Running SFC & DISM Scan

If none of the above have allowed you to prevent new instances of the AppModel Runtime Error 0x490 issue inside the Event Viewer, the next thing you should do is utilize a couple of utilities (SFC and DISM) that are capable of fixing the system file corruption that might be affecting your operating system’s ability to handle dependencies used by the suite of Windows 10 native apps.

 System File Checker and Deployment Image Servicing and Management are two built-in tools that are equipped to fix the most common corruption instances that might trigger this type of error. If you haven’t deployed this utility yet, start with a System File Checker scan as it doesn’t require a stable internet connection.

Note: As opposed to DISM,  SFC is an entirely local tool that works by using a locally stored cache to replace corrupted system file items with healthy equivalents. But keep in mind that after you start this method, it’s important not to interrupt this type of scan since (these might cause additional logical errors).

In case you are encountering this issue with a traditional HDD instead of a more modern SSD, expect this process to take up a couple of hours. When the SFC scan is finally complete, reboot your computer and see if new instances of the error have stopped occurring inside Event Viewer.

If the system is still creating new instances of the AppModel Runtime Error 0x490 move forward by initiating a DISM scan. Once you’ve run both SFC and DISM scans, reboot your computer and use your computer normally to see if you still end up seeing the same Event Viewer error instances.