Fix: Sticky Notes Error Code 0x803f8001

 Error code 0x803F8001 when you’re using Sticky Notes started appearing out of nowhere for a number of users. The error code by itself doesn’t give any information as to why the problem occurs, but is rather one of Windows’ generic messages that doesn’t help you at all. Some believe that the cause of the issue is a specific Windows Update, but that hasn’t been proven so far.

What happens is, you try to start Sticky Notes as usual, but you are met with a message that says Check your account. Sticky Notes is currently not available to you. and nothing more than a Close button and a Go to the Store link. This doesn’t explain anything, and if you try to follow the Store link and update the app, you are met with the 0x803F8001 error message. You won’t be able to reinstall the app in a simple way, as Windows doesn’t offer this for their built-in apps, and you’re stuck with a non-functional app.

Fortunately, however, there are two possible solutions that have worked for a few users. However, it is strongly advisable that you copy your old notes before you start with any of the methods. Both methods might result in loss of your notes, so copy them before you start. The notes are stored in one of these folders:

1. %appdata%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\StickyNotes.snt
2. C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\plum.sqlite (provided C: is your system drive)

You should also note, however, that in the future, the folder where the notes are stored might change, and where you should look for it is in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages, if C: is your system drive. No matter where you find them, copy them to a safe place and remember where they are, you will need them if you want to restore them later. When you’re done, move on to the methods below.

Method 1: Reset the Sticky Notes app

This is the easier method, and it is highly likely that it will fix the issue. Resetting the app will delete the data on your device and remove any corrupt files that may be causing the issues.

1. Press the Windows key, and type in Settings, then open the result.
2. Go to System, then Apps and Features and finally click on Sticky Notes.
3. Click on Advanced Options, where you will find the Reset Click it, and click Reset once again on the prompt that says that your current data will be deleted.
4. Reboot your device once this is done and see if Sticky Notes works now. If it doesn’t, move on to the second method below.

Method 2: Uninstall the app using PowerShell, and reinstall it again from the store

Since Windows doesn’t offer an easy and convenient way to uninstall the built-in apps, you will have to resort to the PowerShell, which is a very powerful tool that comes built-in with Windows. This method requires a bit more attention, as typing in a wrong command might make more of a mess than you might think.

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type in Powershell and open the result by right-clicking it and choosing Run as administrator.
2. Once you’re inside PowerShell, type in the following command, and press Enter on your keyboard to execute it.

Get-AppxPackage -name *note*

3. The command that you ran will give you all apps that contain the word note in their name. Sticky Notes should be one of them, and from the information you have (should be plenty), copy the PackageFullName and InstallLocation Save them in a Notepad file somewhere.
4. If you want, for extra security, you can go to the folder in the InstallLocation and back it up, but this is completely optional.
5. Next, go back to the PowerShell, and type in the following command, again followed by an Enter on your keyboard.

Remove-AppxPackage [name_of_the_sticky_note_package]

where name_of_the_sticky_note_package is the name you got for PackageFullName.

6. If the command is accepted, it means you’ve successfully removed Sticky Notes. Now you should re-install it again.
7. Press the Windows key, and type in Once you’re inside the Store, search for Sticky Notes and click Install. You can also use this link. The app should be working perfectly now, albeit you won’t have your old notes, but the next step deals with that.
8. Restoring your notes works by going to where you saved them, right-clicking them and choosing Open with…, then Notepad or another text editor of your choice. The notes should be near the end of the file, although there may be some extra characters inserted. You can copy them to Sticky Notes, and remove all those extra characters you don’t need.

This issue started appearing for a lot of users, and as you see, solving it isn’t very complicated. You should also know that the PowerShell method also works for removing any other built-in modern app, except those who are specifically needed for Windows to run. Regardless, if you’re having this issue with Sticky Notes, all you should do is follow the methods above and you will get rid of it in no time.

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