# Unable to communicate with background service **URL:** \ **Category:** Pritunl VPN\ **Created:** [April 8, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56 "2022-04-08T16:03:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astoreth](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/astoreth/32/34_2.png) [@astoreth](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/astoreth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/1 "2022-04-08T16:03:24Z")
Hey, I am using pritunl in Windows 10, when opening it, I get a message stating. ``` Unable to communicate with background service, try restarting computer ``` Going into services.msc when I try to restart the service, I get an error stating: ``` Windows could not start service in local computer. The service did not return an error this could be an internal windows error or internal service error. ``` I have tried: - Killing all Pritunl programs from task manager - Restarting computer - Uninstalling Pritunl, restarting pc, installing again (didn’t work even once, guy on Stack overflow said this helped him once, but it came back) - I’ve tried the steps mentioned [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51715068/pritunl-vpn-unable-to-communicate-with-helper-service-try-restarting-windows#:~:text=Killing%20all%20Pritunl%20programs%20from,Restarting%20windows%20services) - Deleting log files, like stated [here](https://docs.pritunl.com/discuss/5fc54eb73e10ff00226dc090)\< I believe maybe another service can be interfering, but I have no idea how to find that out. If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/zach/32/1105_2.png) [@zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/zach)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/2 "2022-04-09T02:02:04Z")
This occurred when the [**Visual C++ Redistributable**](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170) is not installed on the computer. The latest release is packaged with the required library. [**Pritunl Client v1.2.3128.59**](https://github.com/pritunl/pritunl-client-electron/releases/tag/1.2.3128.59) fixed this issue but an issue with GitHub pages prevented the page from building causing the homepage to link to the previous version. The homepage has now been updated to link to the fixed release. ---
**Author:** ![jjanvier](https://forum.pritunl.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/977dab/32.png) [@jjanvier](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/jjanvier)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:14am UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/3 "2023-04-11T09:14:09Z")
I have this exact issue with the latest release: 1.3.3484.2. Would be nice to know which Visual C++ redis is necessary, so we could install it manually as a workaround? ---
**Author:** ![zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/zach/32/1105_2.png) [@zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/zach)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/4 "2023-04-11T19:22:40Z")
The first installer link on that page includes Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. The specific file required is vcruntime140.dll or Visual Studio 2015 Redistributable. ---
**Author:** ![QuakeString](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/quakestring/32/373_2.png) [@QuakeString](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/QuakeString)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 9:11am UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/5 "2023-09-17T09:11:21Z")
I’m having this exact issue in version 1.3.3600 OS Manjaro Linux x86\_64 ---
**Author:** ![signalflowseann](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/signalflowseann/32/833_2.png) [@signalflowseann](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/signalflowseann)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/6 "2024-05-15T13:14:00Z")
I’m have this exact issue in the latest version v1.3.3814.40 macOS Sonoma I’ve also tried removing the logs with no avail Pritunl opens after fresh install but that’s pretty annoying to do every time I start up my computer. ---
**Author:** ![zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/zach/32/1105_2.png) [@zach](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/zach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/7 "2024-05-16T02:00:42Z")
The macOS section of the [**client debugging**](https://docs.pritunl.com/docs/debugging-client#macos) documentation has commands to debug the status and restart the background service. ---
**Author:** ![signalflowseann](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/signalflowseann/32/833_2.png) [@signalflowseann](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/signalflowseann)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/8 "2024-05-16T13:13:12Z")
@zach After running the “Manually Uninstall” instructions from the client debugging doc that you sent over it now works! Thanks for the timely response. ---
**Author:** ![likemoody](https://forum.pritunl.com/user_avatar/forum.pritunl.com/likemoody/32/1427_2.png) [@likemoody](https://forum.pritunl.com/u/likemoody)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://forum.pritunl.com/t/unable-to-communicate-with-background-service/56/9 "2026-01-21T12:36:40Z")
Things to check when trying to solve the issue is to simply let the process to run in background. For macos users it’s going to Settings \> Login Items & Extensions \> Allow in the Backgeound \> Turn the switch on for the Pritunl item. Windows might have same service that manages, what’s allowed to run in the background.