7 Best Fixes for Windows Online Troubleshooting Service Is Disabled Error on Windows

Windows offers various troubleshooters that can come in handy in fixing different system issues. Usually, these troubleshooters work well, but sometimes you might see the ‘Windows online troubleshooting service is disabled’ error on launching them. This error can appear on using built-in and external troubleshooters.

As such, if you see the same error message on accessing a troubleshooter, then this is the post where you need to be. Here we’ll see seven quick ways to fix ‘Windows online troubleshooting service disabled’ error on your Windows 11 computer. So, let’s begin.

1. Check If Your Windows Activated

Before making any changes to your computer, you’ll need to ensure that you are using a licensed and activated Windows copy. To check your Windows activation status, follow the below instructions:

Step 1: Press the Windows + I shortcut to open the Settings app.

Step 2: Choose System from the left sidebar and click on the Activation option in the right pane.

In the Activation window, check the message next to the Activation state. If it says, Not active, you’ll need get a product key or a digital license to solve the error. The digital license or key might be written on your computer.

However, if the Activation state says Active, then there’s some other culprit behind the error. In this case, try the following solutions to eliminate the error.

2. Edit the Group Policy Settings

The Scripted Diagnostics policy allows users to access built-in and online troubleshooting tools. If this policy setting is disabled, you will likely see the error at hand.

To fix that, you’ll have to enable the Scripted Diagnostic policy setting in the Group Policy Editor. Note that the Group Policy Editor is unavailable on Windows 11 Home Edition, and you’ll see gpedit.msc not found error if you try to acces it. You can check our guide on fixing the gpedit missing error.

Nevertheless, here’s how to access the Group Policy Editor and enable the Scripted Diagnostics policy setting:

Step 1: Press the Windows+ R shortcut to open the Run tool.

Step 2: Type gpedit.msc and click OK.

Step 3: Navigate to the following location in the Group Policy Editor:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Troubleshooting and Diagnostics > Scripted Diagnostics

Step 4: Double-click on the ‘Troubleshooting: Allow users to access online troubleshooting content on Microsoft servers from the Troubleshooting Control Panel (via the Windows Online Troubleshooting Service – WOTS)’ policy in the right pane.

Step 5: Choose the Enabled option and then click on Apply and then OK.

3. Customize the Registry Settings

Another quick way to fix the ‘Windows online troubleshooting service is not enabled for this version of Windows’ error is to edit registry settings. However, editing the registry can be dangerous, as one wrong edit can make your system unstable. Thus, you must backup and restore the registry before getting into the following steps:

Step 1: Open the Run tool, type regedit and click OK.

Step 2: In the Registry Editor, copy and paste the following path in the address bar:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinTrust\Trust Providers\Software Publishing

Step 3: Double-click on the State entry in the right pane.

Step 4: Type 23c00 in the Value data section and click OK.

4. Start Important Windows Service

Background Intelligent Transfer Services (BITS) is an important Windows service that allows apps and services to run in the background. However, if this service is not running, you won’t be able to run services like the Windows troubleshooters in the background.

You’ll have to start the BITS service to fix the issue. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Press Windows + R shortcut to open the Run dialog box, type services.msc in the Run tool and click OK.

Step 2: Right-click on Background Intelligent Transfer Services and choose Start.

5. Temporarily Disable Windows Security

Windows Security is the default security application that protects your system against cyber attacks and viruses. It does so by preventing suspicious apps and services from running. But sometimes, Windows Security can interfere with important services responsible for running the troubleshooters and cause the error.

You can temporarily disabling the Windows Security app and check if it fixes the issue. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start Menu, type Windows Security in the search bar, and press Enter.

Step 2: Choose ‘Virus & threat protection’ from the left sidebar.

Step 3: Click on Manage settings.

Step 4: Disable the toggle under Real-time protection.

Next, check if you still see the error message on using the troubleshooter. If yes, re-enable the Windows Security app by enabling the Real-time protection toggle.

6. Download Windows Update

The ‘Windows online troubleshooting service is not enabled for this version of Windows’ error might appear due to an issue in your Windows version. In this case, the best thing to do is to download the latest Windows update.

To do that, open the Settings app, choose Windows Update in the left sidebar, and click on Check for Updates in the right pane. Allow Windows to look for any available updates. If it finds any, it will automatically download and install it on your computer.

7. Remove Corruption From Your  Computer

Corruption in important system files can also be the reason behind error message. You can quickly eliminate the corruption by running an SFC scan. Here’s how:

Step 1: Type Command Prompt  in the Start Menu search bar and choose Run as administrator from the right pane.

Step 2: Type the following command and press Enter.

sfc /scannow

After the scan is complete, check for the issue. If you’re still facing it, run the DISM scan.

Deployment Image Servicing and Management, aka DISM scan, is another Windows utility that repairs Windows images, including the Windows operating system itself. To run the DISM scan, execute these commands one by one in the elevated Command Prompt window.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Solve Issue With Windows Troubleshooter

Whether you’re facing an audio or network issue, Windows offers troubleshooters for almost all kinds of problems. However, you may face problems accessing the troubleshooter.

Luckily, you can quickly fix the ‘Windows online troubleshooting service is disabled’ error on Windows using the above solutions.