Steam or other applications cannot launch in Windows 11

After updating to Parallels Desktop 26.3, certain x86 applications - including Steam - may fail to launch in Windows 11 on Arm. The application may appear to start briefly and then silently close, show no window at all, or display a generic error.

This behaviour is related to how Windows on Arm caches x86 emulation data. Following the update, the existing emulation cache may become stale, preventing affected applications from starting correctly.

Note: This issue affects only applications running through Windows x86 emulation on Arm. Native Arm applications are not affected.

There are two possible ways to resolve this. Try Option 1 first, as it resets the emulation cache for all applications at once. If the issue persists for a specific application only, use Option 2 to reset emulation settings for that application individually.

Option 1 — Reset the emulation cache (all applications)

This clears the system-wide x86 emulation cache and rebuilds it on the next application launch. Run the following commands in an elevated Command Prompt (run as Administrator):

1. Press Win + S, type cmd, then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
2. Run the following commands one by one:

3. Once the service has restarted, try launching the affected application again.

Note: The xtacache service is the Windows on Arm x86 translation cache. Clearing it is safe — Windows will automatically rebuild the cache the next time each application is run.

Option 2 — Reset emulation settings for a specific application

If only one application is affected (for example, steam.exe), you can force Windows to rebuild its emulation cache entry by adjusting the application's compatibility settings:

1. Locate the application's .exe file. For Steam, this is typically at:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe
2. Right-click the .exe file and select Properties.
3. Go to the Compatibility tab.
4. Under the Windows on Arm section, click Change emulation settings.
5. Select Use safe emulation and click OK.
6. Click OK again to close Properties.
7. Restart the application.

Note: Changing the emulation setting forces Windows to invalidate and rebuild the cache entry for that specific executable, which is what resolves the launch failure. If the application already had a custom emulation setting, you may need to set it back after confirming the issue is resolved.

More information

Parallels is aware of this issue and is investigating a permanent resolution for a future update. Click Get updates below to be notified when this article is updated.

If neither option resolves the issue, please contact Parallels Support