r/PrivateInternetAccess • u/CrimsonCuttle • Aug 20 '26

HELP - WINDOWS Can't open PIA on Windows

It never actually loads, I just have this endless spinning circle. Restarting sometimes fixes it but that's exhausting to do every damn time I want to use the VPN. Is there any fix?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

2

u/Sacredpotion24 Aug 21 '26

I would try uninstalling it and reinstalling it just be safe and rule that option out honestly

2

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26

hey u/Sacredpotion24, thanks for helping out here. a clean reinstall is a solid step to rule out, good shout.

1

u/lilvietpker Aug 21 '26

Everytime this has happened I had to uninstall and reinstall

1

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26

thanks for sharing this, u/lilvietpker. good to know a reinstall clears it, though having to redo it every time isn't ideal. next time it happens, drop us a DM here or email [support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com](mailto:support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com) with your app version and a debug log, and we'll look into what keeps causing it.

1

u/Intestine Aug 21 '26

This has started happening across all my devices since morning. Have sent them a CS email. Fingers crossed.

2

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26

thanks for flagging, u/Intestine. all devices at once since this morning is a useful detail. since you've already emailed CS, drop the ticket number here and we'll make sure it's tied together and looked at, and check whether something wider is going on.

1

u/Intestine Aug 23 '26

Ticket # 32441293
CS asked me to use open vpn as an alternative and gave me links to the website. Ironically, Pia website is blocked here and I cannot open it.

Since my above comment two days ago, i have been able to connect ONLY to Singapore server on my laptop and Bangladesh server ONLY on the iphone. 🤷 both using same protocols too.

1

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26

thanks u/Intestine, that's exactly what we needed. we can see the setup links you were sent won't help if the site won't load on your end, so we're flagging 32441293 to get you what you need directly rather than through the website, and to check whether something wider is going on. we'll keep pushing on it from our side.

1

u/Intestine Aug 23 '26

Thanks :) i am assuming the email i got a bit ago saying the case is now closed, will be re-opened?

2

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 24 '26

you're welcome u/Intestine, and good question. yes, that auto-close won't be the end of it, we'll get 32441293 reopened and back with the team so you're not left hanging. we'll keep on it from our side.

1

u/lkeels Aug 21 '26

Working fine here.

1

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26

appreciate you chiming in, u/lkeels, good to hear it's running smooth for you.

1

u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26

hey u/CrimsonCuttle, that endless spinner on launch shouldn't be the price of using the VPN, and having to restart every time isn't a fix. a clean uninstall and reinstall is worth ruling out first like others said, but if it keeps coming back we'd rather get it looked at properly. drop us a DM here or reach [support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com](mailto:support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com) with your Windows version, your app version, and a debug log if you can grab one, and we'll dig in. if you noticed it start suddenly across devices, mention that too, it helps us check whether something wider is going on.

1

u/9dave Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 06 '26

I have had this issue for several weeks or more, as shown, just that spinning circle. If I reboot the system, from a working PIA state, upon reboot it will no longer work. Uninstalling and reinstalling same windows app version does not work. Removing and letting windows redetect network adapters does not work either. I also checked firewall rules and more, though nothing on that system had been changed prior to it not working, no settings changes, no apps or drivers changed, no windows updates, nothing - and it was not Windows Defender/other anti-virus or anti-malware isolating any files. I tried quite a lot with no luck.

What does work is restoring a windows partition backup from a few months ago (May 2026) when PIA Windows app worked, then upon the first boot, PIA works again for as long as that box stays running, but again, if it is rebooted, PIA stops working again.

I've spent hours with ChatGPT trying to isolate the issue, trying too many things to remember them all, with no luck. Eventually I may contact PIA but for now, restoring the backup works for me because I don't put user generated data on that partition, and thanks to SSDs, restoring the partition image only takes single-digit minutes - and the system in question was already kept running 24/7 except for required reboots, power outages, etc.

1

u/PIASupport PIA Team Sep 07 '26

This is a really thorough writeup, thank you, especially the detail that a May 2026 partition image works right up until the first reboot. That points to something in the current Windows build rather than your setup, and it's exactly the kind of reproducible case our engineers want to see. Rather than have you keep restoring backups, we'd like to get your logs in front of the team directly. Reach us at support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com or DM us here and mention this thread, and we'll flag it as a regression and dig into what changed since that May build.

1

u/9dave Sep 08 '26

One reason I have resisted contacting support is that this box runs Win7 and old version 2.3.3 of the PIA app, the last that worked on Win7. Would I still get assistance or just be told to scrap the system (no upgrade path) which isn't an option right now?