[Fix] “You’ll Need the Internet for This” Error Message in Windows 10

Recently after clean installing Windows 10 in one of my computer systems, I faced a strange problem while using UWP apps (Universal Windows Platform apps) such as Mail, Store, etc in my device. UWP apps are also known as Store apps, modern apps and metro apps. These apps come bundled with Windows 10 and more apps can be downloaded via Microsoft Store. Some examples of UWP apps are 3D Viewer, Clock, Calendar, Mail, Maps, Movies, Photos, etc.

When I opened Mail app and tried to add my Hotmail or Outlook email account, Windows 10 displayed following error message:

Following screenshot shows the error message appearing in Mail app in Windows 10:

The Internet was working fine in my device. Other programs such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Download Manager even Windows Update were getting Internet connectivity without any issue.

When I tried to open Microsoft Store app and tried to download any modern app, Store displayed following error message:

Store then displayed sign in box. When I tried to sign in using my Microsoft Account, Windows 10 displayed the same “You’ll need the Internet for this” error message as mentioned above.

So all software programs were connected to Internet but the problem was occurring only in UWP or Store apps. All UWP apps were unable to connect to Internet in my Windows 10 machine.

After a few minutes troubleshooting, finally I was able to resolve the issue and all UWP apps started connecting to Internet in Windows 10.

In this article, I’m going to share all possible solutions which I tried to fix this annoying issue. If you also encounter this issue in Windows 10, you can try the solutions given in this article to fix the problem.

SOLUTION 1: Temporary Disable Security Suite or Firewall Protection

The first thing which you should try is disabling your antivirus security suite or Firewall software protection. In my case, a 3rd party Firewall application which I installed in my Windows 10 device, was causing this issue. It was blocking some system executables and services which are used by UWP apps to connect to Internet, that’s why Windows 10 was showing “You’ll need the Internet for this” error message.

If you are using an Internet security suite or Firewall software program, try to temporary disable or pause its protection. All antivirus, security suite and Firewall programs allow users to disable their real-time protection.

Right-click on your security suite program or open the program and you should get an option to disable or pause its protection.

Disable security suite or Firewall protection and then run UWP apps or Store app again, now it should work fine and should be able to connect to Internet.

If everything works fine now, it’s definitely your security suite or firewall program which was causing the issue. Either uninstall the program or customize its protection to allow UWP apps to connect to Internet.

In my case, when I temporary disabled Firewall protection and the Mail app and Store app were connected successfully to Internet, I re-enabled Firewall protection and didn’t face any problem again.

SOLUTION 2: Try to Reset UWP App in Windows 10

If you are getting “You’ll need the Internet for this” error message only in a one or two apps, it might be possible that there is some issue in the app itself. You can try to reset the app to factory default settings and it might fix the issue.

Following tutorial will help you in learning how to reset or repair apps in Windows 10:

[Tip] How to Reset or Terminate an App in Windows 10

After resetting the app, try to launch it again. Now the app will start with fresh settings and it should fix the connectivity issue.

SOLUTION 3: Run Windows Network Troubleshooter Tool

Windows 10 also comes with a built-in networking troubleshooter tool which can detect and fix connectivity issues. You can use the tool to fix any issues present in your Internet connection.

To launch the troubleshooter tool, right-click on Network icon present in Taskbar notification area and select “Troubleshoot problems” option.

It’ll launch the tool. Wait for a few seconds and the tool will show the problem reason and the result of the diagnosis.

It’ll automatically fix issues found in the diagnosis and your problem should be fixed.

SOLUTION 4: Try Other Possible Solutions To Fix Connectivity Issues

There might be many other possible reasons behind this issue such as DNS error, corrupted registry keys, etc.

Check out following exclusive guide which contains almost all possible solutions to troubleshoot Internet and network connection issues in one place for your convenience:

Try This to Fix Internet and Network Connection Issues in Windows

Try solutions given in above mentioned article and it should help you in fixing the issue.

SOLUTION 5: Try Solutions to Fix UWP Apps Issues in Windows 10

You can also try solutions given in following article to fix UWP apps issues in Windows 10:

[Windows 10 Fix] “This App can’t Open” Error Message, Apps Not Working

Also Check:

[Fix] Something Went Wrong, Error Code: 0x80004005 While Adding New Account in Windows 10 Mail App