Workaround to get rid of endless loop of ads in Solitaire and other Microsoft Casual Games

If you are a Microsoft user who loves playing Casual Games like Solitaire, and is frustrated being stuck into a sort-of endless loop of ads while playing your favorite game recently, then I may have a temporary fix for you that has worked for at least one user.

Here you go: Uninstall the game, restart your PC, and then reinstall the game.

This was shared by a moderator recently in a discussion on Windows Forum. They also shared the exact steps to do it. Following are the steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Select Apps.

3. Under Installed apps, find Solitaire in the list.

4. Click on it then select Uninstall.

Here’s what the affected user said:

Of course, it goes without saying that if you are facing this issue in some other game, then you need to uninstall and reinstall that game. I really hope this workaround will help you. Anyway, if you want, you can read the next section to know what more I gathered about this issue.

More details on the ‘too many ads’ issue

In the last week or so, there have been a growing number of complaints by users of the Microsoft Casual Games, especially Solitaire Collection. Users complain that ads, which used to show up once or twice in a game, have now become so intrusive and sort-of endless that they can’t play their game without getting totally exhausted or frustrated. Following are some reports I collected that should give you a better idea of what those affected are saying about the problem.

Here’s what one user said:

To play the solitaire games, you used to have to watch a 30-second ad of some sort. Now it seems the ads are endless. Sometimes I watch five minutes of ads before giving up.

Here’s the explanation from another one:

I am able to sit through your 30 second un-skippable ads, I can wait, let the ad finish, and then click off of it and get to playing whatever game I want. But what in the absolute hell is going on right now where I go through multiple ads in a row!? I open a game, ad plays, I wait for the ad to finish, I click off the ad, go to start the game, I get the same ad again, wait, click off the ad, start the game, same ad. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, AND OVER AGAIN! I CANNOT PLAY A SINGLE GAME BECAUSE I AM IN A CONSTANT AD LOOP! I close the window, re-open it, thinking it will probably fix it! NOPE

And here’s yet another frustrated user:

Some ads are OVER 90 SECONDS. Some ads stop, THEN another ad follows immediately behind it. Ads repeat over and over and there is NO WAY to defeat them without paying. ***I HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR YOUR SOFTWARE””

The experts and moderators at the Microsoft Forums website are asking the complainants to get in touch with the company using the Feedback Hub app. They are also suggesting users to report the issue to Microsoft Casual Games support, something that users can do by opening a ticket here.

The same moderator who helped a user resolve this problem (by suggesting uninstalling & reinstalling the game) also gave a couple of other options to try. In case the workaround mentioned at the top of this article isn’t working for you, you can give these other two options a try. Here you go:

1. Reset the game:

• Open Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features.

• Scroll down to Microsoft Solitaire Collection. Select it.

• Click Advanced options. Click Reset.

• Restart your PC and try again the game.

2. Check for updates:

• Click the Windows icon or press the Windows key on the keyboard.

• Click Settings. Click Update and Security.

• Click Check for updates.

• Open the Microsoft Store app > Click  Library icon on the left > Get Updates.

Following is another workaround that I could gather from the forum discussions. However, keep in mind that I couldn’t find any users who said that it worked for them. Anyway, here’s a series of steps shared by Independent Advisor ‘Darhyl Mayte Amizola’ :

• Update apps from the Microsoft Store
• Open the store and click Library
• Click Get Updates and wait until all apps are updated
• Reset the Microsoft Solitaire Collection app
• Press Windows key + i and go to Applications
• Select Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the list and click Advanced Options
• Scroll down the page and click on Reset

Moving on, at least one user (Steve Suter) confirmed that after they shared their feedback with Microsoft, the company reached out to them. It’s a long response, which you can read by heading here. To give you a crux, the response mentions some steps that the user needs to follow first – so, there’s no magical fix for the problem yet.

That’s it from my side at the moment. In case any of the workarounds mentioned here helped you (or, if this article helped you in any way), do like the post and also leave a comment at the bottom of the page. Also, if any other workaround helped you (or if you have anything else to say), feel free to use the comments section to share the details. Thanks in advance.