Troubleshooting Windows 8 (8.1) “We cannot connect to the Store” Error / Windows 8

I recently came back from a 3 month trip and turned on my Windows 8.1 machine to find that nothing worked. For some weird reason some apps won’t connect to the Internet and I can’t connect to the Windows Store. I’m definitely connected to the Internet because I can browse with IE and Chrome, so it’s confusing why I can’t connect to the Store or why certain apps aren’t working.

Finally, I came across a post by Gerrand on his blog that talks about how all the usual methods to fix this problem don’t work: check the date/time on your computer, use netsh and wsreset commands, use local account instead of online account and try to refresh your PC. I actually tried most of those options because it’s happened once before and I wrote a post about Unable to Connect to Store issue on my other blog. He also mentioned running wsreset, which seems to have worked for a minute, but the second I try to click anything in the Store it comes back giving me the same error message.

However, none of the options on my old post seem to work on this machine. Gerrand eventually figured out that it had to do with a Windows Live account. In his post, he writes about how his account has to be verified and then things start working. In my case the account was verified, but I had two-step verification enabled and so I had to enter my authentication code.

Let’s start by going to Setting on Windows 8 by moving the mouse to the right side of the screen. Then click Change computer settings at the bottom.

Now click Account in the menu on the left.

This is where you’ll find the information you need to mess with the Windows Store. If it’s an email verification issue, you’ll seeYou need to verify your account.Right below your email address. Otherwise it will say Disconnect. If you have the above two-step verification, you will see it saysYou need to update some information for your Microsoft accountLink with a link called Update information.

Click it Update information link and it will take you to a screen where you have to enter the code generated from your authenticator app.

After you’ve done this, open the Windows Store again and it should load fine. Again, Microsoft is great at returning error messages that have nothing to do with the actual error, that’s why you have to waste time looking for solutions online! If you are still having problems after trying all the methods from this post and my previous post, then post a comment with all the details and I will try to help. Enjoy!