Citrix Receiver launch.ica file does not open – nothing happens

Just reporting on a small issue I had with a machine and brand new Citrix Receiver 4.4 install. Clicking on a published application or desktop resulted in nothing happening. Seemed like the launch.ica file just wasn’t calling Citrix Receiver properly to start the connecting process.

IE wasn’t asking me to save or open launch.ica, this was differrent.

After a Citrix Receiver cleanup and reinstall the same problem remained. I checked the .ica file extension to see what program was associated with it but everything looked OK.

Clutching at straws I decided to manually associate .ica files with the Citrix Connection Manager.

1-min

This file by default is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\wfcrun32.exe.2-min

Once set, ICA files mysteriously started to launch. Something to look out for!

To set the association, you can choose default applications by file type within Windows or download the ICA file by following the steps located at https://jgspiers.com/capturing-analyzing-launch-ica/.

3-min

 


126 Comments

  • itadmin

    July 21, 2016

    Life saver….THANKS !!!!

    Reply
    • it

      December 7, 2016

      This works !!

      Reply
      • Bob

        September 12, 2019

        this doesn’t work. Any suggestions?

        Reply
      • Faiz

        May 4, 2020

        Life saver. All other info including on Citrix unhelpful. Been trying for few hours but this sorted in under 10 seconds. Thanks.

        Reply
    • RB

      September 14, 2017

      Same Here Thanks so Much !!!!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        April 12, 2020

        This really works! thank you for your help!

        Reply
    • Guilherme

      July 30, 2020

      Life saver ยฒ

      Reply
    • sreeni

      March 30, 2021

      it worked, thanks a lot

      Reply
  • George Spiers

    December 7, 2016

    Glad to hear!
    GS

    Reply
    • Charchika

      October 13, 2017

      It worked! Thankyou so much.

      Reply
    • Chandra

      February 15, 2021

      not working for me please help

      Reply
  • Trentan

    January 9, 2017

    Amazing, thank you so much!

    Reply
  • Ruben

    January 10, 2017

    Thank you for the not so obvious solution!

    Reply
  • R.G.

    January 28, 2017

    Thanks a lot.

    Reply
  • J

    January 31, 2017

    This has worked. I’m an hour and a half late for logging into work now and you saved me, thanks!

    Reply
  • Vishwa

    March 8, 2017

    Brilliant, it worked !

    Reply
  • JrSysAdmin

    March 15, 2017

    This worked for me as well. Thank you very much! I owe you a drink, if you drink. This wasn’t an issue months ago with many users. I wonder if an IE update caused this. User also got an reimaged computer recently.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      March 15, 2017

      Thanks, I do enjoy the odd beer or two! I think it may be due to updates although to be fair I haven’t experienced it in a long time.

      Reply
  • Alex Meadows

    June 15, 2017

    Worked for me too. Thank you!

    Reply
  • Shan

    July 29, 2017

    Omg this saved my life, thank you

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      July 31, 2017

      Glad it was of help ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  • Anastasia

    August 22, 2017

    Thanks a lot, you are the best

    Reply
  • Chelsea

    August 26, 2017

    How did you download connection manager? I’ve downloaded the receiver latest version but have been searching for hours and don’t know where to get citrix xonnection manager! It’s not in my program files!

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      August 26, 2017

      Connection Manager is part of the install of Citrix Receiver. The file you are looking for is wfcrun32.exe, which is typically on 64bit systems located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client\.

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        April 21, 2020

        Awesome!Thanks

        Reply
  • subhash

    September 7, 2017

    what will happen if i add citrix authentication manager as default program instead of citrix connection manager?? i did that then i am not able to launch the application.

    Reply
  • subhash

    September 7, 2017

    I added the citrix authentication manager as default program. when i click the application icon, nothing it’s showing.
    What should i do now to launch the application through citrix receiver??

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      September 7, 2017

      You need to change the default association for ICA files to “Citrix Connection Manager” and not Citrix Authentication Manager.

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        February 6, 2019

        while setting default couldn’t find citrix connection manager, only citrix is found

        Reply
        • George Spiers

          February 7, 2019

          Maybe your Receiver/Workspace app is corrupt. If you are sure it is not there, perform a uninstall and reinstall.

          Reply
  • Manny

    September 25, 2017

    thank you, lifesaver indeed

    Reply
  • Alex

    September 27, 2017

    Worked for me, thank you

    Reply
  • VM

    November 5, 2017

    Worked Great. Thanks!

    Reply
  • Debu

    December 21, 2017

    Thanks a lot bud..i couldn’t take a work from home cz of this. Exactly when wfh is required d most during this holiday mode. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Cheers

    Reply
  • Justin

    January 4, 2018

    When i tried running with wfcrun , its giving me ‘unable to parse command line’ error..I am stuck.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      January 4, 2018

      Update to the latest version of Citrix Receiver and if that fails, perform a reinstall using the Citrix Receiver Cleanup Tool to first perform an uninstall -> https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX137494

      Reply
      • Adi

        April 6, 2018

        Why it ask me to create a Citrix login to download this Cleanup Tool? It shouldn’t have to. I don’t want to create a new Citrix account unnecessarily, I just want to work…

        Reply
        • George Spiers

          April 11, 2018

          When you install Citrix Receiver a copy of the Receiver Cleanup Utility can be found under %ProgramData%\Citrix\Citrix Receiver 4.x

          Reply
      • Anonymous

        October 28, 2021

        Running Citrix Receiver Cleanup Tool helps!! Thank you so much!

        Reply
  • Siva

    January 8, 2018

    Thank you!!!

    Reply
  • Gabriel

    January 17, 2018

    Thanks man!
    it helped a lot

    Reply
  • GG

    January 24, 2018

    I can’t find the Citrix Connection Manager under the default Application next to .ica file.
    What should I do?
    Not familiar with computer set up and need help please.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      January 24, 2018

      You should reach out to your technical department/Citrix team for assistance if you are not sure on following the above steps.

      Reply
  • Glenn

    March 8, 2018

    I can’t even get the Citrix Receiver app to run at all, either automatically or manually. So there is no Citrix icon in the task bar. Any known issues with that? Tried fresh uninstall/reinstall with restarts all the way. It does not run. Windows 10.

    Reply
  • Glenn

    March 8, 2018

    Please ignore previous. Required manual End Task of multiple running versions before one good one could start, now have icon. Thanks.

    Reply
  • jay

    March 10, 2018

    Thanks Man , it worked ๐Ÿ™‚
    i also had an error +DVCRenderingAdapter.dll failed to register. HRESULT -2147319780. Contact your support personnel… got rid of it by installing Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015.

    Reply
    • zarky

      April 17, 2018

      Thanks! Couldn’t install the Citrix Client.. installing “Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015” fixed the exact same error for me too. Works now ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    April 4, 2018

    Thanks its working……..much appreciated bro…

    Reply
  • Ronald

    April 14, 2018

    Citrix uninstall via cleanup utility did the trick for me

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    May 13, 2018

    Life saver! Thank you!

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    May 15, 2018

    Great! Thanks you

    Reply
  • Mike C

    May 22, 2018

    Tried it but still not getting anything ๐Ÿ™ Any other suggestions? I am new to Citrix, I have had others look at it and they could not figure it out as well. Thanks!

    Reply
  • Mike

    May 22, 2018

    Tried it but still not getting anything ๐Ÿ™ Any other suggestions? I am new to Citrix, I have had others look at it and they could not figure it out as well. Thanks!

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      May 22, 2018

      When you right-click a launch.ica file and click properties, what program is it set to open with?

      Reply
      • Mike C

        May 22, 2018

        It opens with Citrix Connection Manager

        Reply
      • Mike

        May 22, 2018

        It says it opens with the Citrix Connection Manager.

        Reply
        • George Spiers

          May 22, 2018

          So when you click to launch a desktop or application, and you download the ICA file, what happens when you click to run it?

          Reply
          • Mike

            May 22, 2018

            Nothing at all. I click it and nothing comes up

          • George Spiers

            May 23, 2018

            Strange, update to latest version of Receiver or run the cleanup tool and install again.
            If that still does not work try a different user account on the same machine (generating a new profile is the aim).

          • Mike

            May 23, 2018

            I ended up downloading the 4.8 version(I was using 4.11) it now it is working as expected. Even though others here are using 4.11 and it is working for them. Thank you!

  • Carolina

    May 22, 2018

    Hola que tal, mepude loguear bien con citrix, veo las aplicaciones, pero cuando quiero ingresar, descarga el archivo launcher y no se con que programa abrirlo.Probe con internet explorer, con Citrix received y no pude.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      May 23, 2018

      Citrix Connection Manager is what you open it with.

      Reply
  • JW

    June 7, 2018

    Thank you thank you thank you

    Reply
  • PB

    June 11, 2018

    Been fighting this for half an hour… time to get down to really basics… and your post saved me some unnecessary time of trial and error for sure.

    Reply
  • Arun

    June 16, 2018

    Thanks it worked like a magic
    got a great relief

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    June 25, 2018

    It worked ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    July 7, 2018

    Thanks it worked…\but its a strange thing how the things are associated with connection manager instead of \receiver

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    September 3, 2018

    Thanks so much. this worked perfect for me as well. life saver.

    Reply
  • Aneesh

    September 20, 2018

    Awesome it worked, you saved my day

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    September 20, 2018

    Thanks a Ton

    Reply
  • mikhail

    September 20, 2018

    Thx. From Russia with Love)

    Reply
  • Snehal

    September 24, 2018

    Thank you so much

    Reply
  • Leonardo SO

    November 2, 2018

    A help that really worked, I was looking for the CitrixConnectionMananger executable, but it was not actually in Windows if it was called wfcrun32.exe.
    Thank you.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    November 24, 2018

    Helped me as well. Thank you

    Reply
  • LACIE

    January 4, 2019

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    January 7, 2019

    Thank youuuuuu soooooo much

    Reply
  • Mark

    January 8, 2019

    I am experiencing an issue that I have seen others allude to but haven’t really been able to resolve. When I try to launch a Citrix app it just spins and then nothing. No .ica file, no app. I have tried multiple versions of the Receiver, from the latest to pretty old version. This issue seems to be exclusive to Windows 10 but not all systems experience the issue. My main work PC can’t launch and Citrix apps. On my work laptop if I use Chrome it will download the .ica file that I can open and launch the app. My home PC (non domain joined) works identically to my domain joined work laptop. I have tried the file association trick and I have run the cleanup util several times but no luck. Has anyone seen and resolved this issue? I’m not the only one in our environment experiencing it but Windows 10 is still scarce.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      January 9, 2019

      Have you tried Chrome on your main work PC? It sounds odd that the ICA file is not even downloading. Have you any proxy servers, antivirus or web filtering software on the main PC (that isn’t on the domain laptop) that could be temporarily disabled to rule those out? Also, you should try logging on as a test user to your main PC (a user domain test user who has not logged on before) to rule it out being a profile issue.

      Reply
      • Mark

        January 9, 2019

        Yes, I have tried Chrome – it spins for a couple seconds then nothing. Firefox too. It’s like Chrome is trying to open the file with the default app and not giving me the option to do anything else with it. I’ve been all through the Chrome settings trying to figure out how to tell it not to do that but so far no luck.

        There is no proxy for the work systems – they connect directly to the Storefront server, and both are running identical copies of McAfee (McAfee at home too but a home product). I will try uninstalling it and seeing if that makes a difference but I’m not hopeful as I know the same policies are applied to both systems and one works while the other doesn’t. It’s odd – I’ve been poking at this issue off and on for a couple months now but really haven’t made any headway. Good suggestion on logging on with another user – I’ll try that.

        Reply
  • Harshit

    January 17, 2019

    Thanks man , you saved me from hours of trouble . Cant thank you enough

    Reply
  • Nico

    February 18, 2019

    Bro you are a life saver!!!! MY wife was hounding me about getting this fixed, I am so glad that you put this out here. I definitely owe you a drink for this one!!!

    Reply
  • 5h3h@n

    March 28, 2019

    You are an amazing man ๐Ÿ™‚ Many thanks bro !!!!!

    Reply
  • Rohit

    April 29, 2019

    Hi I have changed my official laptop and have installed citrix workspace 1903, after that when i try to launch the .ica files it doesnot open. The files are getting downloaded successfully in my downloads and default application for .ica file is citrix workspace.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      May 3, 2019

      The default application for .ica files must be “Citrix Connection Manager”. Likely this is not set.

      Reply
  • Amauri

    May 13, 2019

    Absolutely life saver! I searched and searched for a solution for this annoying problem for weeks. The helpdesk technicians at work couldn’t help me at all with this issue. It almost felt like some mumbo jumbo ritual I had to go through following their directions to fix the issue, first install citrix, then reboot, then use IE, if the blue Moon aligns with Mars in the third quadrant of the first day of summer you might be able to connect :)โ€ฆ totally useless.
    Anyway, thank you so much for documenting your findings so well. I really appreciated.

    Reply
  • Jane

    July 8, 2019

    Hi. Im desperate. I have uninstalled/reinstalled Citrix Receiver, ensured .ica default program is Citrix Receiver but still won’t open. This is only happening on my personal laptop (Win10), it works on my work PC (Win10) and laptop (Win7) with no issues.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      July 9, 2019

      The default program needs to be Citrix Connection Manager. You could also try creating a new local user account and seeing it it works under that different profile.

      Reply
  • Santosh

    September 5, 2019

    I have same issue but while opening ICA file it creates a window for Preparing to install but after that not responding.

    What is causing to stop and what is trying to install here.

    Need help, please!!

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      September 6, 2019

      Run the Receiver cleanup tool and start again with a fresh install. Double-check the associations afterwards as per this guide.

      Reply
  • Kevin

    September 6, 2019

    I am trying to set up a new computer and when I go to associate .ica with Citrix, it shows Explorer and the Store with no options to change to another. It doesn’t have the option to search for other applications at the bottom of the list as it used to have. I can’t use the store because I have to use Receiver and if I go to the store it will push Workspace. I loaded Receiver and it used to be easy to find the wfcrun32.exe to associate but they hide all the former options from view. On another machine I had to disable the “S” option to download the Receiver, but I am stumped on this one to associate the .ica. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      September 29, 2019

      If you right-click on a .ica file and go to Properties, you should have a “Change” option which allows you to browse to the executable.

      Reply
      • Joanne Kilkeary

        September 4, 2021

        This one little suggestion just saved me after getting completed frustrated with 3 hours of playing with my new computer. Citrix Connection Manager wasn’t showing up as an app in settings. But when I tried your above suggestion to someone else from 2019, there it was and now it’s working perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was ready to give up! So glad I came across this thread and kept reading down looking for some morsel of advice that would help me! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
  • Kevin

    October 7, 2019

    The change property is no longer available in Win 10 1809, and THAT is the problem for Citrix Receiver or Workspace users. The only option is Microsoft Store which most companies will not download from. This MUST be fixed!

    Reply
    • George Spiers

      October 9, 2019

      I see the Change option, but using Windows 10 1903. If I can get hold of an 1809 machine will check there but it should not have been removed.

      Reply
  • NK Gilbert

    November 4, 2019

    At last a solution that actually works! Many thanks

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    November 9, 2019

    It worked. Thanks..a lot.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    November 18, 2019

    you sir are a fine gentleman. Thank you.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    December 3, 2019

    Life saver. it worked. aawwooo

    Reply
  • Santiago

    March 18, 2020

    It worked.
    Many thanks.-

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    March 30, 2020

    Thanks a lot, it’s working..

    Reply
  • Theva

    April 25, 2020

    Brilliant ! you are a Life Saver Man . Thanks a lot its working

    Reply
  • Ijaz

    May 1, 2020

    Thanks a lot.

    Reply
    • Siddhant Singh

      June 7, 2020

      Thanks a ton! Really, I was so frustrated before when I was unable to login to citrix. You solved it.

      Reply
  • Nikko

    June 15, 2020

    Very helpful. Thank you!

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    June 21, 2020

    Thank you for your help… it worked.. awesome…

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    July 16, 2020

    life saver!!! I have been trying for a whole day!

    Reply
  • IKR

    July 25, 2020

    When I try to launch my ctirix application, I frequently get plugin-container.exe application error The exception Breakpoint 0x80000003… Any thoughts on this please ?

    Reply
  • AR

    August 4, 2020

    I think we checked 75 different sites then I stumbled across this using Duck Duck Go search. Holy WIN! Thank you

    Reply
  • JB

    August 7, 2020

    For what it’s worth, even though this thread is specifically about Citrix Receiver and not Citrix Workspace, this still applies.

    I had the same issue where ICA files simply wouldn’t open. The same executable in the post exists in Citrix Workspace. I had to change the file association for ICA files so that they pointed to the above executable and also checked the “Always open this file type” in the new Microsoft Edge browser.

    Works like a charm.

    Reply
    • Milos

      June 3, 2021

      Thanks, I can confirm this for Workspace.

      Reply
  • Vald

    August 28, 2020

    Thanks man. this is very useful

    Reply
  • clyde

    October 19, 2020

    I have the same problem, but on the Mac….any ideas on how to fix the equivalent? hoping someone can help me ! thanks

    Reply
  • clyde

    October 19, 2020

    ame problem, but on the Mac….any ideas on how to fix the equivalent? hoping someone can help me !

    Reply
  • Alex

    November 11, 2020

    Thanks a lot! it really worked!! I couldn’t find this info anywhere

    Reply
  • Usha

    December 4, 2020

    thanks a lot for sharing. really worked. Was struggling with this issue from last 4 days. Now worked. Thanks once again.

    Reply
  • Pete

    May 31, 2021

    Thank you thank you – been messing about for an hour trying to work out why it wouldn’t open.

    Reply
  • Michael

    June 17, 2021

    for some reason in choose a default app per file type, Citrix Connection Manager isn’t an option. It just shows Citrix Workspace and when I click on it it’s not one of the apps to associate.

    Any ideas? I’ve uninstalled/restarted and installed/restarted numerous times.

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  • M

    June 17, 2021

    For some reason in choose a default app per file type, Citrix Connection Manager isn’t an option. It just shows Citrix Workspace and when I click on it it’s not one of the apps to associate.

    Any ideas? I’ve uninstalled/restarted and installed/restarted numerous times.

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  • Hazi

    July 6, 2021

    Thanks for the help

    Reply
  • Lakesh

    August 12, 2021

    Worked perfectly on virtual desktop!

    Reply
  • Andrey

    August 17, 2021

    THANKS YOU!!! Its really work! You best of the best, ั‡ะตัั‚ะฝะพ! )))

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    June 13, 2022

    Completely agree with all the comments. This was the simplest fix after scouring through the net for hours. Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  • Ely

    August 15, 2023

    Thank you so much. Spent a whole day figuring out what was wrong, this helped immediately!

    Reply
  • Achraf

    January 17, 2024

    Thank you so much ! you are a life saver.

    Reply
  • DmiDerka

    January 19, 2024

    Thank you so much!!! I’ve struggled with this issue for so long. You are amazing!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Vishwa Cancel reply