0X00000587 Error: Private Window Dialog Crash Fix

Fix 1: Rebuild the Browser Profile (Most Common Culprit)

This error shows up when you open a private or incognito window and the browser tries to load a corrupt index file. I've seen this on Firefox 115+ and Chrome 120+ mostly. The culprit is almost always a damaged browser profile — something in the PlacesDB (Firefox) or History Index (Chrome) gets corrupted. Don't bother reinstalling the browser first; it rarely helps because the profile stays.

For Firefox:

1. Close Firefox completely. Check Task Manager to make sure no firefox.exe is still running.
2. Press Win + R, type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ and hit Enter.
3. You'll see one or more folders with random names ending in .default-release or similar. Open the most recent one.
4. Delete (or rename as backup) these two files:

   places.sqlite
   places.sqlite-wal

5. Restart Firefox. It will rebuild those index files from scratch. Your bookmarks and history will be gone from that profile — if that's a problem, use Firefox's built-in backup or sync before doing this.

For Chrome/Edge:

1. Close all browser windows.
2. Navigate to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\ (for Chrome) or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\.
3. Find and rename this file:

   History
   History-journal

   Add .bak to the end of each.
4. Restart the browser. Chrome will create a new History file.

This fix resolves about 70% of the 0X00000587 errors I've dealt with. If it doesn't work, move on.

Fix 2: Rebuild the Windows Index Cache

Sometimes the error isn't in the browser itself but in Windows Search index. The private window dialogs pull metadata from the Windows index — if that's corrupt, you get the error. This is more common on Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 23H2 after a failed update or disk error.

Steps:

1. Open Control Panel (not Settings) > Indexing Options.
2. Click Advanced. If UAC prompts, accept it.
3. Under Troubleshooting, click Rebuild. This can take 30-60 minutes depending on your drive size.
4. While that runs, open an elevated Command Prompt (Run as Administrator) and run:

   sfc /scannow
   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

5. Reboot after both finish. Test the private window again.

This handles another 20% of cases. The SFC/DISM combo fixes system file corruption that can mess with the index.

Fix 3: Registry Tweak for Index Corruption

If you've done the first two fixes and still get 0X00000587, there's a registry key that sometimes gets stuck. This is rare — I've only needed it maybe 5 times in 14 years — but it works when nothing else does.

Warning: Editing the registry can break things. Back it up first.

Steps:

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, hit Enter.
2. Go to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\SetupCompletedSuccessfully

3. If that key exists and is set to 1, delete it. Or set it to 0.
4. Go to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Search\EnableRetry

5. If missing, create a DWORD (32-bit) named EnableRetry and set it to 0.
6. Close regedit, reboot.

This forces Windows Search to reinitialize its index from scratch on next boot. After reboot, let the search index rebuild (you'll see high disk usage for a bit). Then test your private window.

Quick Reference Table

Start with Fix 1. If you're still stuck after all three, check your disk for errors — run chkdsk C: /f from an elevated command prompt. Sometimes the real issue is a failing drive corrupting files left and right. But for most people, the profile rebuild does the job.