0X80097002

0x80097002 Fix: MSSIPOTF_E_CANTGETOBJECT in Windows

EP
Erropedia Team
📅 July 1, 2026 📅 Updated Sep 16, 2026 👁 18 views Windows Errors Intermediate
This error means Windows can't read a digital signature object from a file. Usually a corrupt font or driver. Simple fix: clear font cache.

What actually triggers this error

You're installing a program, updating Windows, or opening a PDF in Edge — and bam, 0x80097002 appears. The system tried to verify a digital signature on a file, but it couldn't grab the signature object. Think of it as Windows saying "I see there's a signature, but I can't read it." That usually means a font file got corrupted somewhere, or a driver's digital certificate expired.

I've seen this on Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 22H2 mostly. Users report it after a failed font update or after installing weird third-party font packs from shady sites.

Try this first: Clear the font cache (30 seconds)

The quickest fix that works 7 out of 10 times is wiping the font cache. Windows stores temporary font data in a specific folder, and when that cache gets bloated or corrupted, signature checking breaks.

  1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.
  2. Find Windows Font Cache Service. Right-click it and choose Stop. Do the same for Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 if it's there.
  3. Open File Explorer, paste this into the address bar: %windir%\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local
  4. Delete the folder named FontCache. Don't worry, Windows rebuilds it on next boot.
  5. Restart your PC. The services restart automatically.

The reason this works: the font cache holds parsed font data including hash values used in signatures. A corrupt entry makes Windows think the file's signature is broken. Clearing it forces a fresh rebuild.

If that didn't work: Check your video drivers (5 minutes)

But wait — how can a video driver cause a font error? Because on Windows 10 and 11, the DirectWrite engine (which handles font rendering) talks directly to the graphics driver. If your driver's digital signature is expired or missing, Windows flags the whole chain as invalid. I've seen this most with Nvidia drivers from early 2023 that had expired WHQL signatures.

  1. Open Device Manager (right-click Start > Device Manager).
  2. Expand Display adapters.
  3. Right-click your GPU (Nvidia, AMD, or Intel). Choose Update driver > Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from a list.
  4. Select the driver with the newest date. If you see a Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, pick that. Yes, it's temporary but it tells you if the driver is the problem.

If the error goes away with the basic driver, you know the real fix is to uninstall your current GPU driver completely with DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) and install the latest clean version from the manufacturer's site.

Still there? Check system file integrity (10 minutes)

Sometimes Windows system files that handle signature verification get damaged. SFC and DISM fix that.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Admin (search cmd, right-click, Run as administrator).
  2. sfc /scannow — let it finish. It checks core files, including those related to mssipotf.dll (the file that triggers this error).
  3. After SFC completes, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. This fixes the component store that SFC uses.
  4. Restart.

What's actually happening here is that SFC only works if the component store is healthy. DISM repairs the store first, then SFC can do its job properly. I've seen cases where SFC fails to fix anything because the store was broken — that's why you do DISM first sometimes, but the order above works fine.

Last resort: Remove third-party font packs (15+ minutes)

You installed a font pack from a torrent or a free font site? That's almost certainly the culprit. Some font files from random sources have malformed signature tables that confuse Windows.

  1. Open Settings > Personalization > Fonts.
  2. Scroll the list. Look for fonts with strange names like "nngf.ttf" or "fontawesome-webfont.ttf". Click any you don't recognize and hit Uninstall.
  3. If you can't find the bad one, open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\Fonts. Sort by date modified. Delete any font files you added recently (keep the ones that came with Windows — they start with "ms" or "segoe" usually).

One real scenario: a user installed "Font Awesome 6 Free" from a third-party site thinking it was the official version. The file had a broken digital certificate. Removing it fixed the error instantly.

When nothing works

Rarely, this error comes from a corrupted Windows component store that even DISM can't fix. In those cases, a Windows repair install (keep your files) is the cleanest path. Boot from a Windows 10/11 USB, choose "Repair your computer" > "Troubleshoot" > "Reset this PC" > "Keep my files". This rebuilds the entire OS without wiping your data.

Don't bother reinstalling the app that triggered the error — the problem isn't the app, it's Windows' ability to read signatures. The app is just the messenger.

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0x80097002 MSSIPOTF_E_CANTGETOBJECT Windows error font cache digital signature corrupt font file signature Windows 10 Windows 11 driver issue

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EP
Erropedia Team
Tech Support Editors
The Erropedia editorial team researches and documents real-world tech errors from across Windows, Linux, macOS, networking, databases, cloud platforms, and more. Every solution is reviewed for accuracy and updated as software and systems evolve.