SXS XML E INCOMPLETE ENCODING 0X000036DB Fix

Quick answer for advanced users

Enable the Component Services snap-in, use sxstrace to find the exact manifest path, then open that file in Notepad++ and re-save with UTF-8 encoding (no BOM). If that doesn’t hold, reinstall the app.

What the 0x000036DB error actually means

You’ll hit this error when a Windows application—often an older one or a custom in-house tool—tries to load a side-by-side manifest and finds the XML file ends too soon. The error message says “end of file reached in invalid state for current encoding.” In plain English: the manifest file was saved in a way that cut off the final closing tag, or the file was stored with a byte order mark (BOM) that doesn't match the declared encoding. This happens most often after a manual edit of a manifest file in a plain text editor like Notepad that saves as ANSI instead of UTF-8, or after a failed update that tears a file. I've seen it on Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 22H2 with older Adobe apps and some VPN clients.

The real fix is to find the broken manifest, fix the encoding, or remove and reinstall the app that owns it. Let me walk you through that.

Step 1: Run the Side-by-Side trouble shooter

1. Press Windows Key + R, type eventvwr.msc, and hit Enter.
2. In Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs then click Application.
3. Look for an event with Source SideBySide and Level Error. The timestamp should match when the 0x000036DB error appeared.
4. Double-click it. In the Details tab, copy the full error text—you’ll see a file path like C:\Program Files\SomeApp\app.exe.manifest. Write that path down.

After you do this, you should see a clear file path in the event details. If you don’t see a SideBySide event, move to Step 2 anyway—it works without it.

Step 2: Use sxstrace to pinpoint the manifest

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator (search cmd, right-click, Run as administrator).
2. Type the following and press Enter:

   sxstrace.exe trace -logfile:sxs.etl

3. Now launch the application that gives you the error. Wait for it to fail.
4. Go back to the command prompt and press Ctrl+C to stop tracing.
5. Type:

   sxstrace.exe parse -logfile:sxs.etl -outfile:sxs.txt

6. Open sxs.txt from the current directory (likely C:\Windows\System32). Scroll for a line that says “ERROR” and shows a manifest file path.

After the parse, the text file will give you the exact manifest file location and often the line number of the error. Write down that file path.

Step 3: Check and fix the manifest file encoding

1. Open the manifest file from the path you found—use Notepad++, not regular Notepad. If you don’t have Notepad++, download it from the official site.
2. In Notepad++, look at the bottom-right corner. It shows the encoding, like “UTF-8-BOM” or “ANSI.”
3. If it says UTF-8-BOM, go to Encoding menu → Encode in UTF-8 (this removes the BOM).
4. If it says ANSI, go to Encoding menu → Encode in UTF-8.
5. Check the file content: scroll to the very end. Does it end with </assembly> or something like </as? If it’s cut off, you need to get a clean copy of that manifest from the original source—can’t just guess the missing part.
6. Save the file (Ctrl+S).

After saving, try launching the app again. If the error is gone, you’re done. If it still fails, the manifest itself is corrupt, not just encoding.

Step 4: Reinstall or repair the application

1. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps.
2. Find the application that owns the manifest file. Click the three dots and choose Modify or Advanced options.
3. If there’s a Repair option, run it first. That often fixes a corrupt manifest without uninstalling.
4. If repair doesn’t exist or fails, uninstall the app and download a fresh installer from the vendor’s site. Reinstall.

After reinstall, the error should not come back. If it does, the installer itself might be packaging a bad manifest—contact the developer.

Alternative fix: Force re-register the manifest

Sometimes the manifest is fine but the system’s side-by-side cache is stale. Run this command as Administrator:

sfc /scannow

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Prevention tip

Never edit manifest files in Windows Notepad—it strips UTF-8 signatures and can corrupt the file. Use Notepad++ or VS Code. Also, avoid copying manifest files between different Windows versions (10 vs 11) directly; the schemas differ slightly and can cause issues.