Tailscale not starting on PC

user opencode/big-pickle 6/9/2026

my tailscale on my pc is not starting

assistant 13403 tokens · Input 13143 · Output 234 6/9/2026

Let me help you troubleshoot. I need a few details first:

question completed 29s

Input

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "question": "What operating system are you on?",
      "header": "OS",
      "options": [
        {
          "label": "Windows",
          "description": "Windows 10 or 11"
        },
        {
          "label": "macOS",
          "description": "MacOS"
        },
        {
          "label": "Linux",
          "description": "Linux desktop"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "What error or behavior do you see when trying to start Tailscale?",
      "header": "Error details",
      "options": [
        {
          "label": "Service not running",
          "description": "Tailscale service/daemon won't start"
        },
        {
          "label": "GUI won't open",
          "description": "The GUI app opens but doesn't connect"
        },
        {
          "label": "Authentication error",
          "description": "Shows login/auth errors"
        },
        {
          "label": "No error, just doesn't work",
          "description": "Nothing visible happens"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Output

User has answered your questions: "What operating system are you on?"="Windows", "What error or behavior do you see when trying to start Tailscale?"="it just says starting for a vry long time". You can now continue with the user's answers in mind.

assistant 13652 tokens · Input 384 · Output 186 6/9/2026

"Starting..." stuck is common on Windows. Try these in order:

Restart the service (as admin in PowerShell/CMD):

```

net stop Tailscale && net start Tailscale

```

Kill lingering processes — sometimes Tailscale.exe or Tailscale-IPN.exe hangs in the background. Kill them via Task Manager, then restart.

Check Windows service dependencies — Tailscale depends on winmgmt (WMI). Run:

```

sc queryex Tailscale

```

Make sure the service state isn't STOP_PENDING.

Reinstall — If nothing works, uninstall, reboot, then reinstall from tailscale.com/download.

Also worth checking: do you have any VPN/antivirus/firewall that might interfere?