Sea of thieves stuck at preparing[PC]

Hello, Captain. Thanks for reaching out. I'm Lucas, an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user just like you. I'll be glad to help you out.

Did you try to create a new Windows local account? If not, please try it:

Press Win+R Keys.
Type netplwiz and press Enter.
Click Add button.
Click Sign in without a Microsoft Account. If you do not see that option, disconnect from the Internet.
Click Local account if prompted.
Type the username you want, and the password. You must also specify a hint. Click Next.
Click Finish.

Make the new local account an admin account:
Select Start > Settings > Accounts > Family & Other Users > Select the Account Owner Name (you should see "Local account" below the name) > Change Account Type.
Select Administrator, and then select OK.
Sign in with the new Administrator Account.

Reset the Microsoft Store and Xbox App apps as you mentioned you did. Restart your computer, sign in to both apps again and try to install Sea of Thieves. Please let me know how it goes.

Oh my god, the download just started. I tried not searching for Sea of ​​Thieves, just searching for the game in the "Game Pass" section.



Thank you all.

I'm sorry it did not work. I know that you tried a lot of steps and PowerShell commands, but would you please give a one more try to these ones?

First, see if Windows is updated:

Open Settings, click Update and Security and then Windows Update;
Click Check for Updates;
Click Download and Install Now option, if available (check for optional updates too);

After that:
- Remove Sea of Thieves from the download queue.
- Completely uninstall Xbox App (and Xbox Companion App if you have it). Use their own uninstaller (just search for Xbox on Windows Start and click on uninstall).

- After uninstalling, go to Start > Type PowerShell > Right click it and select “Run As Administrator” > Type the following command and press Enter (you can run one at a time):
Get-AppxPackage Xbox | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxApp | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.GamingServices | Remove-AppxPackage –allusers

(If you receive an error when executing any of these commands, don't bother. Just follow the other steps here)

- Press Windows + R and type in "regedit". Press enter.

- Search for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services

- Delete "GamingServices" and "GamingServices.net" (if they're still there).

- Click on Start > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials. Search for Xbl|DeviceKey, click on it and then Remove.

- Delete Accounts and Cache folders at:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC\TokenBroker

- Also delete Microsoft Store local cache files at:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe

- Go to Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Microsoft Store > Advanced Options > Reset.

- Go to Start > Settings > Gaming > Xbox Networking > Fix it.

- Go to Start > Settings > Gaming > Game Mode > Set if OFF.

- Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options > Privacy > Uncheck "Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device and reopen my apps after an update and restart."

- Press the Windows Key + R. Type WSReset.exe and press Enter.

- Restart Windows.

- If you're using a proxy, please stop using it for now:
- Press Windows Key + R. Type inetcpl.cpl and press Enter. Click the Connections tab, and then click LAN settings. Uncheck the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box. Click Ok.

- Please check if Date and Time is set correct. Uncheck "Set the time automatically", do it manually.

- Open Microsoft Store and make sure you are logged in with the correct account.

- Finally, install Xbox App (and Xbox Companion App if you had it) again. Ooen it and login to the correct Microsoft/Xbox account. If you are on the Xbox Insider program, click on the profile image and navigate to the settings menu. Head over to the General sub-menu in the Settings menu. Uncheck the “Use advanced installation and management features” option.

Restart your computer and try to install Sea of Thieves again, please.

Hello Lucas,

Unfortunately that didn't work for me .

I'm glad it worked for you!

If you need anything else, please let me know.