Same problem here on two computers using Windows10.
The link to the GitHub issue (by Hinton https://github.com/bitwarden/desktop/issues/1423#issuecomment-1077562089) was also useful but not complete.
To me it seems the problem is caused by a bug in the Bitwarden updater, not properly removing the update files from c:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\bitwarden-updater\pending.
Best way to fix the problem is:
- When the updater asks to update immediately or ‘later’, select ‘later’.
- Quit the Bitwarden instance you started by either right click-exit in the systray or File-Quit Bitwarden from the program’s interface.
- Open File Explorer, go to ‘c:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\bitwarden-updater\pending’ and run the BitWardenupdater.exe from there. Selecting for which user you want to install (either ‘all users’ or ‘[username]’ only) does not matter in this case.
- Click ‘Yes’ when Windows User Access Control (UAC) asks for permission to modify your system.
- When done, remove the ‘c:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\bitwarden-updater\pending’ folder.
- If you selected ‘all users’, the installation path of the new version should be 'c:\Program Files\Bitwarden' and if you selected ‘[username]’ it should be ‘c:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Programs\Bitwarden’. In both cases, the file ‘Bitwarden.exe’ properties/details should show this:
- Restart Bitwarden and check the version in the program’s interface under Help-About Bitwarden.
It should show this:
Version 1.32.1
Shell 16.0.7
Renderer 96.0.4664.110
Node 16.9.1
Architecture x64 - If you selected ‘[username]’ only in step 3, you should repeat these steps for each user of your computer. That’s the only reason why selecting ‘all users’ is more efficient here
No need to do any ‘Uninstall’ of Bitwarden, either from Settings-Apps & Features or by running Uninstall Bitwarden.exe from any of the installation paths.