Unable to update "Snap Store": cannot refresh "snap-store": snap "snap-store" has running apps (ubuntu-software)
I am a new Ubuntu 22.04 user who is facing an issue with the Snap
Store. Whenever I try to update the Snap Store I can see these error messages.
Pending update of "snap-store" snap
Close the app to avoid disruptions (13 days left)
Unable to update "Snap Store":
(null): cannot refresh "snap-store": snap "snap-store" has
running apps (ubuntu-software)
Sometimes the snap-store process starts in the background and stays open with 0% CPU usage even if the user did not actually launch the Snap Store application in the current session. For example, this would be the case if the following notification appeared on your desktop one or two minutes after booting Ubuntu.
If you opened the System Monitor it would show that the snap-store process had started automatically and was running. Ending the snap-store process would enable you to update the snap-store by running the following command, or alternatively a notification would appear that the snap-store has been updated would appear immediately after the snap-store process was ended.
sudo snap refresh
Alternatively to end the snap-store process so that the snap-store snap can be updated run the following command.
snap-store --quit && sudo snap refresh snap-store
If snap-store --quit doesn’t work then force end the snap-store process from the System Monitor and run sudo snap refresh snap-store.
After the snap-store has been refreshed you may receive a notification in the notification area next to the clock that says "snap-store" snap has been refreshed. Now available to launch.
I had the same problem and managed to solve it today removing the snap-store with:
sudo snap remove snap-store
and then re-installing it with:
sudo snap install snap-store
I had the same problem with a fresh install of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
The accepted answer did not work for me, so I solved with:
$ sudo killall snap-store
$ sudo snap refresh snap-store
In my case there is pids show up
$ sudo snap refresh snap-store
error: cannot refresh "snap-store": snap "snap-store" has running apps (snap-store), pids: 3452
$ kill 3452
$ sudo snap refresh snap-store
snap-store 41.3-71-g709398e from Canonical✓ refreshed
To avoid the issue above and other related snap-store bugs and failings, a couple of months ago I removed snap-store:
snap remove snap-store
This leaves the snap system intact, but just removes the troublesome snap-store.
Instead I now use gnome-software which manages snaps perfectly without any of the above issues. gnome-software also has the advantage that it handles flatpak and DEB packages.