Docker Desktop distro installation timeout

[sachinpachori]

Bug report

##Bug Description
As soon as the Docker Desktop is started it opened this window and same thing happens when Click on Restart button.

Diagnostic ID - 6D501612-040B-4D02-A15D-AA856F8DDDB0/20260719133322

Platform

Windows

Version information

Client:
 Version:           29.2.1
 API version:       1.53
 Go version:        go1.25.6
 Git commit:        a5c7197
 Built:             Mon Feb  2 17:20:16 2026
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           desktop-linux
Error response from daemon: Docker Desktop is unable to start
PS C:\Windows\system32> docker info
Client:
 Version:    29.2.1
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.18.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-ai.exe
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.31.1-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-buildx.exe
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v5.0.2
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-compose.exe
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.47
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-debug.exe
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.3.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-desktop.exe
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-extension.exe
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-init.exe
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.39.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-mcp.exe
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.0.8
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-model.exe
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.45
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-offload.exe
  pass: Docker Pass Secrets Manager Plugin (beta) (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.0.24
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-pass.exe
  sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.12.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sandbox.exe
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sbom.exe
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.19.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-scout.exe

Server:
ERROR: Error response from daemon: Docker Desktop is unable to start
errors pretty printing info

Diagnostics ID

6D501612-040B-4D02-A15D-AA856F8DDDB0/20260719133322

[voonyee]

hi, thanks for reporting this issue.

Can you try to install a chosen distro—for example, Ubuntu:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

To see if you are experiencing any issue. After the installation completed, try verify it:

wsl --list --verbose

Microsoft’s full instructions are available in the official WSL installation guide.