“Feature activation failed” – Feature cannot be activated in SharePoint.

The “Feature activation failed” error in SharePoint occurs when trying to activate a SharePoint feature but the process fails due to various reasons, such as missing dependencies, incorrect configurations, permission issues, or corrupted feature files. Below is a detailed step-by-step guide to troubleshooting and resolving this issue.

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1. Understand the Error Message

Before proceeding with troubleshooting, it is essential to analyze the error message displayed when trying to activate the feature.

Where to Check for Errors?

• SharePoint UI
  • Navigate to Site Settings > Site Collection Features or Manage Site Features.
  • Try activating the feature and check the error message.
• ULS Logs (For On-Premises)
  • Run the following PowerShell command to filter logs by Correlation ID: Get-SPLogEvent | Where-Object {$_.Correlation -eq "<your-correlation-id>"} | Format-List
• Event Viewer
  • Open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc).
  • Check logs under Windows Logs > Application.

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2. Check Feature Dependencies

Many SharePoint features depend on other features. If a required feature is missing, the activation will fail.

How to Check Dependencies?

1. Navigate to the Feature folder on the SharePoint server: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\
2. Open the feature.xml file inside the problematic feature folder.
3. Look for the <ActivationDependencies> tag: <ActivationDependencies> <ActivationDependency FeatureId="GUID-OF-DEPENDENT-FEATURE" /> </ActivationDependencies>
4. Ensure that the dependent feature is activated by running: Get-SPFeature | Where-Object {$_.Id -eq "GUID-OF-DEPENDENT-FEATURE"}
5. If missing, activate the dependent feature manually: Enable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL"

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3. Ensure Proper Feature Scope

SharePoint features can be scoped at different levels: Farm, Web Application, Site Collection, or Web. If a feature is scoped incorrectly, activation will fail.

How to Check and Correct Scope?

1. Open PowerShell and run: Get-SPFeature -Limit All | Select DisplayName, Scope
2. Verify if the feature is available at the correct scope.
3. If incorrect, update the feature.xml file to match the required scope.

Example of a Correct Feature Scope in feature.xml:

<Feature Id="GUID-HERE" Title="Custom Feature" Scope="Site" Hidden="FALSE">

• Scope=”Farm” → Farm-wide feature
• Scope=”WebApplication” → Web application level
• Scope=”Site” → Site Collection level
• Scope=”Web” → Specific Site (Web)

4. If incorrect, deactivate and reactivate the feature: Disable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL" Enable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL"

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4. Check for Missing Assemblies (For Farm Solutions)

If a feature depends on a custom DLL (assembly) and it is missing, activation will fail.

How to Verify Assemblies?

1. Open Central Administration → Manage farm solutions.
2. Check if the required solution is deployed correctly.
3. If missing, redeploy the solution: Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath "C:\PathToSolution\YourSolution.wsp" Install-SPSolution -Identity "YourSolution.wsp" -GACDeployment
4. Ensure the assembly exists in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC): [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("YourAssemblyName")
   • If missing, manually add it to the GAC: gacutil -i "C:\PathToYourDLL\YourAssembly.dll"

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5. Check Permissions

Activation may fail due to insufficient permissions.

How to Fix Permission Issues?

1. Ensure you are logged in as a Site Collection Administrator.
2. If using PowerShell, run SharePoint Management Shell as Administrator.
3. Grant necessary permissions to the user: Add-SPShellAdmin -UserName "DOMAIN\User"

For Farm Solutions, ensure the SharePoint Timer Service has the correct permissions:

• Open Services (services.msc).
• Find SharePoint Timer Service and restart it.

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6. Restart IIS and Timer Service

If the feature activation still fails, try restarting related services.

1. Restart IIS: iisreset
2. Restart the SharePoint Timer Service: Restart-Service SPTimerV4
3. Clear SharePoint configuration cache:
   • Stop the SharePoint Timer Service.
   • Navigate to: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\GUID-folder\
   • Delete all XML files except cache.ini.
   • Open cache.ini, change the value to 1, and save.
   • Start the SharePoint Timer Service.

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7. Manually Activate the Feature via PowerShell

If the UI method fails, try activating the feature using PowerShell.

Enable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL"

If it still fails, force activation:

Enable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL" -Force

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8. Redeploy the Feature

If the feature is corrupted, deactivate, uninstall, and reinstall it.

1. Deactivate the feature: Disable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL"
2. Uninstall the feature: Uninstall-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName"
3. Remove the feature folder (For On-Premises): C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\FeatureName
4. Redeploy the feature: Install-SPFeature -Path "FeatureName"
5. Reactivate the feature: Enable-SPFeature -Identity "FeatureName" -Url "http://YourSiteCollectionURL"

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9. Contact Microsoft Support

If the issue persists, consider reaching out to Microsoft Support with:

• The ULS log Correlation ID.
• A copy of the feature.xml file.
• Any related Event Viewer logs.

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