Cisco AnyConnect Failed to Load Preferences: How to Fix

The first rather obvious step is to try and reinstall Cisco AnyConnect. Some users suggest that a certain version of AnyConnect won’t work, so you might get it working after acquiring a more recent release.

You won’t start from scratch as the ProgramData configuration and profile files will stay untouched.

If reinstalling Cisco AnyConnect won’t fix the VPN failed to load preferences error, proceed to the following step.

Possible corruption in the configuration files can lead to issues like this. As the “VPN failed to load preferences” error states, the client is unable to get the preferences by which the client is configured.

In order to resolve this, you can try and delete all involved preference files from a few locations.

Here are the files you should delete:

%ProgramData%CiscoCisco AnyConnect Secure MobilityClientProfile
%AppData%LocalCiscoCisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client

Deleting this folder will remove all settings. Some users suggest reinstalling the client afterward, but you can try it out first and then act accordingly if the issue persists.

If Cisco VPN failed to enable the virtual adapter, find out how to fix this problem.

There seems to be another possible reason for the “VPN failed to load preferences” error.

Namely, it seems that it plagues only users who don’t have the necessary access permissions enabled. You can correct this and, hopefully, this will resolve the problem.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Navigate to the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client folder
2. Right-click on the Profile folder and open Properties
3. Choose the Security tab
4. Click Edit (you need admin rights)
5. Check the Full control box and confirm changes

Finally, if none of the previous solutions proved fruitful in resolving the error at hand, we have another thing you can try.

Of course, there’s always an option to contact the support and send them all the necessary logs in order for them to help you.

Just, before doing that, give these steps a try:

1. Enable Group-alias or Group-URL for tunnel-groups
2. Back up the XML Profile and remove it from Adaptive Security Appliance
3. Now, remove the following files from the affected machine:
   • Preferences.xml
   • preferences_global.xml
   • XML Profile in the Profiles folder
4. Finally, reconnect the client

It’s not exactly a solution, but we think it deserves your attention. If you get recurring errors on Cisco AnyConnect, such as the VPN failed to load preferences error, look into alternative VPN solutions.

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