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SharePoint 2016 timer jobs stuck or not running across the farm

Gao Pengcheng 20 Reputation points
2026-02-03T21:46:28.87+00:00

In our SharePoint 2016 on-prem farm, several timer jobs (including health analysis and service application jobs) appear to be stuck in a “Running” state or don’t execute at all. As a result, farm configurations and Central Administration changes are not being applied consistently across servers.

Restarting the SharePoint Timer Service temporarily resolves the issue, but it keeps coming back

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint Server | Development
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  1. Matthew-P 11,235 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-02-04T00:09:39.4933333+00:00

    Hi Gao Pengcheng,

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

    Have a good day and I hope you're doing well!

    Based on my research regarding the symptoms you described, it is highly likely that the SharePoint Configuration Cache has become corrupted or desynchronized across your servers. 

    You can try the following steps to clear and reset the SharePoint Configuration Cache:

    This is the standard procedure to fix stuck Timer Jobs and resynchronize the Farm configuration.

    1. Stop the Service: On all SharePoint servers in the Farm, open Services.msc and stop the SharePoint Timer Service. 

    2. Access Cache Folder: On the server running Central Administration (or each server sequentially), navigate to:  C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config. 

    3. Find the GUID Folder: You will see one or more folders with GUID names (long strings, e.g., d2b6e1a0-...). Open the folder with the most recent Date modified. 

    4. Delete XML Files: 

    • Inside this folder, you will see a cache.ini file and numerous .xml files. 
    • Delete all .xml files. 
    • DO NOT DELETE the cache.ini file. 

    Reset cache.ini: 

    • Open cache.ini with Notepad. 
    • Delete the content inside (usually a random number) and replace it with the number 1. 
    • Save and close the file. 

    Restart the Service: Go back to Services.msc and Start the SharePoint Timer Service

    Repeat: Perform steps 2 through 6 for all remaining servers in the Farm. 

    After restarting, SharePoint will begin rebuilding the cache (you will see new XML files appear and the '1' in cache.ini will change to a new number). This process may take a few minutes depending on the size of the Farm. 

    Additionally, you need to check if the Service Account running the service has an expired password or is locked out, and check if antivirus software is blocking the OWSTIMER.EXE process. 

    For more details, you can refer to this guide: https://global-sharepoint.com/sharepoint/sharepoint-troubleshooting/clear-config-cache-in-sharepoin… 

    Note: This information is provided as a convenience to you. These sites are not controlled by Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks before using any suggestions from the above link.

    I hope this helps you partially. If you have any concern or I misunderstand or unclear anything, feel free to reach out anytime. 


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