If you manually uninstall Hyper-V, WSL 2 or turn off virtualization,
Docker Desktop cannot start. 

To turn on nested virtualization, see [Run Docker Desktop for Windows in a VM or VDI environment](/manuals/desktop/setup/vm-vdi.md#turn-on-nested-virtualization).

##### Hypervisor enabled at Windows startup

If you have completed the previous steps and are still experiencing
Docker Desktop startup issues, this could be because the Hypervisor is installed,
but not launched during Windows startup. Some tools (such as older versions of 
Virtual Box) and video game installers turn off hypervisor on boot. To turn it back on:

1. Open an administrative console prompt.
2. Run `bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto`.
3. Restart Windows.

You can also refer to the [Microsoft TechNet article](https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/ee5b1d6b-09e2-49f3-a52c-820aafc316f9/hyperv-doesnt-work-after-upgrade-to-windows-10-1809?forum=win10itprovirt) on Code flow guard (CFG) settings.

##### Turn on nested virtualization

If you are using Hyper-V and you get the following error message when running Docker Desktop in a VDI environment:

```console
The Virtual Machine Management Service failed to start the virtual machine 'DockerDesktopVM' because one of the Hyper-V components is not running
```

Try [enabling nested virtualization](/manuals/desktop/setup/vm-vdi.md#turn-on-nested-virtualization).

### `Docker Desktop Access Denied` error message when starting Docker Desktop

#### Error message

When starting Docker Desktop, the following error appears:

```text
Docker Desktop - Access Denied
```

#### Cause

The user is not part of the `docker-users` group, which is required for permissions.

#### Solution

If your admin account is different to your user account, add it:

1. Run **Computer Management** as an administrator.
2. Navigate to **Local Users and Groups** > **Groups** > **docker-users**.
3. Right-click to add the user to the group.
4. Sign out and sign back in for the changes to take effect