FortiClient VPN - Stuck on "Connecting"

I have had this issue with folks that are moving between public and private networks.  The first time they go to log in from a new network it sticks on "connecting" after authenticating.  The typical fix is to open cmd and ping the vpn address.  Once it shows a successful ping, relaunching FortiClient and attempting to connect again works.  Have done this multiple times successfully.

C++ reinstall not helping in all of the cases with Windows 11 23H2. Also when user try s to connect from home network it will be stuck at "Connecting" at around 40% and the same user did a hotspot from his phone and it successfully connected. Downgrading to FortiClient 7.2 is the only solution for us at the moment.

Good afternoon, to fix this, you must install the Visual C++ 2015-2022 libraries.

https://learn.microsoft.com/es-es/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170

Architecture Bond Version

Then open it from C:\Program Files\Fortinet\FortiClient\FortiTray.exe 
and mark as new the connection.

Regards.

The FortiTray.exe app is missing a .dll file. That why it's stuck on Connecting.

Download and install the 2 Visual Studio Redistributables from this topic: DLL files missing after Windows 11 update - Microsoft Community

After that your FortiClient should be working again.

I ran into a very similar issue with FortiClient 7.4.0 on fresh windows 11 installs. The client would get stuck at “Connecting” and logs didn’t show any connection attempts.

What helped me was first running FortiClient as Administrator and checking that the FortiClient Service was actually running. I also made sure the firewall allowed FortiClient and updated the network drivers on the machines. On some setups, reinstalling the client and letting it repair the TAP adapter fixed it.

If you’ve already tried all of that, sometimes using an earlier version of FortiClient can bypass Windows 11 23H2 quirks.