How to Fix Start Menu Not Working in Windows 10 and Taskbar are one of the most significant features of the Microsoft operating system. Indeed, with the help of this menu, you can quickly find a particular program, launch the application, editors, administrative functions, and the taskbar gives excellent usability for comfortable work. But what if the Start Menu or Taskbar stops working? If your Windows 10 Start button or Taskbar disappeared, does not respond to clicks, does not work, does not open, or you receive a critical error message, then follow the steps below to fix and find solutions to this problem.
Fix Not Working Taskbar and Start Menu in Windows 10
Whenever you get any error related to various functions in Windows, the first thing to do (other than restarting your computer) is to check the corrupted files with the “checker”, which will automatically try to fix any errors in the system files.
To do this, open a command prompt as administrator ( Win + R , type cmd ) and type the command in the line sfc /scannow. The scan will check Windows for corrupted files and then fix them if possible.
If all else fails, still at the command line, use the Deployment and Maintenance Management tool, which can repair the damage that was preventing SFC from doing its job. At the command prompt, enter:
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
This will launch the DISM tool , wait for the process to finish. Then run back the SFC scan (sfc / scannow) to fix any issues. If the start button or taskbar is still not working, then let’s dive into the solutions.
Also Read:How To Remove Activate Windows 10 Watermark
1. Start Menu Recovery Tool for Windows 10
Microsoft is well aware of Start Menu and Taskbar issues, and it has released a troubleshooter to fix many of the common Windows 10 Start Menu problems. Download Microsoft’s dedicated troubleshooter to fix the issues.
2. Restart Windows Explorer
The next simple attempt is to restart the Explorer process, which is not only responsible for the Start menu and the taskbar in Windows 10. Now Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to then open the Task Manager. In the “Processes” tab, find a process named ” Explorer ” and click restart .
3. Configure the registry
This is a new way that has come out recently and has helped many users fix the error to make the Windows 10 Start and Taskbar work. To begin with, I recommend creating a system restore point , because we will be editing the registry.
- Now Press Winows + R key to open Run menu and type regedit to open Registry Editor. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WpnUserService- Further on the right in the field, find the Start parameter , click on it twice and set the value to 4 .
- Leave the registry open and follow the directions below.
Next, go to the following location in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced- On the right, if you do not have the EnableXamlStartMenu parameter, then right-click on an empty field and “New”> “DWORD (32-bit) Value”.
- Name the new parameter EnableXamlStartMenu , then double-click it and set it to 0 .
- Restart your PC and check if the Windows 10 Start Menu button works and opens.
4. Disable account details for automatic login
If you notice that the “taskbar” and “start” do not work when you have windows updates or after restarting your computer, then several people have suggested that disabling account information when booting the PC might be the solution.
- Now Go to “Settings”and click on “Accounts” and go to”Input Settings” and click to disable ” Use my login data“
5. Start Application Identity Service
App Identity in Windows 10 is used by a service called Applocker to determine which apps are and are not allowed to run on your computer. Usually, this function knows what to start your PC, but when there is a problem that the start button does not work in Windows 10, then you can check the service.
To launch the service identity application, press Win + R , enter services.msc , this will open the Services device manager.
Locate the Application Identity service , right click on it and Run . Reboot your computer or laptop, after which the Start button should work.
6. Boot in safe mode with loading network drivers
Many users reported that booting Windows into Safe Mode using the network and then booting into regular Windows can fix a broken Start menu and a broken taskbar. To boot Safe Mode from Windows 10 , press Win + R , enter msconfig , then in the System Configuration window, open the Boot tab, check the Safe Boot box , click on Network , and OK . When you boot into Safe Mode, be sure to uncheck the boot options to boot back to normal windows mode.
7. Register or reinstall the Windows 10 Start Menu
You must find yourself in the system as an administrator. Next, open PowerShell and run it as administrator.
Then enter the below command into the PowerShell window by copying it.
Get-appxpackage -all *shellexperience* -packagetype bundle |% {add-appxpackage -register -disabledevelopmentmode ($_.installlocation + "\appxmetadata\appxbundlemanifest.xml")}
Restart your computer.
8. Reinstall your Windows applications
Windows UWP apps, if many are installed, can create clutter and time-out that causes the Start menu to freeze and the taskbar to freeze. Therefore, Windows has one handy command that allows you to reinstall and restore all standard Windows 10 UWP apps at the same time.
- Type PowerShell in the search box , right-click on it and run as administrator .
- Enter the following command in the window that opens to reinstall all windows applications:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}- You will see how the process starts loading and a lot of red, alarming text. Ignore this, wait for the process to finish and restart your computer to launch the Start Menu again.
9. Drivers Dropbox, Anti-Virus and AMD Graphics
Windows 10 users complained that Dropbox was interfering with the Start menu by blocking certain user account files that were essential to its operation. Dropbox claims to have addressed this issue in an update released last year, but if you have Dropbox it might be worth uninstalling to see if the Windows 10 Start button still isn’t working.
Certain AMD graphics services may be connected to the start menu. Some users reported that disabling them fixed the problem. Therefore, you can check, press win + r and enter services.msc , then find the services associated with the video card and disable them for a while to check if the problem is fixed.
Other users reported that antivirus programs such as Avast, Malwarebytes, and various third-party Windows Store apps are causing startup and taskbar problems in windows 10. Try uninstalling them to pinpoint the culprit.
10. Create a new administrator account
Some users find that their Start and Taskbar buttons stop working properly after major Windows updates. If you are one of those users, then a tried and tested solution is to create a new Windows administrator account.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc then open the windows Task Manager.
- Next, click File> Run New Task .
- In the window that opens, enter
net user yourname yourpassword /add. (yourname will be your account name and yourpassword will be the password for the new account).
Sign in to your new account. If the start button works, then you need to follow the steps below to transfer your settings and applications to the newly created account.
- Log in to your old account, then go to Control Panel> System> Advanced System Settings> Advanced tab, then under User Profiles , click Settings .
- In the User Profiles window, select the newly created account from the list and click ” Copy “. (this will create folders for documents, videos, music, etc.). If for some reason you failed to create a profile, then click on the “Accounts” link below and follow the instructions.
Final Words – After Reading this article you can easly fix Start Menu Not Working in Windows 10 if this article helpful to you then then please share the article with your friend.
