Has your Windows 10 Start menu stopped working? How to fix it
A number of users have reported problems with their Start Menu. Try one of our solutions to fix it now.
The Start Menu is where everything is on Windows, so it can be quite frustrating if it suddenly stops working — and can make it near impossible to get anything done on your PC.
The much-loved feature made a welcome return in Windows 10 but freezes and other issues have been reported by a number of users. If you’re experiencing one of these bugs, try the solutions we’ve set out below and hopefully your Start Menu will be up and running like normal again.
Check and repair corrupt Windows files
Windows files can sometimes become corrupt and this can wreak havoc on your PC — including a stuck Start menu. Fortunately, Windows 10 has a built-in way of resolving this.
1. Launch Task manager
Press the [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] keys on your keyboard at the same time — alternatively, right click the Taskbar. Then select Task manager.
2. Run a new Windows task
When the Task manager window opens, click the More details option to expand it, then select Run new task from the File menu.
3. Run Windows PowerShell
When the Run new task dialog box opens, type powershell, tick the box for Create this task with administrative privileges and click OK.
4. Run the System File Checker
Type sfc /scannow into the window and press the [Return] key. The scan may take some time and will end with one of three results. Windows did not find any integrity violations and Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and repaired them mean there are now no corrupt files, but Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them indicates a problem.
In this latter case, type (or copy and paste) DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth into the PowerShell window and press the [Return] key. This will download files from Windows Update to replace the corrupt ones and, again, this may take some time.
If you struggled with this solution, watch the video at the top of the page to see each step in action.
Reinstall all Windows apps
Downloading and reinstalling all Windows 10 apps reportedly fixes a stuck Start menu. This isn’t as drastic as it sounds — ‘Windows apps’ are the ones built into Windows 10 and available from the Windows Store. They used to be called ‘Modern’ apps and, before that, ‘Metro’ — Microsoft just changed the name with Windows 10.
Better still, the reinstallation is automatic and should only take a few minutes. The process might delete any data you have saved in these Windows apps, though, so backup anything important before you begin.
Apps that store data online, in Microsoft OneDrive or as files in a separate folder (such as the Photos app) should be unaffected.
Warning: Recent reports indicate that this process may cause some Windows Store apps to stop working, so be mindful of this before continuing.
1. Reinstall Windows apps
Launch the Task manager and open a new PowerShell window with administrative privileges, as explained above.
When the Windows PowerShell window opens copy the line below and paste it into the PowerShell window by simply right-clicking at the blinking PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> prompt, or by pressing [Ctrl] + [V] on the keyboard:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach
Wait until the app download and installation process completes — ignore any red text that appears — and restart Windows.
Create a new user account
If reinstalling Windows apps doesn’t work, creating a new user account usually will. If you’re currently using a Microsoft account, your settings will also transfer to the new account once you upgrade it from the default local account. You’ll need to transfer your local files from one account to the other in all cases, though. Your installed software won’t be affected.
1. Launch Task manager
Open Task manager (see above) and select Run new task from its File menu.
Tick the box for Create this task with administrative privileges and type net user NewUsername NewPassword /add in the box.
You’ll need to replace NewUsername and NewPassword with the username and password you want to use — neither can contain spaces and the password is case sensitive (i.e. capital letters matter).
2. Log into the new account
Restart Windows and log into the new user account. The Start menu should now work, so you can change the new local account to a Microsoft account, and transfer your files and settings.
Refresh your PC
As a last resort, you can ‘refresh’ your Windows 10 installation, which is much the same as reinstalling the operating system. Your documents won’t be affected, but you’ll need to reinstall any applications that aren’t part of Windows.
1. Restart Windows in Troubleshooting mode
Close any open applications and press the [Windows] + [L] keys to log out of your Windows account — or just restart Windows. On the login screen, click the Power icon at the bottom right, hold down the [Shift] key and select the Restart option.
2. Reset your PC
When the blue Choose an option screen appears, click Troubleshoot, followed by Reset this PC. finally, click the Keep my files option and follow the on-screen instructions.
Run Windows Update
Microsoft rolled out its fifth major update to Windows 10 in April 2018, known as the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.
The company hasn’t stated whether it would fix any of the Start Menu issues specifically, but a few visual tweaks were made which could iron out the problems.
The Fall Creators Update should be rolled out to your machine automatically, but if it hasn’t landed yet you can force it to come through now.
Simply go to Settings and select Update & security.
Then click on the Check for updates button and the Anniversary Update should come through.
For more information check out our dedicated Windows 10 section which is packed with useful guides, including Windows 10 privacy, changing your web browser and solving printer problems
Start menu/ms-settings not working Windows 10
After upgrading Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 (winver shows built 10240) the «Start menu» is not opening for other User accounts except my default personal admin Microsoft Live Account (everything works well here).
I tried to create new «local» account as well as new «live» account via e-mail address (both admin and standard type). Accounts are successfully created, but Start menu is not opening. Search is not working, but Context menu (right click) is working. I can open Control Panel/command prompt/etc.
«Personalize» option on desktop is also not working
I also tried running other settings via windows + R shortcut e.g. ms-settings:about — same error.
Action center/time/etc. is also not opening — everything connected to new UI.
Troubleshooting -> View all -> System Maintenance didn’t find any problems, but System scan (sfc /scannow) found something, but was unable to fix some of them
2015-07-30 11:04:11, Info CSI 00005e72 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:106<53>]»MicrosoftEdgeSquare44x44.scale-125_contrast-white.png» of Microsoft-Windows-MicrosoftEdge, Version = 10.0.10240.16397, pA = amd64, nonSxS, PublicKeyToken =
2015-07-30 11:04:12, Info CSI 00005e75 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:106<53>]»MicrosoftEdgeSquare44x44.scale-125_contrast-white.png» of Microsoft-Windows-MicrosoftEdge, Version = 10.0.10240.16397, pA = amd64, nonSxS, PublicKeyToken =
2015-07-30 11:04:12, Info CSI 00005e76 [SR] This component was referenced by [l:156<78>]»Package_376_for_KB3074683
10.0.1.0.3074683-592_neutral»
2015-07-30 11:04:12, Info CSI 00005e79 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:142<71>,l:140<70>]»\??\C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Assets»\[l:106<53>]»MicrosoftEdgeSquare44x44.scale-125_contrast-white.png»; source file in store is also corrupted
2015-07-30 11:04:12, Info CSI 00005e7d [SR] Repairing corrupted file [ml:96<48>,l:94<47>]»\??\C:\WINDOWS\SystemResources\Windows.UI.Logon»\[l:40<20>]»Windows.UI.Logon.pri» from store
2015-07-30 11:04:12, Info CSI 00005e7f [SR] Repair complete
As reminder. Everything is working on my personal account. I have all latest Windows Updates installed.
EDIT: I also found out that under my Admin account where everything is working, there is ShellExperienceHost.exe (windows shell experience host) process running. But not under any other account. Could it be somehow connected?
EDIT2: I have manually fixed the error that System scan found (only corrupted picture in WinSxS folder). I have run sfc /scannow command again. No errors this time. Problem with Start Menu still persists.
Right Click on Start Menu not working in Windows 10
Replies (17)
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Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.
We understand your concern and will certainly help you to get your query resolved.
The issue you are facing could be caused due to software conflicts on your computer.
I would suggest you to follow the below methods to fix the issue:
Method 1:
To diagnose whether this issue occurs in “Safe Mode” , let’s reboot the computer in safe mode and check if the issue appears there as well.
Safe mode is a diagnostic mode for Windows that starts your computer in a limited state. Only the basic files and drivers necessary to run Windows are started. This helps us in identifying whether the issue is due to some third party programs conflict. The word Safe mode appear in the concern of your monitor to identify which windows mode you are using.
Follow the steps given below and check if that helps.
1) Type settings in search and click on Settings.
2) Click Update and recovery , and then tap or click Recovery.
3) Under Advanced startup, tap or click Restart now.
4) Once your PC restarts, on the Choose an option screen, tap or click Troubleshoot.
5) If you don’t see the Startup Settings option, tap or click advanced options.
6) Tap or click Startup Settings.
7) Tap or click Restart.
8) On the Startup Settings screen, choose the Safe Mode.
9) Sign in to your PC with a user account that has administrator rights.
Reference:
Method 2: Perform Clean Boot by referring the below link.
Note: After clean boot troubleshooting step, follow the section «How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot» in the provided link to return your computer to Normal startup mode..
Hope it helps. Please reply us if you face any issues in future. We will be glad to help you.
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Thank you for the suggestion, but neither Safe Mode nor Clean Boot had any affect. Right-clicking on the Start Button still did not work.
I may have misstated my issue. Right-clicking on items within the Start Menu does work. Right-clicking on the Start Button does not.
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Thank you for your reply.
I apologize for the inconvenience that you are experiencing.
— What happens when you right click on the Start menu?
— Do you get any error message?
— Does this happen only with Start menu?
I suggest you to follow the below steps and check if it helps:
Press Windows key + X and select Command prompt (Admin) then copy paste the below commands without quotes and hit Enter:
«PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted «
«$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + ‘\AppxManifest.xml’ ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest «
Help us with more information to assist you further.
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Right-clicking on the Start Button does nothing. No error messages. And yes, this happens only with the Start Button.
I followed your directions. Pressing Windows key + X does nothing. So I have the statements above under Windows PowerShell as an administrator and got the following message:
Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF6, Package could not be registered.
Merge Failure : error 0x80070003 : Cannot register the Microsoft.WindowsStore_2015.21.25.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe packag
because there was a merge failure with the following file: C:\Program
Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_2015.21.25.0_neutral_split.scale-100_8wekyb3d8bbwe\resources.pri
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] f1f5013a-1db5-0007-0f48-f5f1b51dd101 in the Event Log or use
the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID f1f5013a-1db5-0007-0f48-f5f1b51dd101
At line:1 char:94
+ . fest.xml’ ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manife .
+
+ CategoryInfo : WriteError: (C:\Program File. ppxManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], IOException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand
It had no affect on the non-response of right-clicking on the Start Button.