How to Fix Windows 10 Start Menu Stopped Working?
The Start Menu is something 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 problems 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 natural again.
Check and repair corrupt Windows files
Windows files can sometimes become unethical and this can wreak havoc on your PC — including a stuck Start menu. opportunely, Windows 10 has a built-in way of resolving this.
Launch Task manager
Press the [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] keys on your keyboard at the same time – alternately, right-click the Taskbar. Then select Task Manager.
Run a new Windows task
When the Task manager window opens, press the More details option to expand it, then select Run new task from the File menu.
Run Windows PowerShell
When the Run new task dialog box opens, type PowerShell, tick the box for Create this task with administrative privileges and press OK.
Run the System File Checker
Type sfc /scannow into the window and click the [Return] key. The scan may take some time and will end with one of three conclusions. Windows did not find any integrity violations and Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and repaired them mean there are now no unethical files, but Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them indicates an issue.
In this latter case, type (or copy and paste) DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth into the PowerShell window and click the [Return] key. This will download files from Windows Update to replace the unethical 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 place in action.
Reinstall all Windows apps
Downloading and reinstalling all Windows 10 software reportedly fixes a stuck Start menu. This isn’t as drastic as it sounds — ‘Windows Softwares’ are the ones built into Windows 10 and available from the Windows Store. They used to say ‘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 times. The steps might delete any data you have saved in these Windows apps, though, so backup anything important before you begin.
Apps that collect 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 these steps may cause some Windows Store apps to stop working, so be mindful of this before continuing.
Reinstall Windows apps
Launch the Task Manager and open a new PowerShell window with administrative privileges, as described above.
When the Windows PowerShell window opens copy the line below and paste it into the PowerShell window by simply right-button pressing at the blinking PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> prompt, or by pressing [Ctrl] + [V] on the keyboard:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
Wait until the app download and installation steps complete — ignore any red text that appears — and restart Windows.
How To Uninstall Windows Defender?
Create a new user account
If reinstalling Windows apps doesn’t work, creating a new person account usually will. If you’re currently using a Microsoft account, your settings will also transfer to the new account once then upgrade it from the default local account. You’ll need to transfer your local files from the first account to the other in all cases, though. Your installed software won’t be affected.
Launch Task manager
Open the 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 given 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).
Log into the new account
Restart Windows and log into the new account. The Start menu should now work, so you can change the new local account to a Microsoft account, and transfer your all files and settings.
Refresh your PC
As a last resort, you can ‘refresh’ your Windows 10 installation process, which is much the same as reinstalling the operating system. Your documents won’t be affected, but you’ll need to reinstall any applications from it that aren’t part of Windows.
Restart Windows in Troubleshooting mode
Close any open applications and click the [Windows] + [L] keys to log out of your Windows account — or just restart Windows. On the login screen, press the Power icon at the bottom right, hold down the [Shift] key and select the Restart option.
Reset your PC
When the blue Choose an option screen appears, press Troubleshoot, followed by Reset this PC. finally, press 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 problems 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 press on the Check for updates button and the Anniversary Update should come through.
