Troubleshoot Start menu errors

Start failures can be organized into these categories:

• Deployment/Install issues — Easiest to identify but difficult to recover. This failure is consistent and usually permanent. Reset, restore from backup, or rollback to recover.
• Performance issues — More common with older hardware, low-powered machines. Symptoms include: High CPU utilization, disk contention, memory resources. This makes Start very slow to respond. Behavior is intermittent depending on available resources.
• Crashes — Also easy to identify. Crashes in Shell Experience Host or related can be found in System or Application event logs. This can be a code defect or related to missing or altered permissions to files or registry keys by a program or incorrect security tightening configurations. Determining permissions issues can be time consuming but a SysInternals tool called Procmon will show Access Denied. The other option is to get a dump of the process when it crashes and depending on comfort level, review the dump in the debugger, or have support review the data.
• Hangs — in Shell Experience host or related. These are the hardest issues to identify as there are few events logged, but behavior is typically intermittent or recovers with a reboot. If a background application or service hangs, Start will not have resources to respond in time. Clean boot may help identify if the issue is related to additional software. Procmon is also useful in this scenario.
• Other issues — Customization, domain policies, deployment issues.

Basic troubleshooting

When troubleshooting basic Start issues (and for the most part, all other Windows apps), there are a few things to check if they are not working as expected. For issues where the Start menu or subcomponent isn’t working, you can do some quick tests to narrow down where the issue may reside.

Check the OS and update version

• Is the system running the latest Feature and Cumulative Monthly update?
• Did the issue start immediately after an update? Ways to check:
  • PowerShell:[System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version
  • WinVer from CMD.exe

Check if Start is installed

If Start fails immediately after a feature update, on thing to check is if the App package failed to install successfully.

If Start was working and just fails intermittently, it’s likely that Start is installed correctly, but the issue occurs downstream. The way to check for this problem is to look for output from these two PS commands:

get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost

get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.Cortana

Failure messages will appear if they aren’t installed

If Start is not installed, then the fastest resolution is to revert to a known good configuration. This can be rolling back the update, resetting the PC to defaults (where there is a choice to save to delete user data), or restoring from backup. No method is supported to install Start Appx files. The results are often problematic and unreliable.

Check if Start is running

If either component is failing to start on boot, reviewing the event logs for errors or crashes during boot may pin point the problem. Booting with MSCONFIG and using a selective or diagnostic startup option will eliminate and/or identify possible interference from additional applications.

• get-process -name shellexperiencehost
• get-process -name searchui

If it is installed but not running, test booting into safe mode or use MSCONFIG to eliminate third-party or additional drivers and applications.

Check whether the system a clean install or upgrade

• Is this system an upgrade or clean install?
  • Run test-path «$env:windir\panther\miglog.xml»
  • If that file does not exist, the system is a clean install.
• Upgrade issues can be found by running test-path «$env:windir\panther\miglog.xml»

Check if Start is registered or activated

• Export the following Event log to CSV and do a keyword search in a text editor or spreadsheet:
  • Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational for Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost or Microsoft.Windows.Cortana
    • «Package was not found»
    • «Invalid value for registry»
    • «Element not found»
    • «Package could not be registered»

If these events are found, Start is not activated correctly. Each event will have more detail in the description and should be investigated further. Event messages can vary.

Other things to consider

When did the problem start?

• Top issues for Start menu failure are triggered
  • After an update
  • After installation of an application
  • After joining a domain or applying a domain policy
• Many of those issues are found to be
  • Permission changes on Registry keys or folders
  • Start or related component crashes or hangs
  • Customization failure

To narrow down the problem further, it’s good to note:

What is the install background?

• Was this a deployment, install from media, other
• Using customizations?
  • DISM
  • Group Policy or MDM
  • copyprofile
  • Sysprep
  • Other

• Group policy settings that restrict access or permissions to folders or registry keys can cause issues with Start performance.
• Some Group Policies intended for Windows 7 or older have been known to cause issues with Start
• Untested Start Menu customizations can cause unexpected behavior by typically not complete Start failures.

Windows 10 Microsoft store/default app icons missing

We are seeing issues across various machines where the icons in the start menu and task bar for applications such as sticky notes, calculator, windows store etc. disappear.

The applications are still fully functioning but are not recognisable without actually opening up.

This seems to have stated since upgrading to & rolling out Windows 10 V 1709.

There seems to be no pattern to which machines are affected, it has happened to some within 10 days of building, after a few months and some others imaged at the same time remain unaffected.

A profile deletion and recreation resolves for a short while, 3-14 days from experience.

All machines have the same standard apps installed and we use various models of Lenovo.

Has anyone else come across this? Any information would be much appreciated.

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There can be several reasons why this happen. It may be due to missing or corrupted system files. Since the issue happened after you perform the latest Windows 10 update, we recommend that you follow the troubleshooting steps on how to restore missing apps provided by Meliton Dec’s in this thread. Other Community members found that suggestions helpful.

Should you need further assistance, feel free to post your query anytime.

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Possibly i wasn’t clear, this is happening on both machines that have been upgraded to 1709 & also machines that have been imaged with the latest 1709 image from the Microsoft licensing portal.

Also, the apps themselves aren’t «missing». They are still working correctly, it’s the taskbar icons that have stopped showing & now show what is essentially a transparent «box».

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Based on your post, it may seem like your Icon and Thumbnail cache database may have been corrupted. To resolve this, we recommend that you try to delete the cache files in order to rebuild the Icon cache and clear the Thumbnail cache. To do this follow these steps:

1. Navigate to “ C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer ”
2. Under that location you will see a lot of files like iconcache_1600. db , iconcache_1920.db, iconcache_2560. db , iconcache_exif.db, iconcache_idx.db, iconcache_sr. db , iconcache_wide.dd, iconcache_wide_alternate. d, iconcache_32.db, iconcache_48. db , iconcache_96.db, iconcache_256.db, iconcache_1024.db, iconcache_1280.db, etc. You will have to delete all of those files to rebuild and purge the icon cache for Windows 10.
3. Once you delete some of the themes. You will see a new folder named “IconCacheToDelete,” which will disappear after you reboot/restart your PC.
4. Restart your PC to see if the issue is resolve.

If the issue persists, we recommend that you repair your system files using DISM and SFC/Scannow. To do this follow this Forum Article created by ZigZag3143, scroll down and look for the instruction on how to run DISM. Running DISM will help check whether there are file corruptions and fix them. Followed by SFC scan, which helps in taking care of other file corruptions.

Start menu tiles missing icons after upgrading to Windows 10 Anniversary update on the computer.

Original title: Blank Windows 10 Apps Tile in Start Menu

Hi! After I’ve upgraded my Windows 10 with anniversary update I have problems with icons and tiles in Start Menu for some universal apps — the icons and tiles are blank. If I pin an app to taskbar, the icon is visible. For example — my Facebook, Netflix, Fitbit. app icons and tiles are fine, but my Weather, WindowsStore, Calculator, TuneIn Radio. app icons and tiles are blank. I’ve fount some solutions for this problem on web, but nothing helps. I’ve reinstalled the apps with no difference. Does anybody have any idea how to solve this problem?? Thanx in advance! 😉

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The above issue might have occurred due to uninstalled updates, missing/corrupted system files and folders or if the user account is corrupted on the computer.

Before we assist further, I would like to ask you a few questions:

1. How did you upgrade the computer to Windows 10 (via Media Creation Tool or Windows Updates)?
2. When you say “I’ve fount some solutions for this problem on web, but nothing helps”, which are the solutions tried to resolve the issue?
3. Did you check if similar issue persists on other user account?

If haven’t tried, check if similar issue persists on another user account. This is only to check if the issue is specific to user profile or the OS installed on the computer. Refer to Set up accounts article to create a new Microsoft user account on the computer.

The corrupted user profile does not function normally such as not launching Start menu, Cortana, Search bar, Store and other Windows applications. In such cases creating a new profile and checking for the same will help in identifying if the is specific to corrupted user profile or the OS.

Write to us with the answers to the above questions and the status of Start menu tiles not displaying app icons on the computer in the same post for further assistance. Your reply is most important for us to ensure we assist you accordingly.

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Hi! Thank you for your quick reply. I’ve installed Windows 10 on my PC via Media Creation Tool (it was a clean install, not an upgrade from older version of Windows). The Anniversary update was installed via Windows Update (as mentioned, I have the problem since I’ve upgraded to Anniversary update).

I’ve tried to solve the problem with:

• unpin the icon in start menu an repin it
• removing and reisntalling the apps
• reregistering the apps via PowerShell command Get-AppXPackage | Foreach

I’ve just created a new user account on my PC and the problem with the universal apps icons and tiles is the same. It is very strange, that the icons and tiles for Edge, Facebook, Messenger, Netflix, Fitbit, Candy Crush Saga 😉 are fine, but for all other apps are blank. I’ve just installed one new universal app and the icon and tile are blank too.

I have no problems by using Start menu and the apps with blank icons and tiles.

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Thank you for replying with the answers and the status of the issue.

Run SFC scan and DISM scan by following the steps below and check if the issue is caused due to any of the missing or corrupted system files and folders on the computer.

SFC scan is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files. If a Windows Resource Protection (WRP) file is missing or is corrupted, Windows may not behave as expected. For example, some Windows functions may not work, or Windows may crash.

Windows corruption errors may prevent Windows updates and service packs from installing. For example, an update might not install if a system file is damaged. The DISM scan or System Update Readiness tool may help you to fix some Windows corruption errors.

Step 1: Open an Administrator command prompt window by

Press Windows logo + X keys on the keyboard and select Command Prompt (Admin) option.

Click on Yes and continue. Provide administrator password if prompted.

Check if it says Administrator: Command Prompt at the top of the command prompt window.

Step 2: Type the following commands in the CMD Prompt:

Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth

Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

sfc /scannow

Step 3: Close the command window and check if the issue is resolved.

Refer to the suggestion by Rohit Siddegowda replied on October 9, 2015 from the link below and check if it helps.

Write to us with the status of Start menu tiles not displaying app icons on the computer for further assistance. Your reply is most important for us to ensure we assist you accordingly.

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Hi! Thanx again for you quick answer! 😉 I’ve run the commands that you have adviced me. This are the results:

• C:\>Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.14393.0
  Image Version: 10.0.14393.0
  [==========================100.0%==========================] The component store is repairable.
  The operation completed successfully.

• C:\>Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.14393.0
  Image Version: 10.0.14393.0
  [==========================100.0%==========================]
  Error: 1726
  The remote procedure call failed.
  The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log

The following are the error records from the dism.log (all other records have the «info» status):

2016-08-11 16:44:36, Error DISM DISM Package Manager: PID=10880 TID=2524 Failed finalizing changes. — CDISMPackageManager::Internal_Finalize(hr:0x800706be)
2016-08-11 16:44:36, Error DISM DISM Package Manager: PID=10880 TID=2524 Failed processing package changes with session option CbsSessionOptionRepairStoreCorruption — CDISMPackageManager::RestoreHealth(hr:0x800706be)
2016-08-11 16:44:36, Error DISM DISM Package Manager: PID=10880 TID=2524 Failed to restore the image health. — CPackageManagerCLIHandler::ProcessCmdLine_CleanupImage(hr:0x800706be)
2016-08-11 16:44:36, Error DISM DISM Package Manager: PID=10880 TID=2524 Failed while processing command cleanup-image. — CPackageManagerCLIHandler::ExecuteCmdLine(hr:0x800706be)
2016-08-11 16:44:36, Error DISM DISM.EXE: DISM Package Manager processed the command line but failed. HRESULT=800706BE

• C:\>sfc /scannow
  Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
  Beginning verification phase of system scan.
  Verification 100% complete.
  Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired
  them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For
  example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not
  supported in offline servicing scenarios.

The status of my problem after running this steps is unchanged. Also the suggestion by Rohit Siddegowda does not help.

Kind regards and thank you for your help in advice!