That would be all, your Start button should be working now. As we said, this solution works, but it’s not permanent so for the permanent solution make sure that you check for the latest Windows 10 updates regularly.

3. Sign out of your account

In some cases, the Start Menu button won’t work if there’s a glitch with your user account. The simplest way to fix this problem according to users is to sign out of your account and log back in.

Since your Start Menu and start button aren’t working, you’ll need to sign out by doing the following:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
2. Now click the Sign out button.
3. Wait for a few moments and sign back into your account.

After signing back in, check if the problem is still there.

4. Restart Windows Explorer

Many users reported that you can fix the problem with the Start Menu button simply by restarting Windows Explorer.

Start Menu is a part of Windows Explorer, and by restarting Windows Explorer, you’ll force Start Menu to restart as well.

To do that, you just need to follow these simple steps:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Locate Windows Explorer on the list.
   • Right-click it and choose Restart from the menu.

Once Windows Explorer restarts, the issue should be gone and your Start Menu will start working again. Keep in mind that this is a temporary solution, so you’ll have to repeat it once the problem reappears.

5. Use Command Prompt

Sometimes problems with the Start Menu button can be caused by certain Cortana files. According to users, you can fix this problem simply by deleting these files from the Command Prompt.

Run a System Scan to discover potential errors

These are just some temporary files, and your PC will recreate them, so there’s no need to worry.

To recreate these files, you just need to do the following:

1. Press Windows Key + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
2. If this method doesn’t work, you can use any other method, but be sure to start Command Prompt as an administrator.
3. When Command Prompt starts, run the following commands one by one:

• CD/d «%LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesMicrosoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy»
• Taskkill /F /IM SearchUI.exe
• RD /S /Q Settings

After the commands are executed, the damaged files will be rebuilt and you should be able to use Start Menu again without issues.

Solution 6 – Modify your registry

In some cases, issues with the Start Menu button can occur due to Dropbox. Dropbox can sometimes interfere with Windows processes and this can lead to this and many other problems.

However, you should be able to fix this problem by making a few changes in your registry. To do that, just follow these steps:

1. Press Windows Key + R and enter regedit.
   • Press Enter or click OK.
2. In the left pane, navigate to this key:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesWpnUserService .
   • In the right pane, double-click Start DWORD.
3. Set Value data to 4 and click OK.

After making these changes, restart your PC and check if the problem is resolved.

7. Create new values in your registry

If you’re having issues with the Start Menu button, the problem might be related to your registry. According to users, they managed to fix this problem simply by creating new value in their registry.

To do that, just follow these steps:

1. Start Registry Editor.
2. In the left pane, navigate to this key:
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced .
   • In the right pane, right-click the empty space and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) value.
3. Enter EnableXamlStartMenu as the name of the new DWORD.

After doing that, close Registry Editor and restart Windows Explorer from the Task Manager. Once the Explorer restarts, your Start Menu should be working again.

8. Enter Safe Mode

According to users, you might be able to solve this problem simply by entering Safe Mode. This is quite simple to do, and you can do it by following these steps:

1. Open the Settings app and go to the Update & Security section.
2. From the menu on the left choose Recovery.
3. In the right pane, click Restart now button in the Advanced startup section.
4. A list of options will appear. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings. Click the Restart button.
5. Once your PC restarts, you’ll be presented with a list of options.
6. Select any version of Safe Mode by pressing the appropriate key.

Once you enter Safe Mode, check if everything is working. If so, restart your PC, boot back to your account and check if the issue is resolved.

This isn’t the most reliable solution, but many users reported that it works, so be sure to try it out.

8. Create a new user account

Sometimes this problem can occur if your user account is corrupted. To fix the issue, you just need to create a new user account and switch to it. You can do that by following these steps:

1. Open the Settings app and go to the Accounts section.
2. Navigate to Family & other people in the left pane. In the right pane, click Add someone else to this PC.
3. Choose I don’t have this person’s sign-in information > Add a user without a Microsoft account.
4. Enter the desired user name and click Next.

After creating a new user account, switch to it, and check if that solves your problem. If the problem doesn’t appear on the new account, you’ll need to move your personal files to the new account and check if that solves your problem.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or maybe some other solutions for this problem, write it down in the comments section.

Start Menu is an integral part of Windows, but many users reported various issues with it. Speaking of issues, here are some common problems that users reported:

Windows 10 Start button and search not working in windows 10 on quite a few computers

We have quite a few computers that over the past days the start button and search does not work. Did you push through a update that might have done this?

Replies (2) 

The start menu is built like the other «Windows 10 Store apps».

Here are some tips on how to fix problems with these apps

2016 07 19- 5 TIPS TO FIX WINDOWS STORE AND APP ISSUES IN WINDOWS 10
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tips-fix-window.
1. Win Store Trouble Shooter
2. Clear store Cache
3. Reset Windows update (use the tool in the following link)
4. Reg hack for Connection errors
5. Re-Register the Store

#1 MS DOWNLOADABLE WIN 10 STORE APP TROUBLE SHOOTER
http://aka.ms/diag_apps10

Note: both of these links above should take you to download the same diagnosis “CAB” file.

Use the built in Trouble shooter

Go to Settings > Update & security > Troubleshoot
Scroll down to the bottom
Click Windows Store Apps

Run it 2 or 3 times.

#3 MANUAL RESET WINDOWS UPDATES
the problems remain, you have to revert to a manual process to reset Windows Update
Check that System Restore is turned on and configured
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2955023/windows.
https://www.tekrevue.com/how-to-enable-system-r.

Create a System restore point. (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/402753. )
Use the following process to effectively delete the folders used by Windows Update:
#1 Start a command prompt in Administrator Mode:
In start menu search for CMD
Right click on it
Select “Run as Administrator”
#2: Stop various Windows Update Service, Cryptographic, Background Intelligent Transfer Service, and MSI Installer Windows services.
To do this, disconnect from the Internet. That means turning off Wi-Fi and disconnecting from a wired connection. If you don’t, Windows 10 will indicate some files are in use and cannot be modified or the command will be non-responsive. Restart your computer after disconnecting from the Internet.

Then type the following commands at a command prompt. Press the “ENTER” key after you type each command.
net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver

#3 Rename the folders used by Windows Update:
Ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
Ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old

Reconnect to the internet

#4 Restart the services:
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver

#5 Restart the computer:
Reboot the computer
open Windows Update
click Check for updates.

RESET ALL STORE APPS / REREGISTER / APPS MISSING FROM WIN START MENU
Re-register all store apps, so they appear again in start menu. For that, open a PowerShell window as Administrator. Copy and paste the following line into the PowerShell window and press Enter:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach

Note: if you re-register all applications, all your apps are back, however all your pinned apps will be reset (the right panel will be empty) so you need to re-pin everything that you want. Personnaly I did a screen capture before, to remember what I pinned and where (use the “snipping tool” in startmenu/windows accessories, with a delay to be able to open the start menu before the capture)

****
Join the crowd
.
Be unique

Windows 10 Problems, Issues with solutions and fixes

If you have installed the latest version of Windows 10, you may be facing some Windows 10 problems and issues. Fortunately, the list of known issues is not long and is limited to some countries for some reason. The best thing about bugs in Windows 10 or known issues is that Microsoft works on them as soon as they are notified. Despite that, here are the some bugs and issues.

Windows 10 Problems and Issues

1] Windows installation may terminate with SOMETHING HAPPENED message

In some languages, you may see the message “Something happened” with the only option being the CLOSE button. When you click the button, the installation terminates. This has been noticed if you chose to create an ISO and are using a burned DVD or USB to install Windows 10.

Though not official, the problem is attributed to Language settings in Windows OS. Check the Language and Region settings in Control panel of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 that you are upgrading using the ISO file. The fix is widely used is to re-download the US English Language pack and install it on the computer you are trying to upgrade. That is, you have to go to Control Panel, open the Language and Settings and make sure US English is installed. You may have to install the language pack again for Windows 10 ISO to work. Go here to see how to install language packs in Windows.

A better fix is to use “Upgrade This PC” option using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. The latter option would remove the need to create ISO-based installation media (DVD or USB) and will do an in-place upgrade of Windows 10. The in-place upgrade does not, likely, go wrong with the weird “something happened” message according to reports on social media. You will need an active Internet connection, though, for every PC you upgrade this way.

In short, performing an in-place upgrade is a better option than going for ISO files of Windows 10 as of now.

The “Something Happened” message is too vague and does not tell you what went wrong. The second line too, as in the image, says “something happened”. Right now, it has become the center of jokes and memes on social media. Microsoft may soon publish a proper fix or explanation for the error message. I am expecting that, at least.

2] Start menu cannot hold more than 512 items

Though 512 is a big number and I do not think anyone would pin that many programs or apps to the Start menu, it is still a known issue in Windows 10 that if you go for more than 512 apps, they will disappear from the Start menu. As long as the number of apps pinned to the Start menu is less than 512, the app tiles will be visible properly. If you cross the number, the Start menu is messed up.

Microsoft has information on this, and they are working to remove the cap.

3] Clipboard issues in Windows 10

Windows 10 sometimes doesn’t copy using Ctrl+C. There is no fix except to press the key combination again and again until it is copied to the clipboard. Another better option is to right click and from the context menu that appears, select COPY or CUT as the case may be.

4] Windows Store Crashes

This is more of the Store app issue than being a Windows 10 operating system issue. The Windows 10 store app keeps on crashing when you try to download anything. The issue was reported by many – including TWC authors.

There is no fix for the issue, but it has been notified to Windows team. I am hoping the issue will be fixed soon. But meanwhile, you can see point 3 of Windows 10 Guru Fixes.

5] Wireless networks are not available

After you upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise, no wireless networks are available. Wired Ethernet connections may also not function properly if you are using built-in Ethernet adapter or a USB Ethernet adapter. This could occur due to the presence of unsupported VPN software. If you are facing this issue, read Wi-Fi does not work after upgrading to Windows 10.

6] Start Menu or Taskbar not working

Some users who upgraded are finding out that their Start Menu does not open in Windows 10. This post will help you fix the problem. See this post if your Taskbar is not working in Windows 10.

7] Windows Store apps are not opening

If Windows Store apps are not opening in Windows 10, after you upgraded, then this post will show you how to fix the problem quickly.

8] Windows Store is not opening

If Windows 10 Store is not working, then run this troubleshooter & fixer from Microsoft.

9] Windows 10 Settings app does not open

For some, the Windows 10 Settings app does not open or launch. Or it opens the Store app instead. Use the Fix-It mentioned in the tool. Update KB3081424 will prevent the issue from re-occurring.

10] NVIDIA Graphic Cards not compatible

The graphics drivers are not compatible with Windows 10 at the moment. NVIDIA is working on the issue and soon it will provide compatible drivers so that users can upgrade to Windows 10 without problems. You can search for your NVIDIA GeForce drivers here. Nvidia has released new WHQL drivers for Windows 10.

11] INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error

See this post if you receive INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error after you have upgraded to Windows 10.

12] Office documents do not open

Go here if after upgrading to Windows 10, you find that some of your Office Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents do not open.

13] Installation, Upgrade & Activation problems

14] Windows 10 can’t connect to Internet

15] Quick Access is not working

16] Windows 10 Sound not working

See this post if you need to fix Windows 10 Sound and Audio problems

17] Other

Microsoft has also released a set of automated solutions and troubleshooters to solve Windows 10 problems. If you are facing other issues, please search on this website. I am sure that you will find some solution. Check this post if you have Full-screen problems while playing games, etc and this one if Files are missing after Windows 10 upgrade. This post will help you if your Windows 10 can’t find DVD or CD drive – and this one if your PC crashes with a Blue Screen when you launch Edge browser.

See this post for some possible resolutions for your Windows 10 Anniversary Update problems.

NOTES:

1. Click here if you cant find your problem and search for it. Chances are high that you will find some help.
2. Windows 10 users may want to download FixWin 10 for Windows 10. It automates many fixes and lets you resolve issues in a click!
3. Windows Software Repair Tool from Microsoft will repair system components and detect corrupt files, resync System date and Time, reset System Settings, reinstall System Applications and run the DISM Tool to repair system image, with a click.

If you know of anything more that can be included in the list, please comment.

Incidentally, Microsoft has made it easier for you to contact Support if you face any problems while using Windows 10. See how to use the Contact Support app.

Updated on 15 Sept 2018.

Date: July 30, 2018 Tags: Windows 10

Related Posts

How to enable or disable Tablet PC touch input in Windows 10

How to disable Sign-in options in Windows Settings

How to get the Windows 10 version 20H2 October 2020 Update

[email protected]

Arun Kumar is a Microsoft MVP alumnus, obsessed with technology, especially the Internet. He deals with the multimedia content needs of training and corporate houses. Follow him on Twitter @PowercutIN