As you can imagine, it can be really difficult to get anything done, if the Start menu is not working on your Windows 10 computer. While this problem is known to occur after installing an update or a new software program, it can also occur due to other reasons.
Luckily, it is not difficult to fix this problem and you should be able to fix the problem of Start button not working in Windows 10 using any of the following methods.
What to Do If Start Menu is Not Working in Windows 10?
If the Start menu is stuck or not working, simply restart the computer to rule out the possibility of this problem being caused due a stuck app or process.
After the computer restarts, you may find the start menu working on your computer. If this did not help, you can move to the next steps as provided below to fix this issue.
1. Restart Windows Explorer
Follow the steps below to restart explorer.exe file on your computer.
1. Press Windows + R keys to open Run command.
2. Type explorer.exe in the Run Command window and click on OK.
After running this command, click on the Start button and see if it is working.
2. Disconnect Windows Account
Sometimes, the problem of Start Menu not working in Windows 10 can be fixed by delinking your Windows Account from the computer.
1. Open Settings > click on the Accounts Icon.
2. On the next screen, click on Sign-in Options. in the left-pane. In the right-pane, scroll down switch OFF Use my sign in info to automatically finish setting up my device option, located under “Privacy” section.
2. Restart your computer and see if the Start Menu is now working on your computer.
3. Run System File Checker
Follow the steps below to find and repair corrupted system files on your computer (if any)
1. Type CMD in the Search bar > right-click on Command Prompt in the search results and select Run as Administrator option.
2. In the Command Prompt Window, type sfc /scannow and press the Enter key on the keyboard of your computer.
3. Wait for the Scan to be completed, restart the computer and see if the problem has now been fixed.
4. Repair Windows Image
Follow the steps below to repair Windows System image and see if this helps in fixing the problem.
1. Type CMD in the Search bar > right-click on Command Prompt in the search results and select Run as Administrator option.
2. On the Command Prompt screen, type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and press the Enter Key
3. Once the process is completed, restart your computer and see if the Start Menu is now working on your computer.
5. Reinstall the Settings App
The problem could be due to a Microsoft Store App not being properly registered or the Settings App itself become faulty.
1. Type CMD in the Search bar > right-click on Command Prompt in the search results and select Run as Administrator option.
2. On the Command prompt screen, type the following command and press the Enter key.
Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}
This command will Reinstall all Native Windows Apps on your device, including the Settings App.
6. Uninstall Dropbox
In certain cases, the problem of Start Menu not working in Windows 10 could be due to Dropbox interfering with Windows processes.
To fix this issue, you can either uninstall Dropbox from the computer or make the following changes in the registry of your computer.
1. Right-click on the start button and click on Run.
2. In the Run Command Window, type regedit and click on OK.
3. Next, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WpnUserService. and double-click on Start Dword on the right pane.
4. On the Edit Dword pop-up, set Value data to 4 and click OK.
After making these changes, restart your PC and check if the problem is resolved.
7. Enter Safe Mode
If you have reason to believe that the Start Menu is not working on your computer after installing a new software problem, start your computer in Safe Mode and see if the problem gets fixed.
If the Start menu works in Safe Mode, it confirms that the new software program is responsible for Start Menu problems on your computer.