The Windows button is a shortcut key to access the Start Menu, the most important UI element on a Windows computer. And as a user, we frequently use this key to access the start menu.
The Start Menu is where everything is on Windows, so it is often quite frustrating if it suddenly stops working – and may make it near impossible to get work done on your PC.
For this reason, we need to fix this problem as soon as possible. If you are getting the same problem on your computer, then you are at the right place. In this article, I will show you 5 different methods to fix the Windows 10 start button not working.
There are various reasons for not working the Windows start menu on a computer. If you see that your PC does not respond after clicking the start menu icon or pressing the windows key, your computer may run into trouble.
Most of the time, the Windows start menu gets stuck by unwanted changes or malware attacks. Or, if your computer has less amount of ram and you are running multiple applications at the same time, you can see this issue.
If the windows menu is not working on your computer, you can fix it by following some simple methods. But, no one can tell you which one will work for you. That is why I have listed all possible ways of fixing the windows start button not working issue.
Follow the methods one by one mentioned below and check if the start button starts working again:
Disable Package Development mode
This is a relatively easy method but isn’t a permanent solution, but it gets the work done and it fixes the difficulty temporarily, so if the difficulty manifests itself again, you would possibly get to repeat this process.
To fix the Windows 10 start button not working with PowerShell do the following steps:
- At first place your cursor on the start button
- Then right-click on the start button and choose Windows PowerShell.
- Make sure you simply run the Windows PowerShell as an administrator for max control over your PC. If you don’t run it as an administrator, this process won’t work, so keep that in mind. You can also press Windows Key + S, type PowerShell, and run Windows Powershell as an administrator.
- After you do that paste this into PowerShell:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}
- Finally, press Enter to execute it.
Now the start button on your windows computer should work again. As we said at the beginning of this method, this solution works, but it’s not a permanent solution.
Delete the Cortana files
Sometimes problems with the Start button are often caused by certain Cortana files. consistent with users, you’ll fix this problem just by deleting these files from the prompt.
These are just a few temporary files, and your PC will recreate them, so there’s no got to worry. To recreate these files, you only got to do the following:
- Right-click on the taskbar and choose Command prompt (Admin) from the menu.
- If this method doesn’t work, you’ll use the other method, but make certain to start promptly as an administrator.
- When the prompt starts, run the subsequent 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 are going to be rebuilt and you ought to be ready to use Start Menu again without issues.
Reinstall Windows apps
You can fix your Windows 10 Start button by Downloading and reinstalling all Windows 10 apps. It reportedly salves a stuck start button. This isn’t as drastic because it sounds like ‘Windows apps’ are those built into Windows 10 and available from the Windows Store.
The reinstallation is automatic and it will only take a couple of minutes. The method might delete any data you’ve got saved in these Windows apps, though, so backup anything important before you start. Apps that store data online, in Microsoft OneDrive, or as files during a separate folder (such because the Photos app) should be unaffected.
Warning: Recent reports indicate that this process may cause some Windows Store apps to stop working, so keep this in your mind before continuing the process.
If you are happy with the condition then do the steps given below:
- At first, 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 that we have shown you below and paste it into the PowerShell window:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
Wait until the installation process completes, and if you notice any red text on your screen, ignore it. Finally, restart your computer and check the start menu, it may work properly.
Perform a Windows update
Microsoft is conscious of this issue, and if there’s a fix available it’ll be released via Windows Update, therefore confirm that you simply keep your Windows 10 updated so far, and if there are any updates available then download them.
Windows 10 usually downloads the missing updates automatically, but sometimes issues can occur which can prevent updates from downloading. However, windows allow us to check for updates manually. For this do the steps given below hope this will help you to solve the problem :
- Right-click on the taskbar and select settings.
- When the settings app appears on your screen search for the Security and Updates option and click on it.
- Inside the Windows Update page, click the Check for updates button.
Updates will be downloaded automatically in the background if any updates are available. Once your system is updated successfully, check the start menu.
Reset Your Windows 10 Installation
If none of the above methods fixes your problem, the last method you can try to solve the problem try is to try to do a factory reset of your Windows 10 installation. But keep in your mind that this is often an “almost-scorched-earth” method, and will only be used as a final resort.
Resetting your Windows 10 installation should keep all of your files intact (documents, pictures, videos, then on), but will uninstall all the opposite drivers and programs you’ve installed. This resets your computer to the state it had been once you first turned it on.
Before going any longer, make backups of all of your important files employing a flash drive, external HDD/SSD, or a web file host like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Follow the steps below to reset your windows computer:
- Open the settings app by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting the settings option.
- After that click on the Update and security option, and from the left panel select Recovery.
- Inside the Recovery, you will find the Reset this PC section. From this section, click on the Get started button.
- Finally, from the blue Window click on the “Keep my files” button.
Now, wait a moment while the wizard analyzes your system. Then, you’ll be able to see a list of all the programs that’ll be removed. In this sphere of the method click the “Next” button, and follow the instructions to reset your Windows 10 installation.
Once you’re finished resetting Windows and creating a new user, the problem of the Windows 10 Start button not working should now work again.
Wrapping up…
This article has tried to cover all possible methods of fixing the windows start button. In conclusion, try to find the exact cause of the problem and try fixing the problem. Also, you can try a different keyboard if the cursor is still responsive to the start menu.
This is the complete guide on how to fix the Windows 10 Start button not working. We hope that this article will be helpful to you. If you face any problems during doing these methods on your computer.