Windows 10 Start menu not working after update (7 Solutions)

Sometimes you may come to a situation where the Windows 10 taskbar not responding or not working after installing a recent Windows update. Also, a number of users report on Microsoft forums, Reddit “Windows 10 Start Menu Not working” or “Windows 10 Taskbar Not Responding” for some others “Windows 10 Taskbar Auto hiding” and many more. There are many possible reasons that cause the Windows 10 Start menu and taskbar not responding, one of the most common ones is a conflict with the application that is running in the background. some other reasons such as system file corruption, Virus malware infection, corrupted user data, and App Database etc.

Whatever the Reason here some solutions you may apply to fix the Windows 10 Start menu and taskbar not working problem.

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First of all, Restart your System fixes if any temporary glitch causing the start menu or Taskbar to stop working.

Restart Windows Explorer

Also, you can try Restart Windows Explorer which can help you restore your taskbar to working order.

Press Windows + R, type taskmgr.exe and ok to open task manager.
Under the process, tab scroll down and look for Windows Explorer.
Right-click on it and select restart.

A number of users marked this as a working solution Where users face the “auto-hide functionality of the Windows 10 Taskbar can sometimes stop working, Restarting Windows Explorer helps them to fix the problem.

Check Third-party App and bad explorer add-ons

Start Windows into a clean boot state that disables all non-Microsoft services and helps you to find out if any File Explorer addon is interfering with the smooth functioning of explorer.exe which causes the Windows 10 start menu and Taskmanager not working.

Press the Windows icon + R to the open Run box.
Type msconfig and hit Enter.
Go to the Services tab and put check on Hide all Microsoft services and click Apply.
Click Disable all.
Click Apply then OK.
Restart your computer.

Now check If the taskbar working properly then may any third-party applications causing the issue, Find out the application or Uninstall recently installed applications and check if this may resolve the problem for you.

Open the Task Manager by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ESC altogether.
Click on File in the top left corner and select Run a New Task
Type PowerShell and check the box to Create this task with administrative privileges and then press ENTER key.

Paste the following code in the next screen that appears

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

Wait until all the Windows apps are re-installed.

Note: Ignore any error messages that may occur.

Close Powershell and navigate to C:/Users/{Your_Name}/AppData/Local
Locate a folder named as TileDataLayer and delete it.
Restart your PC once again and it should fix the Windows 10 taskbar not working issue.

Run DISM And SFC Utility

Moreover, a corrupted system file or broken Windows file can also cause this since you just recently updated Windows. We recommend to check for any corrupted system files, by following the steps below:

Select Start, and in the search box, enter Command Prompt. Press and hold (or right-click) Command Prompt (Desktop app) from the search results and select Run as administrator.
Enter DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth ( To Repair the System Image ) And wait until 100% complete the scanning process.
After that type Enter sfc /scannow to run the System file checker utility which scans for corrupted, missing system files. If found the SFC utility automatically restores them from a special folder located on %WinDir%\System32\dllcache, Wait until 100% complete the scanning process after that restart windows and check.

Adding a New User Account to Your System

Again sometimes corrupted user profile also causes Windows apps struggling or not respond. we recommend creating a new user account by following the steps below, log in with the newly created user account profile and check Windows apps and the start menu, and taskbar working properly or not.
In order to add a new user to your system,

Open Settings with the help of the Win + I keyboard shortcut,
Choose Accounts from the setting option displayed.
From the list shown, select Family & Other People.
Now choose the option Add someone else to this PC under Other people.
From the same list, choose, I don’t have this person’s sign-in information.
On the next screen click on Add a user without a Microsoft account
Now just click on the add user option.
After that, create the user and Click on the Next
Change the account type from new account to an administrator account and click on OK.

That’s all Sign out from the current user account and log in to the newly created user account and check if this helps. If yes transfer old user data to the new user account and continue.

Update Windows And Device Drivers

Microsoft regularly releases security updates to patch the security hole created by third-party applications which cause different problems on the Windows system.

We recommend to check and install the latest updates from Settings -> update & Security -> Windows update and check for updates.

Also, incompatible or outdated device drivers with your Windows 10 system, some Windows 10 taskbar not loading issues can occur, such as Windows 10 taskbar not responding, cannot right-click on Windows 10 taskbar and Windows 10 taskbar unable to retract on its own. Especially if the problem started after the recent Windows 10 Upgrade Then there is chance device drivers are not compatible with the current Windows version which may be causing the issue. We recommend installing the latest driver from the device manufacturer.

Perform System Restore

If all the above solutions didn’t fix the problem, Windows Still causing the Start menu and Taskbar not working then it’s time to utilize the System Restore feature. This option takes your PC back to an earlier point in time, called a system restore point. Restore points are generated when you install a new app, driver, or Windows update, and when you create a restore point manually. Restoring won’t affect your personal files, but it will remove apps, drivers, and updates installed after the restore point was made.

Select the Start button, type control panel and then choose it from the list of results.
Search Control Panel for Recovery.
Select Recovery > Open System Restore > Next.
Choose the restore point related to the problematic app, driver, or update, and then select Next > Finish.

Note: If you’re not seeing any restore points, it might be because system protection isn’t turned on. To check, go to the Control Panel, search for Recovery, and then select Recovery > Configure System Restore > Configure and make sure Turn on system protection is selected.

After Performing the System restore, windows will restart and on the next login you may notice the Windows 10 Start menu and Taskbar started working.

Did these solutions help to fix the “Windows 10 Start menu and taskbar not working after update”? Let us know which option worked for you,

Windows 10 Start menu not working after update (7 Solutions)

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