Windows 10: Start Menu And Taskbar Not Working

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to fix start menu and taskbar not working in Windows 10.

Windows 10 Start menu does not open and does not respond. When you click on it nothing happens. In other words, the Start menu does not work anymore.

Sometimes the icons of the notification area and the taskbar are also inactive or are not responding. Even if in some cases you manage to open it but the icons and shortcuts are either missing or not responding. Another symptom is that the Windows 10 Start menu freezes. It opens but you can’t click on anything because it doesn’t respond.
 

Method 1: Check and repair corrupted files in Windows 10

Step 1: Press CTRL + ALT + Delete and click on Task Manager.
 

 

 
Step 2: Go to the File-> Run New Task menu.
 

 
Step 3: In the new window, check the box Create this task with administrator privileges. In the Open field, enter PowerShell and validate.
 

 
Step 4: Run the System File Checker tool to repair missing or damaged system files. To do this, type the following command: sfc /scannow

The analysis may take some time, so be patient…
 

 
If any files were damaged, you will get the following message Windows resource protection found damaged files and was able to repair them. Then restart your computer, and it’s done.

If the Start menu and/or taskbar still don’t work, proceed to the next step.
 

 

Method 2: Reinstall all Windows applications

Downloading and reinstalling all Windows 10 apps can also solve the unresponsive Start menu issue.

Step 1: Delete the following folder: C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer, then restart your computer. If you do not see this folder, follow this tutorial which will explain to you how to display the hidden files and folders.

Step 2: Launch Task Manager again and open a new PowerShell window with administrative privileges, as explained in Method 1.

Step 3: When the PowerShell window is open, copy and paste the following command and press Enter.

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

 
Step 4: Wait for the process to finish, then restart your computer. Then you should be able to use the Windows 10 taskbar and Start menu again.