Start menu not working in Windows 11: 6 ways to easily fix it

The Windows 11 Start menu is certainly an overhaul over the old one from Windows 10. As you’ll see during this detailed Windows 11 build review, there are some noteworthy changes delivered to the table.

However, some might face a couple of problems; most ordinarily , people reported that precisely the beginning menu suddenly stops, becomes unresponsive, or gets freeze.

Fortunately, these are just random bugs, which may be fixed with ease. Thus, you don’t need to be an expert to unravel this annoying problem.

After repeated testing, we made bound to deliver the simplest solutions to urge obviate this issue. Therefore, if your Windows 11 Start menu isn’t working, following the steps below will surely help.

However, we recommend running Windows 11 on VM and test it there before getting it to your main machine.

Similar issues described by users

Our readers have met with a few of variations to the present problem which will be fixed with ease:

➡ Windows 11 Start menu not opening – this is often actually an equivalent issue because the one we tackled in our article, therefore the steps below should make things right again.

➡ Windows 11 Start menu stuck or frozen – Although most of our readers complained about the beginning menu not performing at all, for a few of them it got stuck or frozen. one among the solutions below will certainly assist you if you experience an equivalent situation.

How can I fix my Start menu if it isn’t working?

1. Restart your PC

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard.
2. As revealed below, select the Power icon at the bottom right corner.
3. Click on Restart.

You should consider this option as the first thing to do when Windows 11 Start menu is not working. It can help if you’re encountering random and temporary problems with your system.

2. Relaunch Windows Explorer

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard.
2. Select and open Task Manager.
3. In the list of Processes, search for Windows Explorer.
4. Select it, then click on Restart.

Windows Explorer, also referred to as File Explorer, may be a specific component that browses and opens files on your PC. it’s ready to control OS options just like the taskbar or the beginning menu.

In these terms, trying to restart it from Task Manager might make a difference. However, if it still looks like your Windows 11 Start menu isn’t working, keep reading this text .

3. Check for Windows updates

1. Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app.
2. Go to Windows Update.
3. Select Check for updates.

Microsoft is issuing tons of patches and updates regularly, so checking for the newest updates and installing them can solve the beginning menu problem. Follow the steps above to try to to that.

4. Sign back in with the local administrator

1. Open Settings by pressing Windows + I keys.
2. Go to Accounts.
3. Select the Your Info section.
4. Scroll down, then select Manage my accounts.
5. Select Sign in with a local account instead.

5. Reset your PC

1. Press Windows + I keys to open Settings.
2. Go to System, then select Recovery.
3. Select Reset this PC, then click on the Reset PC button.

Do not interrupt the recovery process until the prompt to log in to Windows is displayed.

Moreover, before following the above instructions, don’t forget to back up your personal files, or else you’ll lose all information currently stored on the PC.

6. Rollback to an earlier build/Windows 10

1. Press the Windows key + I to start the Settings app.
2. Now select Windows update from the left pane.
3. Choose Advanced options from the menu on the right.
4. In the next window, click on Recovery.
5. Now click on the Go back button.
6. In the next couple of dialogues you will be asked about your reason to switch back and if you want to check the updates first. But in the end, you will be able to click the Go back to earlier build button.

If the previous solutions didn’t work, you’ll await a patch. However, going back to an earlier build makes tons of sense too.

You can easily do this by following the steps above but you would like to stay in mind that you simply aren’t alleged to be ready to return to Windows 10 if you’ve used Windows 11 for quite 10 days.

We agree that it’s a really short period, so allow us to tell you that you simply also can bypass that by using our complete guide the way to rollback from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

Another possible tweak would are to vary the beginning menu to the old look by performing a Registry modification.

Unfortunately, since the build 22000.65, you can’t revert the beginning menu to the way it had been in Windows 10 with the Registry hack.

However, you’ll still move the Task icons to the left, like they wont to be within the old Windows 10 and this may a minimum of bring a touch little bit of comfort, hopefully. The below steps will assist you do this in no time:

How do I get the old Taskbar on Windows 11?

1. Righ-click the Taskbar and select Taskbar settings.
2. Click on the Taskbar behavior section to expand it.
3. Select the drop-down menu from the Taskbar alignment option and select Left instead of Center.

These are the simplest options we thoroughly tested, so we strongly recommend giving each of them a try if your Windows 11 Start menu isn’t working.

For a full account personalization, we propose checking some easy ways to vary password & username in Windows 11.

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