Start Menu Not Opening - Windows 11 Dev

Brass Contributor

My start menu isn't working. I've tried restarting the computer, restarting windows explorer and checking my disk for errors but nothing seems to work. 

 

When hover over it, a tooltip pops up that says 'start'. When I push the windows key on the keyboard, sometimes it will act like it is opening (I see a screen pop up that is the same color as my toolbar) but it immediately goes away and seems to crash windows explorer as my icons disappear for a minute or so. 

 

It seems that everything else works so far, any idea what it could be or how to fix?

Specs below:

 

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Update 21H2
Installed on ‎7/‎1/‎2021
OS build 22000.65

75 Replies

Hello @-tronix-,

 

Did it worked, when you were on build 22000.51?

 

See if this video fix helps you:

 



Hope this helps!

 

*Information in this reply was updated to make sure it is valid.

@Kapil Arya 

 

It previously worked so I assume it did for that build. 

Hello, Any help?
Thanks
Same problem just updated from 21H2 today 2021.07.13
Windows 11 Enterprise
OS Build 22000.65
Windows Feature Experience Pack 421.17400.45.3
Same here. It broke on Enterprise as soon as I joined it to a domain. Had it not work on both physical PC and VM. If you check the event log you'll see the start menu application crash every time you try and open it. Seems to work fine when the PC/VM only has a single user on it. Only solution I found for now was to re-enable the Win10 start menu in the registry and also left align the task bar so it doesn't feel weird as the Win10 menu will always open on the left. Not ideal but at least you can use the start menu for now until it gets fixed. Can be done with a GPO for domain joined systems.

Start Menu

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Create or Edit: Start_ShowClassicMode
Type: DWORD 32bit
Set to 0 for Windows 11 Start Menu
Set to 1 for Windows 10 Start Menu

Alignment

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Create or Edit: TaskbarAl
Type: DWORD 32bit
Set To 0 for Left Align
Set To 1 for Centre Align
Sorry just tried this in the latest build and it no longer works. Guess we're stuck with broken systems.

@jima87203 

Also the Windows 11 shortcut keys don't work.

  • Snap your windows to different layouts with Windows Key + Z
  • Get to notification center with Windows Key +N
  • Get to the Quick settings with Windows Key +A

And I can't open the notification center or quick settings using the mouse either.

I didn't see the new Windows Explorer or snapping options until I enabled Task View in Settings -> Personalisation -> Taskbar Settings and then restarted Windows Explorer
These don't work for me either, as well as the on screen keyboard.
Todays Window 11 update has at least fixed the start menu.

@DaveBarker19 

 

Didn't work for me. Start menu still not working. 

Crazy - Worked all afternoon yesterday after the update and now does not work again.
Start Menu now works but still can't open quick settings or notifications.
Not for me.
Just realized what changed for me was the GPO with the "start menu" layout XML was disabled.
I have the same problem, start menu not opening !!!!!!!!
Bei mir hat folgendes geholfen:
Update KB5004300 deinstallieren. Neustart, Win 11 Taskleiste ist vorhanden, aber noch im Win 10 Stil. Jetzt Update ausführen und KB5004300 installieren. Dann funktioniert alles:grinning_face:
Grüße aus Deutschland

@ralle49 Wow it works! After fiddling with so many methods and failed, this one works for me. 

Danke!!

@ralle49 Danke! It works