Windows 11 Start Button not working

Copper Contributor

I have upgraded to windows 11 using the insider feature. my task bar is still the old windows 10 one and I cant use the start menu. I have gone back to windows 10 for now. Any fix or fix coming to this issue?

let me know if anyone else is having this issue

43 Replies
I installed Win 11 but the start menus wasnt working. I rolled back the changes and now windows 10 is completely broken.
Be careful rolling back the changes, now Im trying to reset my pc but I may have lost some files.
@AccurateIsaiah 

I had the same problem as yours.

But in my case, previously, It had happened when my PC automatically was forced to reinstall Win 11 again. After that, I sent the feedback via Feedback Hub and now, I have just gotten a new update version of Win 11 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 (10.0.22000.120) (KB5005188). So, this error does not exist anymore.

Hoping that my information helps you!

I downloaded Windows 11 recently and I have been having all sorts of issues now as well. Everything people are complaining about in these forums I have been experiencing myself. This is horrible. 

Hello Sir. If u have issue here in start button not working, u can check this last comment in this thread.
"The following helped me:
Uninstall update KB5004300. Restart, Win 11 taskbar is present, but still in Win 10 style. Update now and install KB5004300. Then everything works:grinning_face:
Greetings from Germany"
And its really works at least for me and those who replies to this thread. I think u should check that
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-insider-program/start-menu-not-opening-windows-11-dev...

@AccurateIsaiah same issue here is what i did to fix it.

 

1. Removed my enterprise AV (comes from the GPO)

2. Ran updates on Windows 11 Pro test bed.

3. Got and installed the following updates.

windowsbug_0-1630028194838.png

4. Reinstalled the AV and other LOB apps.

5. Rebooted.

 

Works ok.

I HAVE JUST FINNISHED THE INSTALL AND MY START MENU ISNT WORKING
WELL I GUESS THATS WHY THEY ROLL OUT THE INSIDER BETA RELEASE TO SORT THE BUGS OUT BEFORE IT GOES LIVE : )
After upgrading Windows 11, very first thing I have created 'Restore Point' manually and today when I have faced this issue 'Taskbar' Not working (even not able to open 'This Pc' and unable to Refresh) restored my Pc with manually created restore point, now everything is working fine.
I installed the new update via the insider program today... (September 29th 2021)
Safe to say still has some bugs
The taskbar was the new one but start menu wouldn't start (lol the irony) I tried it on an i5 11th gen laptop and it was overheating to a point where I thought it was going to blow..
I started having this same issue today. I installed Win11 but had to revert back to Win10 because of a hardware issue. Once that was resolved, I tried to upgrade to Win11 again, but the task bar retained the Win10 appearance, and the start button and search boxes did not work. Tried restarting explorer and several other "fixes" from various articles, but nothing worked.

I tried uninstalling Win11 and reinstalling it again after removing all updates that had installed today, but still no luck.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Sa,e issue for me....After upgrading to W11 Dev build, it stopped working. thinking to revert to W10

@AccurateIsaiah I am also having this issue - I can't interact with the Start button at all, and I also can't perform searches in File Explorer. I was also someone who upgraded to Windows 11 early release and went back to Windows 10 when experiencing issues, and then upgraded to Windows 11 following official launch.

Been over 2 months and this is still not working lol.. Solid launch Microsoft... just solid.
Looks like after a few updates -- none of which were tied to the actual OS build but the only one non-driver related was KB890830, and then a boat load of Driver updates fixed it and centered the bar.

@AccurateIsaiah i had to download the iso image and do a fresh clean install of windows 11 to fix the start menu problem the only issue im having now is facebook not loading properly on edge or chrome.

I just got upgraded to Windows 11 from Windows 10. On taskbar windows, search etc button are not appearing at all. Even file explorer is not working, very disappointed with windows 11

@PSujeet run Windows updates, should fix it. Mine was the same way when I first spun it up on a test machine.

Same problem with my laptop dell inspron 3501 start menu not working first I upgrade widows 11 through insider program that time start menu not working then I leave the insider program after that I roll back to windows 10 after few days iam getting official windows 11 update through updater then I install that update still start menu not working in my laptop especially dell inspron 3501. My friends also updated to windows 11 but my friends start menu is perfectly working what is the problem with my laptop
I'm still on windows 10..
Asus Vivobook s14
Please let me know if you find a fix

@AccurateIsaiah

 

Same problem. No start button. Unable to shut off my computer.

Does the Winkey + X combination works?