How to Fix Windows 11 Start menu not working – Guide
This one tip dates back to Windows 10 and was first shared on the Microsoft Community forum. I tweaked it for the Windows 11 interface. If you are unable to open the WinX menu to access the Windows Terminal, follow the steps listed in the forum article to open the PowerShell window.
Rebuild the Windows Search Index
Research is a core feature from the Windows Start menu. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve already restarted your search-related Windows background services. Next, let’s try to rebuild the search index entirely. Press Windows key + R, paste the text below and press Enter. Windows will notify you that while it is rebuilding the index, which may take some time to complete, some views and search results may be incomplete. Click OK and the rebuild will begin. You can also close the Indexing Options window. When Windows finishes rebuilding the index, restart and check the Start menu again. Many people don’t like the new Windows 11 Start Menu and have tried to customize or replace it. Meanwhile, some hacks like bringing the old Start menu back have stopped working and may have come back to haunt you. If you’re interested in the Start Menu hacks, I recommend you retrace your steps and revert those changes; below are the most common.
Disable Start Menu XAML Process
This is a comprehensive fix for problems with the Start menu caused by messing with the registry. Press Windows + R to launch the Run menu, type regedit and press OK. Copy the destination below, paste it into Registry Editor’s address bar and press Enter: Right-click the empty one on the right in the Advanced folder, select New > DWORD (32-bit value), and name it EnableXamlStartMenu. Double-click the new value and make sure the Value Data field is set to 0, which should be the default setting. Restart Windows Explorer or Windows to test if it worked.
Remove Windows Registry Entry to Bring Back Classic Start Menu
While we’re at the registry, let’s also remove a specific hack that no longer works. In the same location described above, right-click the Start_ShowClassicMode value and click Delete. If you don’t find that value, that’s fine. After deleting it, also restart Windows or Windows Explorer.
Uninstall Third-Party Start Menus
Open the Settings app (press Windows key + I), go to Apps > Apps & Features, find the third-party start menu app, click the three dots icon button on the right and select Uninstall. Common Start menu alternatives include:
Final note
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