Windows 10 was officially released on the 29th of July 2015 and according to a latest report from WinBeta, over 50 million devices are currently running the newest OS.
While the windows 10 OS is a sleek OS and very easy to work with as i have been using it for weeks, it tend to have its own flaws. Off late, automatic updates are being shifted to the OS often and recently, we encountered a critical issue. Start Menu and Cortana won’t work.
Upon restarting the computer, an error notification keeps showing up stating that the start menu and cortana program isn’t working and this notification cannot be closed or minimized.
However, it can be shifted to any sides of the screen. An option to log out is stated on the notification adding that logging out and logging in again will fix the issue but upon doing that many times, it still remains the same.
If you are currently facing the same problem on your windows 10 operating system due to one reason or the other, the tutorials here will guide you on how to fix it.
Fixing Start Menu and Cortana Not Working In Windows 10 OS
There are basically two ways you can fix the issue. Although the first method was what i followed to fix mine, you can follow the second step if you know you ain’t the patient type.
Revert Back To An Old Windows 10 Update
- Since you cannot click on the start button, double-click on the Control Panel icon situated on the desktop,
- Under the Control Panel settings, Click on Review your computer’s status which is under System and Security.
- Next, under the Review Computer status page, click on Recovery.
- Under Recovery, Click on Open System Restore. This option will undo recent system changes and still leave files such as documents, pictures and music.
- A restore system files and settings window shows up. Choose the ‘Choose a different restore point‘ option and click on Next.
- Choose a previous update that worked fine for you and follow the onscreen instructions.
Please note that this process undo a recent update and would take between 15 to 30 minutes before the operation is complete. Doing that fixed my windows 10 start menu and Cortana issue and it has been working fine since then.
Alternatively,
- If the start button still displays but clicking does nothing, Right click on it and
Choose Command prompt (Admin). Please note, there is command prompt and command prompt admin. Click on the latter. - Type Powershell in the command window and hit Enter
- Paste the following command in the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window and press Enter key:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
- Wait for PowerShell to execute and complete the command. if few errors pop up in red colors, ignore them.
- When it finishes, try Clicking the Start Button again and hopefully the start button will work this time.
So, there you have it. As earlier stated, although the option 1 worked for me in fixing the Start Menu and Cortana not working, you can choose to try the second option if you feel the first is sorta complex.
