Start Button won't show Start Menu on Windows 10

Question

I am not sure what started this, but my start button, when pressed won't show the start menu button. The start menu also won't show when pressing on the windows button. This issue also affects some buttons on the taskbar, like the Network, Time, Sound and some others that usually gives a popup, but now does nothing when pressed.

After searching around, I tried some suggestions online, and found out that sfc reported that I have corrupted files (Error messsage: Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them).

sfc /scannow

Running dism also fails (Error message: Error: 0x800f081f. The source files could not be found.). Since I don't have the installation media, this isn't a good option as for now.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Trying it on another user, shows that start menu still works fine which indicates the issue is not actually with Windows itself, but my account (connected to Live).

Assuming that I don't want to go to drastic measures like doing a Refresh, or changing accounts, is there a way to solve this?

Update: I don't think it is a duplicate, since the answer given seems to be outdated according to the source I used above, it gives issues when executed from builds after November. I am currently using the latest build. Also, according to the given answer there, the solution is to execute command via powershell to reinstall packages. Doing only that part doesn't resolve the issue, in my case. (See comment below).

Answer 1

According to some sources from the MVP forum, this is one issue that is still being investigated, and has not been determined what is the root cause of it. Nevertheless, here are some things that could be tried:

1. Restart explorer.exe.

2. Fix corrupted system files using DISM and SFC.

   a. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

   b. sfc /scannow

3. Remove old tiles cache, and refresh all packages. Note: This would reset your tiles configuration.

   a. Go to %userprofile%\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Database and delete all files there.

   b. Using PowerShell, execute Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

4. Create a new user account and ditch your old user account

5. Refresh/reinstall your system

In my case, using the third method worked well enough, especially since I don't wanna change my user account or doing a refresh of the system. But nevertheless, the options above are listed just in case.

Answer 2

My Solution

After trying steps 1-4 of @fleet-command (which are what one finds elsewhereon the internet) to no avail, I found another version of #5: Windows 10 Repair Upgrade.

A repair upgrade is the process of installing Windows 10 over the existing installation of Windows 10 on your hard disk, using your installation DVD or ISO file. Performing this can repair broken operating system files while preserving your personal files, settings and installed applications. (answers.microsoft.com (same link as above))

From a bootable Windows 10 flash drive, I ran setup.exe and chose to save "Personal Data and Applications". After about an hour or "repairing" and "updating", the start menu re-appeared.

My Problem

In my case, I could not refresh due to the system being unable to find an "administrative account." The Windows 10 Repair Upgrade solution did not require me to burn another license of Windows 10, or reinstall any applications, or lose any data on the affected machines. It also fixed a simultaneous problem of being unable to login to any accounts (local or domain) besides the administrator account.

Answer 3

There's also a Start Menu troubleshooter put out by Microsoft.

You can find it by clicking the Try The Troubleshooter link about mid-way down this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12385/windows-10-troubleshoot-problems-opening-start-menu-cortana