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Can't click on Windows 10 start menu: "Critical Error: Your Start menu isn't working. We'll try to fix it the next time you sign in."

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When I click on the Start menu, this message shows up. Clicking "Sign out now" does not fix it.

I do not want to reinstall my Windows 10. I have already reinstalled it 3x in the past 4 months. It begins working great until the first damn Windows Update, after which things start breaking again.


I have already tried a few solutions that I found on the internet, though I have forgotten most of them. I will make a list here and I will be editing the post whenever I try something new.

Thank you for your help. I can provide more information about my pc if needed.

What I have already tried so far:

  • Starting Windows in Safe Mode with Networking and opening the Start Menu.

    • The start menu simply doesn't open, but the blue message does not appear. Does not fix it.

  • Running on an elevated command prompt the following commands:

    • DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

      • Sometimes it finishes loading, sometimes it gets stuck forever. Does not fix it.

    • sfc /scannow

      • Finishes loading every time, though the message changes each time. Sometimes I get the "no errors found", sometimes the "errors found and fixed" and most of the times "errors found and unable to fix all of them". Does not fix it.

    • I've done both multiple times, one after the other, in different sequences too. Does not fix it. What I've noticed is that DISM tends to get stuck (not always) if I run sfc first.

  • Running on an Administrator Powershell the following command:

    • Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

      • Does not run. PowerShell gives me this back: Image

Hello Sem,

Good day! I'm John DeV a Windows user like you and I'll be happy to assist you today. I know this has been difficult for you, Rest assured, I'm going to do my best to help you. When was the last time it worked properly? What is your current Windows operating system and version? Press Windows key+R to open Run then type: winver

Please try the following methods below.

**Restart Windows Explorer

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Select the Processes tab.
Scroll down and look for Windows Explorer
Right click then select Restart.

**Repair the Start Menu via PowerShell
Press Windows key+X then select PowerShell(Admin)
Copy and paste the command below then press Enter.

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode}

Restart your computer

**Please try creating a new local administrator account via command prompt then check if the issue still persists.

Press Windows key+R to open Run then type: cmd
Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to Run as administrator
At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

net user USER_NAME PASSWORD /add

In the above command make sure to change USER_NAME and PASSWORD with the credentials you want to use for the new user account.

For example: net user John 1234 /add

After that, Please type the following command to add the newly created account to the Administrators group and press Enter:

net localgroup administrators USER_ACCOUNT /add

For example: net localgroup administrators John /add

Sign-out then login with the new administrator account.

Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.


Kind regards,

John DeV
Independent Advisor
I hope you can respond to me within two days, I would appreciate it. This will allow me to see and be notified of your response.

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Relevant reddit thread with more options to solve this issue. Personally I solved it doing a Win10 "repair upgrade", but the guy in the reddit thread has some other approaches. He was even able to restore his old tile layout. Worth a look.

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Last updated March 13, 2025 Views 17,635 Applies to: