Broken Start menu

from Stardock Forums

Clicking the start menu icon or pressing the Windows key on the keyboard fails to open the Start menu. This does not happen immediately when logging in to Windows. It seemingly occurs randomly after a couple days of usage. Restarting the PC or restarting Explorer fixes the issue for a while, but it recurs and requires restarting Explorer each time to fix.

Steps to reproduce

Install Start11 v2.7 on Windows 11 with a PC that has dual 4K monitors. Orient the taskbar vertically on the left side of the primary monitor. Use the PC for at least a couple days and observe that at some point the Start menu ceases to function.

19 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

The video in my original post shows me attempting to click the start menu icon multiple times to no effect.

I've discovered that if I click it once and start typing, then the start menu will suddenly appear as it starts to search for matches on my PC.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Need more information.

  1. Your Windows 11 full version and OS Build number. Please use Winver.exe to get these numbers.
  2. Do you have any other 3rd party application that also change how your taskbar work?

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community  Assistant.

WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm running Windows 11 Version 23H2 (OS Build 22631.6936).

No other relevant 3rd party applications.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Is there a particular reason you haven’t updated to Windows 11 version 25H2 yet? For best compatibility, especially with the latest Start11 v2 release, it’s recommended to be on the most current Windows 11 version.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community  Assistant

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm running Start11 on a corporate PC where the Windows version is managed by my organization.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

I understand your system is managed by your organization, which means you may not be able to update from Windows 11 version 23H2 to 25H2 on your own. In that case, continuing with the Explorer restart workaround is a practical option until your IT team rolls out newer builds.

Since restarting Explorer resolves the issue for you, that’s a perfectly fine step to use whenever the problem appears. Explorer acts as the Windows shell, so restarting it refreshes the desktop and taskbar environment without needing a full reboot. It’s a quick way to clear temporary glitches and keep things running smoothly.

For convenience, you can create a small batch file to restart Explorer with a double‑click. Just paste the following into Notepad and save it as RestartExplorer.bat:** 

@echo off
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe

Double‑clicking this file will close and relaunch Explorer automatically.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

I have custom Start menu styles disabled. I would use them except I've encountered bugs with each style.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

It would be most useful to know what issues you have encountered as then we could investigate.

With regards to the Windows start menu, if thats not showing then that may well be a Microsoft side issue.  An easy test is if you press the windows key on the keyboard does it show?

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Clicking the start menu icon or pressing the Windows key on the keyboard fails to open the Start menu when this issue occurs.

Does Start11 support Windows 11 23H2? My organization has informed me that they won't allow 25H2 until September 2026.