Microsoft confirms the existence of an issue in Windows 10 and 11 where the start menu and search function may not work in some cases. There is no definitive fix yet, but the company does have a workaround.
Microsoft confirms on a support page that a problem started a week ago for some users. This issue occurs in Windows 10 and 11 versions 22H2 and 21H2, and in Windows 10 version 20H2. Many users are complaining that after those recent updates their start menus are not working anymore. The search function linked to Start will also not work properly. In addition, UWP apps would not work properly and sometimes not even open at all.
According to Microsoft, the cause of the problem is a broken registry key for the Office API. This would cause problems with Microsoft services such as Office or Outlook that are linked to the start menu. The company says it is still investigating exactly what the problem is.
In any case, it would not have been caused by recent updates to Windows. Certainly over the past year, Microsoft has often received criticism that security updates released during Patch Tuesday led to problems in the operating system. The company believes that the problem is now caused by an update of other software, but does not say which it would be.
Microsoft therefore recommends that users and administrators uninstall apps that work with Windows, Office, Outlook or Integrate calendar. In addition, administrators can look at the specific apps they use to see if the developers have released an update themselves. Among others, the company references ClickShare, which has already released its own fix for the issue.
