The Windows 10 Start menu works without any issues most of the time. That said, at times, the Start menu might refuse to open or close immediately after the launch.
During the initial days of Windows 10, Microsoft had released an official Start menu troubleshooter to fix Start menu issues. For some reason, Microsoft has pulled that troubleshooter and is no longer available.
As the official Start menu troubleshooter is no longer available, you are on your own if you encounter issues with the Start. If you have issues with the Start menu in Windows 10, you should try restarting the Start menu first before attempting other solutions.
Since many Windows 10 users not sure how to restart the Start menu, in this guide, we will see the ways out there to restart the Start menu in Windows 10.
Method 1 of 2
Restart the Start menu in Windows 10
This method is applicable only to 1903 and later versions of Windows 10.
Step 1: Right-click on an empty spot on the taskbar and then click the Task Manager option to open the same. Alternatively, you can use Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open the Task Manager.
Step 2: If the Task Manager opens with fewer details, click the More details option to open the full version of the Task Manager.
Step 3: Under the Processes tab, look for an entry called Start. Right-click on it and then click End process option to close the Start process. Windows 10 will automatically start the Start process again. This will restart the Start menu.
Method 2 of 2
Another way to restart Windows 10 Start menu
Step 1: Open any folder located anywhere on your PC. This will start the File Explorer process.
Step 2: Open the Task Manager. Under the Processes tab, right-click on the Windows Explorer entry and then click the Restart option restart the File Explorer as well as the Start menu.
Method 3 of 3
Yet another way to restart the Start menu
Step 1: Under the Processes tab of Task Manager, right-click on the Windows Explorer entry and then click the End process option to close the File Explorer as well the Start menu.
The taskbar and File Explorer will disappear for now.
Step 2: Click the File menu of the Task Manager, click the Run new task option, type Explorer.exe and then hit the Enter key to start the Windows Explorer process. This will start the Start menu as well as the taskbar.
Our fix to File Explorer icon missing from Start menu guide might also interest you.