[Windows 10 Fix] Apps Icons are Missing in Start Menu after Installing Feature Update

Recently Microsoft released Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 which is a new feature update just like Creators Update, Anniversary Update, etc.

Many Windows 10 users, who installed or upgraded to this new feature update, are complaining about a weird issue. I have received a few emails from readers regarding similar issue:

The problem is as following:

After installing Fall Creators Update, many installed apps icons are missing from Start Menu. If the apps shortcuts were pinned to Taskbar, they are also missing after the upgrade. The apps also disappear from the installed apps list in Settings. If the user searches for the apps using Cortana search box, the apps don’t appear in the search result and Cortana suggests to install the apps from Windows Store. If the user tries to search for the apps in Store, it shows that the apps are already installed in the computer and the user is able to launch the apps using Store.

So basically the apps exist in the machine but they don’t appear in Start Menu, Taskbar, Cortana search results and installed apps list. The only way to access the apps is Store.

It seems a bug in the upgrade process of Fall Creators Update which makes the installed apps not working after the upgrade.

To fix the issue, you just need to register the apps again in your computer which will automatically add all missing apps to Start Menu, Taskbar and installed apps list. After registering, you’ll also be able to find those apps using Cortana search.

METHOD 1:

To register the apps, you’ll need to run a command in Powershell program. The steps are as following:

STEP 1:

First of all open Powershell as Administrator. You can access it using WIN+X menu. Press WIN+X keys together and select “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” option.

Alternatively, open Start Menu and type powershell. It’ll automatically start searching for the program and will show PowerShell in search results. Now press Ctrl+Shift+Enter keys together to launch PowerShell as Administrator. Or you can right-click on PowerShell entry and select “Run as Administrator” option.

STEP 2:

Now copy/paste following command in PowerShell window and press Enter key:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register “$($_.InstallLocation)appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode}

It’ll reinstall and re-register all default built-in apps in Windows 10.

Restart your computer and now you should be able to access all installed apps from Start Menu and Cortana search box.

METHOD 2:

If above mentioned method doesn’t work, you can try to first uninstall all apps and then reinstall the apps.

To uninstall all apps, run following command in Powershell as Administrator:

Get-AppxPackage | Remove-AppxPackage

After that reinstall all apps using the same command as mentioned in step 2 of method 1.

METHOD 3:

If everything fails, you can restore previous Windows 10 version in your computer to get your computer machine back to the state before the upgrade process.

To restore to previous Windows version, check out the steps given in following article:

How to Restore Previous Windows Version After Upgrading to Windows 10?

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