Windows Start menu or taskbar not responding: restart it

Steps

1. 01

   Open Task Manager — it works when nothing else does

   • Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. It opens even when the taskbar ignores every click

   Why?

   The Start menu and the taskbar are drawn by the Windows shell, not by Windows itself. The rest of the PC is almost always running normally underneath.

2. 02

   Restart the shell

   • In the Processes list find 'Windows Explorer', right-click it and choose Restart
   • The desktop and taskbar vanish for a second or two and rebuild themselves

   ✓You should see: The taskbar redraws and Start opens on the first click. This alone fixes most cases.

   !Careful: Choose Restart, never End task. Ending it closes your desktop and leaves you with no taskbar and no obvious way back — you would have to start explorer.exe again by hand from Run new task.

3. 03

   If it hangs again within minutes, get a fresh session

   • Sign out and back in rather than restarting the whole machine

   Why?

   Signing out rebuilds the shell from scratch against your profile and is quicker than a full restart. A shell that dies again within minutes is a sign the fault is deeper than one hung process — keep going.

4. 04

   Repair the system files, in Microsoft's order

   • Install any pending Windows updates and restart first — Microsoft asks for that before either command
   • Open an elevated prompt: type 'command prompt' in the taskbar search box, right-click Command Prompt in the results and choose Run as administrator (with the taskbar dead,use Task Manager›Run new task, type cmd and tick the administrative-privileges box)
   • Run DISM first: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth — note the space before each slash, and wait for 'The operation completed successfully'
   • Then run: sfc /scannow — note the space after sfc — and let it reach 'Verification 100% complete'

   ✓You should see: DISM reports success and sfc completes its verification pass.

   Why?

   Microsoft's documented order is DISM before sfc: DISM repairs the component store that sfc draws its replacement files from, so running sfc first can fail for want of a clean source. A damaged shell file is a common result of a failed update.

   Also see: Repair corrupted system files

5. 05

   Work out whether it's Windows or just your profile

   Windows 11

   • Windows 11: Settings → Accounts → Other users → Add account → "I don't have this person's sign-in information" → "Add a user without a Microsoft account"

   Windows 10

   • Windows 10: Settings → Accounts → Family & other users → Add someone else to this PC, then the same two choices

   • Microsoft's corrupted-profile guidance is to make the new account an administrator, then sign into it and test Start there
   • If Start works in the new account, move your files across by copying the contents of C:\Users\<old username> into C:\Users\<new username>

   ✓You should see: Start and the taskbar behave normally in the new account — which tells you the fault is your old profile, not Windows.

   !Careful: Don't delete the old profile until everything is copied out and checked: deleting a profile takes its data with it. Microsoft also says not to turn on showing hidden or protected operating-system files while copying, and warns some apps will need reconfiguring or reinstalling under the new account.