Windows 10: In Windows 11, opening existing files from a start menu causes them to open behind other...

On my Windows 11 PC, opening existing image or text files from a start menu search causes them to open behind other windows. The problem doesn't occur with MS Office docs, only existing files opened by Photos or Notepad. I also tested an mp3 opened with media player, and it opens normally in front of other windows. It may affect other programs, but none that I've tested so far. If I changed the file association to a 3rd party image or text editing program, the problem no longer occurs either.So this problem only occurs when opening existing files from a start menu search with Photos or Notepad

:)

 

Windows 10 Start Menu won't open.

Hi Dougie,

Corrupted system files could be one of the reason why Start Menu is not opening.

As an initial troubleshooting, we suggest following the steps listed in this article:
Troubleshoot problems with the Start menu or Cortana
see if it helps resolve the issue.

Update us with the outcome so we can provide further assistance.

 

Windows 11 Start Menu won't correctly open files

Regarding the first symptom of the original poster, I'm experiencing a problem with opening Office files from search, but in a slightly different way. Office documents like Word and Excel will open from the start menu but are constantly prompting me to pick a program to open them with. Someone else reported this particular issue here: "How to open this file" prompt after searching for Excel files - Microsoft Community.

Here are the steps to reproduce the problem from that thread:

1. Press Windows Key
   
2. Start typing the name of a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file.
   
3. Press enter to open the file.
   
4. Receive "How do you want to open this file?" question. (Selecting Always Use this App To Open checkbox is ignored for future attempts.)
   
5. Click Ok
   
6. File opens.
   

Since I also use Notepad++, I tested if it would open in Notepad or Notepad++ when I searched for a text document from the start menu and found the following behavior:

Open through File Explorer: No problem - opens in Notepad++ as configured and desired.

Open through Start Search: Ignores the system setting to open in Notepad++. It opens in Notepad instead.

This matches the experience of the second symptom of the original poster.

The problem happens on both of my Windows 11 computers, logged in through an Office 365 E3 licensed account. One of the computers was freshly installed from scratch a few days ago.

So it seems that the cause of this problem is that files opened from the Start menu are ignoring the system setting for which app to launch that file type. Any ideas on how to fix it?

 

Windows 11 Start Menu won't correctly open files

I have a relatively new (week-old) Windows 11 installation where I can't correctly open programs from the Start menu.



There are two distinct symptoms.



One is that files simply don't open.

• If I search for an Excel file ("MyReport", for example) I'll see "MyReport.xlsx" in the results. When I click on it, nothing happens -- the Start menu closes and the file does not open. If I open the path where the file was found in File Exporer, I can double-click on the file and open it with Excel with no issue.
  
• If I paste the full file name (including path) into the start menu, the start menu closes and the file doesn't open.
  

The other symptom is that files open with the incorrect association.

• I use Notepad++ for .TXT (and many other) file extensions. If I double-click on a *.TXT file in File Explorer, it opens in Notepad++ as I expect.
  
• If search for a *.tXT file in Start Menu, then try to open it, it opens with Notepad, not Notepad++.
  
• If I examine the settings for file extensions and their associations, I see that .XLSX files are correctly associated with Excel and .TXT files are correctly associated with Notepad++.
  

Rebuilding the search index completely didn't help.



Restarting the machine hasn't helped.



On my laptop, start menu works as I expect and these files open correctly.



Why isn't Start Menu working as I expect? How can I fix it?

Moderator note:: Moved from File, Folders and Storage