Windows 10: My pinned item in my start menu won't open, and some are underlined and gray How do I fix this?

my start menu icons will not open and some are grayed out and underlined. How do I fix this?

:)

 

Items in Start Menu Apps List are Grayed-out

Many of the apps and folders in my Windows 10 Start Menu appear "grayed-out" and I don't know why (see screenshot below).





Some of the apps are from the Windows Store. When I open them, I sometimes (but not always) get an error message that says the app can't open (pictured below). Reinstalling the app from the Store usually fixes this issue. But this only happens with some
of the Windows Store apps. Sometimes, they are grayed-out and they open just fine.





Not all of the grayed-out apps are Windows Store apps. Some are just regular Windows programs (for example, "Access 2016" in the screenshot above). Also, some of the folders are grayed-out too (for example, "7-Zip" in the screenshot above).

The items that it chooses to gray-out seem to increase throughout the day. When I first boot the computer up, all of the items look normal. For example, this morning, after about an hour, half of the items were grayed-out.

I've tried the solutions
here and
here, but they didn't work for me. Most of the sites I've visited seem to be focused on fixing the Windows Store apps in particular, and don't address the broader issue of random items being grayed out.

Some sites suggested doing a Windows reinstall, but that seems like overkill (and it may not solve the root cause).

This occurs on all user accounts on my computer.

My computer is only a few months old and came with Windows 10 pre-installed.

This question has been cross-posted in the following locations:

• superuser.com
• Dell Community Support

Moved from: [Windows / Windows 10 / Desktop, Start, & personalization / PC]

 

Start Menu Apps are Grayed-out

Many of the apps and folders in my Windows 10 Start Menu appear "grayed-out" and I don't know why (see screenshot below).





Some of the apps are from the Windows Store. When I open them, I sometimes (but not always) get an error message that says the app can't open (pictured below). Reinstalling the app from the Store usually fixes this issue. But this only happens with some of the Windows Store apps. Sometimes, they are grayed-out and they open just fine.





Not all of the grayed-out apps are Windows Store apps. Some are just regular Windows programs (for example, "Access 2016" in the screenshot above). Also, some of the folders are grayed-out too (for example, "7-Zip" in the screenshot above). I can still click on them and launch them if they are grayed-out. They are just colored gray instead of the usual white.

The items that it chooses to gray-out seem to change randomly throughout the day. Everything is fine when I first turn on the computer, but they quickly start turning gray as the day goes by.

I've tried the solutions here and here, but they didn't work for me. Most of the sites I've visited seem to be focused on fixing the Windows Store apps in particular, and don't address the broader issue of random items being grayed out.

Some sites suggested doing a Windows reinstall, but that seems like overkill (and it may not solve the root cause).

I tried updating my video card drivers, but that had no effect.

My computer is only a few months old and came with Windows 10 pre-installed.

I'm running Windows 10 Pro version 1703 (OS Build 15063.540)

This question has been cross-posted in the following locations:

• Microsoft Community forum
  
• Dell Community Support
  

 

Unable to removed pinned item from start menu

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

How exactly you’re trying to remove pinned tiles from start menu?

I understand that you are unable to remove the pinned item from the Start menu.

Please follow the steps below to remove pinned item from the Start Menu:

• Click on the Start menu.
• Click on Expand Start menu.
• Right Click on the pinned item and select Unpin from Start menu

If you are still facing issues while removing the site, please share a screenshot of the issue, so that we can further assist you.

Please follow the steps below to take a screenshot and to upload with your reply:

• Find Print screen Key on your keyboard.
  
• To Capture Screen Image, press the Print Screen (PrtScn) key once, your screen will be captured and stored in clipboard.
• Now open any image editing application in Windows like Microsoft Paint and then press Ctrl + V key to paste the taken Screenshot of the Image on Paint and then save it by pressing Ctrl + S button.
• After you have saved the file, click on Reply button.
• Click on insert Image option and select the image file that you have saved.
• Now click Submit.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.

Thanks.