Windows 10: Search box locked throughout Windows

This concerns the following system:

Dell Precision T1700 Xeon E3-1220 3.10 GHz 32 GB RAM

Windows 10 Pro Version 1909 Build 18363.535 installed on 12/22/2019


The problem is that the search box is not accepting typed input in various places in the Windows 10 Pro OS: e.g. on the left of the taskbar, throughout Settings. Textboxes in other apps work properly. E.g. Notepad works. Filename field in Save As dialog box accepts typed input everywhere. It's just that the Windows search boxes do not accept input.

Tried the following:

sfc found no errors

dism restore completed successfully

search and indexing troubleshooter found no errors

chkdsk /F found and fixed one error successfully


Ending the Cortana task in the Task Manager had no effect

Got a "blue screen" SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION just prior to this problem appearing, which I photographed with my smartphone. Another side-effect was that the Windows Audio service would not start because of an access denied error, so sound currently on the PC. Added permissions to the registry key for the service. Changed the service login account from Local Service to Local System. That allowed the audio service to start but it didn't fix the problem.

In other respects, Windows is working properly. What can I do to fix these problems?

:)

 

search box

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

I appreciate your interest in Windows 10.We sincerely regret for the inconvenience caused.

I suggest you to follow the below steps and check if are able to find search box.

• 
  Right click on the task bar.
  
• 
  Go to Cortana.
  
• 
  Click on show search box.
  

Now check if you are able to find search box.

Please let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

 

Windows 10 Search box

Which instructions are you suggesting I missed? There is no search icon. Right clicking the taskbar shows no search option. The "small characters" or icons trick did nothing. The regedit thing:
Follow these steps to turn on the hidden search box:

• Open regedit
• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search
• Inside the search key, create the new DWORD value named EnableSearchBox and set it to 1
• Restart your computer or simply Explorer Shell

Did not give me a search option that I can find.

So in at least MY version of windows 10 there is no search box I can find that will allow me to search my own computer to find possible misplaced files.

So what are the instructions?

 

Search box

Hi,

To start troubleshooting your issue, follow the steps below:

• Right-click on the taskbar.
• Select Cortana.
• Click Show search box.

Let us know how it goes.