Windows 10: Start button not working & taskbar icons missing

So, my laptop Acer Aspire ES15 Windows 10, was working as normal on Tuesday morning.I clicked on switch user, while I went out for the day.On my return later that evening, I went to sign back in to my user account, but then found none of my tabs would load, as it was offline, so I tried to go into connection settings, but then the whole thing froze & I had to CTRL ALT DEL to give me options to log out & shut down. I then tried again, but still no joy after numerous re-starts, & eventually gave up, thinking it would have sorted itself after being off all night & possibly updat

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Taskbar not working


Hello, there are so many threads on this topic, which can readily be found using the white search box at the top.

Here are a few I've found for you. I suggest you work through these, and if no success, please list everything you've tried and post back. Good luck!

Solved Start Button and taskbar not working - Page 4 - Windows 10 Forums
Taskbar/Start button not working! - Page 15 - Windows 10 Forums
Start button right clicking on taskbar icons suddenly does not work - Windows 10 Forums

 

Start Button displaying but not working


The start button was working until there was a forced reboot (power failure). Then left click (normal click) over the start button does absolutely nothing. Right click brings up a menu but "programs" and also "settings" are missing and not included on this list. Search or Task View buttons do not work either with "normal" click. Does anyone have any suggestion or fixes?
Thank you in advance *Huh
Sue

 

Start button & right clicking on taskbar icons suddenly does not work


Hi! I'm having this same issue and I haven't found a solution. Still, would you care to try a few other things? They don't work for me, so I'm just curious if they work for you:

• Left-click on the date and time in your task bar. Does this open the calendar?
• Right-click on the icon in the tray (normally next to date and time) that looks like a square conversation baloon. It should open a menu "Open action center" and "Turn on quiet hours". Click on "Open action center". Does the action center open?
• On your keyboard press the [WinButton]+I (hopefully you have the windows button). Click "Personalization" on the screen that opens up. On the left menu click "Start", then click "Use Start full screen" once. Select another option on the left menu (no matter which), then go back to "Start". Did the system remember the change you made to "Use Start full screen"? (Toggling this is often offered as a fix to these issues, so if your system remembers the change, restart your computer, then try to use the start menu. You can always switch back to the way you prefer your start menu by repeating the steps here.)
• Right-click on any empty spot on your taskbar, then open "Search" submenu in the menu that pops up. Click "Show search icon". Does the search icon appear/disappear from your taskbar?
• Click on the search icon when (and if) it's in the taskbar (see previous point). Does anything happen?

By the way, when you right-click on your start menu button, the menu that opens was always there, you just probably never used it. (I too found out about it only when I started having these troubles.)