Windows 10: Start menu and Edge disappearing

The mid October I went to click on the tray icon for Edge and it disappeared (leaving a blank location). The next time I clicked on the start menu icon it paused then popped up with the "Critical Error_ Your start menu isn't working. We'll try to fix it the next time you sign in.".


I tried the solution from 2016 where you log into safe mode and then restart into normal mode, but that didn't work any of the 3 times I tried it. I tried several of the other methods to no avail. For edge, the tray icon is still blank; trying to access it through the bing link does nothing, and it doesn't show up on the app list or in my programs anywhere. It will not let me reinstall it either from what I have found (tried online and through powershell).

sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth either did not start or didn't return anything being wrong. I rolled back the last update as well but that didn't fix it either. I'd rather not refresh the system and reinstall all the other apps if I didn't have to. Antivirus and malware software are not coming up with anything either. Any help would be appreciated.

:)

 

Edge disappeared and start menu not working on Windows 10

Hello Richard,

We need to do further investigation on your concern so that we can isolate the issue regarding Microsoft Edge and Start menu:

• Have you tried to searching in Cortana search to check if Edge can be located?
• Besides powershell, what other troubleshooting steps have you performed?

In the meantime, you can download and run the
Windows apps troubleshooter to isolate the issue on Edge.

We also suggest that you download and run the
Start Menu troubleshooter to fix common Start menu issues.

We will wait for your response.

Regards.

 

Start menu disappeared

I tried all the suggested steps without any improvement. What's next?

 

start menu and Windows key stopped working and Edge disappeared

About two weeks after installing Windows 10 (migrating for 8.1) the start menu and Windows key stopped working and Edge disappeared form the task bar. I ran SFC/scannow, it found corrupt files but was not able to fix some. Any other suggestions?