Can't type in search bar Windows 10

Anonymous

After I updated to Windows 10 the search box on the taskbar was working.

A few days later I discovered that I couldn't search anything from this box.

If you have fixed this or know how to fix please share your knowledge as I rely on the search box.

-AnonymousFellow

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

Hello guys and search for a solution for this problem and its was the simple of things.

I don´t know why it works but try it and tell if it works for you guys too.

Press Win + R (to open Run )
copy paste and press enter to run this program. "C:\Windows\system32\ctfmon.exe". it brings back the language bar and for me it allowed me to type in windows search, start menu and WINDOWS 10 apps again

I think it is due to missing Language bar or some think like that.

But when you restart it may stopped working again, just create a task to run this program every time you start the windows and your good to go.

Best regards.

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Anonymous

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you are having a tough time working on the computer.

I will certainly help you to resolve the issue.

Do you receive any error code/message?
Is there are any update pending or failed to install?

If any of these functions like Start Menu, Settings, Search, Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Action Center and other Windows components are not responding, follow these below methods and check if it helps:

Method 1:

Press Windows + X keys on the keyboard, select Command prompt (admin).
Enter the below commands one by one and hit Enter key. PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
It will open the PowerShell window.
Now enter the below command and hit Enter key. Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like "*SystemApps*"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

If the issue still persist, follow the below method.

Method 2:

Open the Task manager. Here’s a tip: Press CTRL+Shift+ESC.
Click File > Run New Task
Make sure you have a check mark beside “Create this task with administrative privileges”
Type Powershell
Type the following in the Powershell prompt:

$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest

Close the Powershell window
Reboot the computer and check if it helps.

Hope it helps.

Let us know the status, we are glad to assist you further.

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Anonymous

you must type in cmd the next command:

REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /v ctfmon /t REG_SZ /d CTFMON.EXE

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443 additional answers

Anonymous

2017-03-11T13:08:01+00:00

Hi,

We appreciate all the information you've provided. Just to ask, does your Windows Firewall is turned on? Search window and Cortana need it to be enabled on the computer.

Let us know if you need further assistance.
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Anonymous

2017-03-10T23:05:35+00:00
After reading through all posts up to March 10 2017, having tried most suggestions , nothing has yet solved the problem.

The main Cortana "ask me a question" search bar will not work.

Symptoms seem to vary across different people's experiences so it would appear there may be several different issues. In my own situation;
- The search bars in other applications all work as expected This includes Edge, Sticky notes, Explorer, IE and non MS apps.
- Cortana will (sometimes) respond to "Hey Cortana" and will search as I would expect.
- the search bar will work for a few seconds following a Windows restart.
- The start search bar will accept and search on text that is copied and pasted in.
- the search will accept one letter, the window then turns white and then closes, sometimes, for a very brief moment, displaying initial search results for that single letter
- A string of text typed in from a (UK) keyboard will be accepted if the first character is not a letter or a number between 1 and 9 i.e. the 1st character is 0`¦¬!"£$%^&*()_+{[}]<>:;@'~#€?/|\
- The same is true for characters entered using the software (on-screen) keyboard.
- Alt+0 to Alt+9 (☺☻♥♦♣♠•◘○) and alt+000 (all numeric keypad) have no effect and seem not to be recognised, but all Alt codes displaying a space, letter or number cause the results box to close., ........
AT THIS POINT I THINK SOMETHING HAS CHANGED: After trying many different Alt codes, it now seems that the search will accept numbers 5 or 9 as the first character of a string. Entering random ALT codes seems to have made a difference! - Nothing else has changed.
- Alt+10 to Alt+13 (◙♂♀♪) turn the results window white but closes if another alpha-numeric is entered.
- For Alt+14 to Alt+31 (♫☼►◄↕‼¶§▬↨↑↓→←∟↔▲▼ !"#$%&'()*+,-./0) the search box displays an open rectangle for most non-keyboard characters . This box is also duplicated in the top search box and then disappears when an alpha character is typed. Many (not all) non-keyboard characters are ignored as a search character so this seems to effect a workaround. I have tried many other 2,3 and 4 number Alt codes and anything that is not alphanumeric, space, 1-4 or 6-8 seem to cause the search window to open then close or close on the next character typed. Some characters are included in the search string, others are accepted but ignored. Some are not accepted at all.
- Although typing ALT+22 (say) before each search seems to make things work, it is not very satisfactory there must be a proper fix for this as my Win10 laptop is fine.
Thanks.
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