This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hello,
Since yesterday my Windows 11 Start Button is no longer working.
It animates when I click it, but nothing else happens, also, my taskbar keeps switching on and off.
I don't know whether that is relevant or has anything to do with the problem, but two days ago I had Windows updates two days on the trot.
I have tried a number of recommended solutions, like commands in Pwoer shell, sfc /scannow, the DISM commands, updating my graphics drivcer, registry hacks, tried to re-install Windows but gave up when I saw I couldn't keep my files.
In short, none of the above have worked.
The thing is, some things I cannot do, like check my updates etc., as some Windows key commands don't work, eg. Windows + I.
Has anyone got any further advice for me, please?
Thank you very much in advance.
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.
I have the same problem and when I suddenly checked the notification(in the right-bottom corner), I saw a notification from Armoury Crate: The windows key is disable. Press the Fn+ Windows key to enable it. You can also enable it through Armoury Crate :v
We solved the issue on our virtual machines using the following workaround recommendation from Microsoft proposed by Citrix:
Edit below registry
Key: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi
Value Name: UviProcessExcludes
Type: REG_SZ
Source: Start menu may stop responding if KB5048685 installed on Windows 11 22H2/23H2 VDA
I'm having the same problem too. I can get to my settings but I can't seem to find a way to get the button to work again. Typical of Microsoft, it seems, these days. Grrrr....
I tried everything suggested and just had to reinstall. Very bad that Microsoft cannot make a simple system that works, rather than trying to ad, ad more useless sections/apps whatever.
I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I figured out what was causing my issues a few hours ago. I cleaned dusted the inside of my machine a couple of weeks ago and also replaced the thermal paste on my CPU, which is something I do every 1-2 years. It had been about 18 mos. since I built this machine so it was time. Anyway, apparently I knocked a SATA cable off one of my HDDs while I was doing all the maintenance. Then, when I did the most recent update, my problems began. I went back into the machine this afternoon and found the dangling SATA cable. I plugged it back in, put it all back together, and started the machine up. That's all it took. It's back to 100% now.
Point being is that, very often, the problems and their causes don't make any outward sense. Who would have thought an unplugged SATA cable would cause Taskbar and/or Activation issues? Then again, anyone who's been working with PCs for any amount of time would know that it can seem like the problems are almost always caused by random, seemingly unrelated, things.
Hopefully, this will help others who find themselves having "weird" issues.
