When Windows 10 was launched last year in July, I was one of the early adopters and when I had started using Windows 10, I faced an error where my computer won’t let me open the Start Menu by giving me an error which said “Critical Error/Your Start Menu isn’t working. We’ll try to fix it the next time you sign in.” or “Critical Error/Start menu and Cortana aren’t working. We’ll try to fix it the next time you sign in.”. At that time, I wasn’t aware of what could be done regarding this error, but I dug out some things that I could do. If you are facing a similar problem on your Windows 10 computer still, here are two suggestions that you can follow to solve this error on your computer.
While you’re at it, if you manage to fix the Cortana issue on your computer, you might want to check out a few cool things that you can do with Cortana on Windows 10. Also, make sure you go through the Ultimate Tips and Tricks for Windows 10 article that lists the best tips and tricks for Windows 10 users.
Fix Start Menu Error caused by your Antivirus
There are a lot of third-party antivirus applications available in the market today for your Windows 10 computer. One of the popular Antivirus applications that a lot of people use is called Avast Antivirus, which is known to cause conflicts with the Start Menu in Windows 10. If you are using Avast Antivirus, I’d recommend you to update to the latest version of the application because the problem for the Start Menu has been fixed in the latest version. If you are using a different antivirus, Uninstall that Antivirus and then check if you face that error. Uninstalling third-party antivirus application is known to solve this issue of Start Menu crashing and Cortana not working properly in Windows 10.
If this version does not fix the problem for you, the next thing that you can try is fixing it via Windows, though that will be a temporary solution.
Fix Start Menu Error Temporarily
If it’s not your Antivirus application that is causing the Start Menu to fail, there is a temporary workaround that you can perform to solve the problem. Microsoft is aware of this issue and they will release a fix in a later build.
Before you begin solving this issue, make sure you’re running on the latest Windows 10 build on your computer. It is version 1511, which you can check by opening your computer’s settings and the going into System -> About. You should see your version number there. If it is older than version 1511, firstly update to the latest version.
Now, to solve the problem, follow the following steps to solve your problem. This should fix the problem for the time being.
- Open the Start Menu on your computer while keeping the Shift Key pressed. (I know it sounds absurd to open the Start Menu, but when you hold the Shift Key, you might be able to open it in a few tries!)
- Click on Power while keeping the Shift Key pressed and then finally click on Restart, all this while holding the Shift Key on your keyboard.
- This will boot you into the Windows Recovery Environment, where you should select Troubleshooting, then Advance Options, then Startup Settings, and finally Restart.
- When it restarts, you will be presented with a few options on the screen. Press 5 or F5 on your keyboard to enter into the Safe Mode with Networking.
- Once you are booted into Safe Mode, log into your account and simply restart the computer. This will restart you into the Normal Mode, where the Start Menu should work.
- Note that at a later stage, the problem with the Start Menu might return and you’ll have to follow this workaround again to get it to work again.
Well, I hope one of these two methods were able to solve the Windows 10 Start Menu error on your computer. If you face any more difficulties with Windows 10, do let me know in the comments section below and I’ll try my level best to solve them for you to whatever extent I can. Also, be sure to share this guide with your friends or family who might be looking for such a solution for their Start Menu problem in Windows 10.
