Categories: Windows 11 & Windows 10

SOLVED: Fix Windows 10 Start Button Does Nothing in 10 Minutes

UPDATE: June 21, 2016 – Microsoft has released a free repair tool for the Windows 10 START menu.  You can read very brief explanation and download it here.

UPDATE: Jan 19 2018 – If your issue is that typing searches into the START menu is very slow or sluggish, the easy solution is HERE.

If you have been through the typical fixes for the annoying problem of having your Windows 10 Start Button not working, then this is the page for you.  In case you are just starting to work on this problem, you might be interested in our most popular page of 2015 which contains four very common fixes for this problem: “Windows 10 Start Menu and Modern Apps Do Not Function” .

This page explains a more complex, but certainly not difficult solution, to the Windows 10 Start Button does not function problem.  The premise is that your “Tile Data Layer” database is corrupt and so all you have to do is copy that database from another profile:

Step 1: Create New Profiles

  1. Login to windows (in your normal and broken Windows profile)
  2. Right-click the Start button, then Command Prompt (Admin)
    • If that fails try Press WINDOWS key + X Key and select Command Prompt (Admin)
  3. Enter the following commands (one at a time and press ENTER after each one) in the Command Prompt window
    .
    net user TempAdmin1 “password1” /add
    net user TempAdmin2″“password2” /add
    net localgroup administrators “TempAdmin2” /add
    .
  4. Sign out (you can try CNTL+ALT+DEL and select SIGN OUT if you are stuck)

STEP 2: Copy the TileDataLayer Database:

  1. Login to the TempAdmin1 account using password password1
  2. Logout (do not SWITCH USERS)
  3. Login to the TempAdmin2 account, using password2
  4. Click START and select File Explorer, click the VIEW tab (at the top of the screen), then check on Hidden Items
  5. Double click your way to  C:\Users\TempAdmin1\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer
    • Click CONTINUE when you see the security prompt
  6. Right-click the folder DATABASE and select COPY from the context menu
  7. Double click your way to (C:\Users\<YOUR USERNAME>\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer)
  8. Right-click the DATABASE folder and Rename to DATABASE.DelMe
  9. Right-click on an blank area in that folder, and select PASTE
  10. Reboot your Windows 10 PC and then sign into the user that had the problem

If your Windows 10 Start Button is working, you are done, otherwise proceed to step 3 below.

STEP 3: Reregister the AppPackages – NOT ALWAYS REQUIRED

There are reports from several people that the simply replacing the TileDataLayer Database did not resolve the Windows 10 Start Button not working problem.  If this is your situation, login as the user with the failing Windows 10 Start Button and run through the following process

  1. Press WINDOWS Key + R on your keyboard
    • if this does not work try CNTL+ALT+DEL and select START
  2. Type POWERSHELL and press Enter
  3. Right click on the PowerShell icon on the taskbar and select RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR
  4. Copy / Paste the following command in the Administrator: Windows PowerShell window and press Enter key:
    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
  5. Wait for PowerShell to execute and complete the command.
    • Ignore the errors in red color that may pop up.
  6. When it finishes (which will be a few minutes) try hitting START button and hopefully your Windows 10 START button will be working now

I certainly hope this fixes your problem like it has mine.  This is a giant pain in the butt that I have reported to Microsoft Partner Support and I hope the fix sooooooon!  Let me know how it works for you.

If you are still out of your mind trying to fix this, I think the only other solution I found that looked like it had promise (which I have NOT tested) is: http://webdevelopermeer.blogspot.de/2014/10/windows-81-apps-wont-open.html

I used several sources for this fix but the most notable is: http://forums.saliu.com/windows-10.htm THANKS Ion!

UPDATE Sept 25 2015:  I asked Microsoft Partner Support if they were aware of the issue and if there was an ETA for resolution.  They responded with:

…The solutions you have summarized are very useful. They will work for some machines. However, from my experience, the “start menu does not work” is a known issue, or may be a bug in Windows 10, which is actively under investigation. You can refer to the following post:

https://partnersupport.microsoft.com/en-us/mpnwinclient/forum/mpnwin-mpnwindows10pro/windows-10-update-not-working-cannot-get-to-update/dbc952d9-2748-4fc8-9e78-4f1a1e211f07

As I know, for now, there is no an exact solution for this issue…

View Comments

  • This is a really annoying problem. I have tryed every proposed fix, but nothing worked. The only thing that has been a temporal fix is to install classic start menu. This gave me start menu functionality back. This doesnt mean that my others taskbar problems went away: wireless networks dont show after clicking the icon on the taskbar and the edge icon is also gone... I have this issue on multiple machines , really frustrating!

  • Thanks for the details instructions.

    Only the copy database from a new user worked for me.
    BTW when doing the copy neither the Donor or the receiver account can be logged in.

    Trying a copy to a live user actually provoked the Windows button left click menu not showing fault on a previously working account :-)

  • Outstanding! My problem was no start menu, and most Windows 10 functions would not work or were invisible, and the Edge Icon was blank.

    This was my 8th attempted solution to fix this problem. Only thing is: you need to start task manager, click File then Run New Task to run Powershell as an admin. The regular run command no longer gives you that option.

    This problem occurred on Feb-15-2016 after an update. I've been cursing for almost a week. Microsoft's pages all point to solutions from pre-release versions utilizing features and tabs that no longer exist. I had to follow both steps before it worked. Once Powershell finished, everything was back.

    Thank You very much!

  • I found an easier way! No need to create a new profile.

    Open Task Manager. Right-click on Windows Explorer and choose End Task. Don't choose restart. The task bar will disappear.

    Next, I think I ended the Shell Experience Host task. It complained that it may make Windows unstable. I ignored that. It was either Shell Experience Host or Windows Shell Experience Host. Probably couldn't hurt to end both.

    Then, I went to File -> Run New Task in Task Manager and browsed to C:\users\\appdata\local\ and deleted the entire TileDataLayer folder.

    I then went to File -> Run New Task and typed explorer.exe

    Everything came back up and after a short while, the start menu started working again. The TileDataLayer folder was regenerated.

  • Had the same issue... If you see the red errors when running the powershell command then ensure Windows Firewall Service is not disabled... Set to Manual and ran the PS command... VOILA!
    Start and search both are working again.

    • "Had the same issue… If you see the red errors when running the powershell command then ensure Windows Firewall Service is not disabled… Set to Manual and ran the PS command… VOILA!
      Start and search both are working again."

      Can you explain this in detail please? I've tried everything so im very desperate.

  • I'm sorry to say the situation hasn't changed for me after trying all your suggestions, on this page and the other. I'm grateful for your assistance and obvious best intentions, and extremely disappointed at MS's inability to solve the issue.

    I can avoid the problem temporarily by reinstalling the Nvidia driver, but it only lasts until the next reboot. As a result, I must reinstall the graphic card driver every time I turn on the PC.

    • I have had such success with this process AND I have not seen the problem on ANY Win10 PC since Christmas 2015 so I thought the problem was resolved.

  • Ian,
    Thanks so much for the thorough coverage of t his topic...however, it is now 1/25/16 and MS has yet to find a fix for this issue. I tried all of your fixes but none of them have helped to fix my start button and apps problem. I'm also not able to connect to the partner support site to review that information.
    Any new info on this aggravating issue? Thanks very much.
    Lou
    lfonolleras@verizon.net

  • Thank you! Step 1 + 2 solved the issue for me. The only thing I changed was to add a space between the username and the password
    so I typed
    net user “TempAdmin1” “password1” /add
    net user “TempAdmin2” “password2” /add
    ...

  • I have tried all of the options mentioned and the only one that worked was step 3. So now I keep a stray user for the sole purpose of copying the Tile db. It's the quickest solution.

  • Tried the TileDatalayer method, including erasing the text files in Database before re-booting. Did not work.

    Tried re-registering all Windows App.Did not work.

    Tried System File Checker to look for corrupt files. Scannow process stuck only at 58% after an hour. Canceled process (may try longer next time).

    Even re-installed Windows 10. This is the most painful part. 6 hours. Worked the first time but back to the same problem the next day.

    Only thing that works is by creating a new account so far... let's see how long this last until the next Microsoft update ruins it. This is just awful.

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Published by
Ian Matthews
Tags: start buttonstart button not functioningStart Button not workingTileDataLayerwin10Windows 10 Start Button
9 years ago

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