Home windows Begin Menu Search Not Working? Right here Are 14 Fixes

The Home windows Begin Menu search was once easy. Issues obtained a bit messy in Home windows 10. Then Home windows 11 got here together with a refined interface and a strong search course of that integrates with Microsoft companies and might present you outcomes from OneDrive, Outlook, SharePoint, and others.
Though the Begin menu search is far more secure and fewer bloated, it might typically cease working. Listed here are some tricks to completely repair the Home windows Begin Menu not working.
Content material
- 1. Disable Processes by means of Job Supervisor
- 2. Reinstall the Begin Menu
- 3. Roll again the Home windows replace
- 4. Allow/disable background apps
- 5. Rebuild the search index
- 6. Run Home windows troubleshooter
- 7. Use the System File Checker (SFC)
- 8. Disable/restart third-party Antivirus or Home windows firewall
- 9. Transfer or rebuild the swapfile.sys
- 10. Restart the Home windows search service
- 11. Restart Home windows Cortana
- 12. Disable Home windows search integration with Microsoft Bing
- 13. Restore Home windows set up
- 14. Use “Every little thing” as a substitute
- Incessantly Requested Questions
Tip: Uninterested in seeing advertisements in Home windows? Learn to disable Microsoft advertisements in Home windows.
1. Disable Processes by means of Job Supervisor
It goes with out saying that the very first thing you need to strive is rebooting your PC. But when that fails, it’s price checking your Job Supervisor to see when you can restart the search course of in different methods.
- Proper-click on the “Begin Menu” and open “Job Supervisor.”
- Click on “Extra particulars” within the backside left nook to get the total view.

- Go to the “Processes” part, right-click on “Home windows Explorer,” and choose “Restart.”

Be aware: Have a second of panic because it seems to be for a second that your laptop may crash, then breathe a sigh of aid as you see that it’s nonetheless working and your Begin menu search button is hopefully fastened!
If that didn’t assist, you could possibly goal the search app particularly:

Examine if the Begin Menu search perform works now. If not, transfer on to the next fixes.
2. Reinstall the Begin Menu
There’s a solution to reinstall the Begin menu, which can even reinstall different Home windows apps you might have uninstalled. Don’t get stunned when you see a number of new apps after this.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Home windows Terminal (Admin).”

- Verify the UAC immediate by clicking “Sure.”

- As soon as in “PowerShell,” paste the next command and press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}

- Wait till it finishes, and reboot your laptop.

Examine if the Begin Menu search perform works now. If not, transfer on to the subsequent repair.
Discover out extra: in regards to the “You Don’t At the moment Have Permission to Entry This Folder” error in Home windows, and repair it.
3. Roll again the Home windows replace
It’s typically the case that the Begin menu search bar can cease working after a Home windows replace. Though some options can repair the problems with the brand new Home windows replace, if you wish to play issues secure, you need to undo the most recent replace you put in.
Right here’s roll again the Home windows replace:
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Settings.”

- Navigate to “Home windows Replace” and click on “Replace historical past.”

- Choose “Uninstall updates.”

- Choose the specified replace, and hit “Uninstall.”

4. Allow/disable background apps
Ever for the reason that Creator’s Replace again in 2017, there have been points affecting some Home windows customers involving background apps. Particularly, enabling or disabling some apps in Home windows might have unintended results on rendering the Begin menu search perform.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Settings.”

- Navigate to “Apps “and choose “Apps & options.”

- Discover the specified app from the checklist, click on the “Ellipses” icon, and hit “Superior choices.”

- Open the drop-down below “Background apps permission,” and choose the popular choice.

Tip: Taskbar icons lacking in Home windows? Right here the fixes.
5. Rebuild the search index
There’s a risk that the search indexing recordsdata in your Home windows have change into corrupted, due to this fact disabling the search perform. Some folks have reported this downside since Home windows 10 and the next as a doable answer.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Run.”

- Kind “Management” within the search bar and hit “OK.”

- As soon as the “Management Panel” opens, choose “Class” and alter it to “Giant icons.”

- Discover and open “Indexing Choices” from the checklist.

- Click on on “Superior” when the Indexing Choices seem.

- Choose “Rebuild” from the next window.

- Verify the method by hitting “OK.”

6. Run Home windows troubleshooter
The best answer is to make use of the instruments constructed into Home windows that can assist you out. Granted, that is removed from a one hundred pc answer, nevertheless it’s fast and value a shot.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Settings.”

- Navigate to “System” and choose “Troubleshoot.”

- Choose “Different troubleshooters” within the following window.

- Find “Search and Indexing” from the checklist and hit “Run.”

- Comply with the on-screen guideline to seek out and resolve doable indexing points.

Tip: When the Home windows troubleshooter isn’t working, be taught how one can troubleshoot it.
7. Use the System File Checker (SFC)
The System File Checker (SFC) is a built-in utility in Home windows gadgets able to scanning and restoring corrupted set up recordsdata.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Home windows Terminal (Admin).”

- Verify the UAC immediate by clicking “Sure.”

- As soon as in “PowerShell,” paste the next command and press Enter:

- Reboot your laptop when the method finishes.

Be aware: Working the SFC scan in Home windows Protected Mode might clear up the issue for you if doing it in common Home windows 10 fails.
8. Disable/restart third-party Antivirus or Home windows firewall
We’re not suggesting you disable and take away all third-party antivirus software program out of your gadget. Nevertheless, primarily based on suggestions right here and throughout the Web, particular packages trigger Home windows Search to malfunction.
Right here’s allow/disable the Home windows firewall:
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Run.”

- Kind “Management” within the search bar and hit “OK.”

- Open “System and Safety” on Management Panel.

- Choose “Home windows Defender Firewall” from the next window.

- From the left-side panel, choose “Flip Home windows Defender Firewall on or off.”

- Choose “Flip off Home windows Defender Firewall (not really useful)” below “Non-public community settings,” choose “Flip off Home windows Defender Firewall (not really useful)” below “Public community settings,” then choose “OK.”

Be aware: Home windows search and indexing are oddly delicate to your safety settings, so tinkering round with them could yield outcomes. Moreover, strive enabling/disabling your Antivirus software program utilizing this system’s assist pointers.
9. Transfer or rebuild the swapfile.sys
The Pagefile and Swapfile are two inextricably linked and important features of Home windows. Pagefile relieves the burden out of your RAM by allocating a specific amount of onerous drive area to perform as RAM. Swapfile performs the identical perform however particularly for contemporary Home windows apps, so it’s extra focused.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Settings.”

- Navigate to “System” and choose “About.”

- Click on “Superior system settings” from the next window.

- Go to the “Superior” tab, and hit “Settings” below “Efficiency.”

- Go to the “Superior” tab, and hit “Change.”

- Uncheck the choice for “Robotically handle paging file dimension for all drives,” choose the specified disk from the checklist, click on “Customized dimension,” enter the “Preliminary dimension (MB)” and “Most dimension (MB),” then choose “OK.”

10. Restart the Home windows search service
One more reason your Begin menu search could not work is that the Home windows Search service isn’t working. Home windows Search service is an inside service that runs robotically on the system startup.
Right here’s restart the Home windows search service:
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Run.”

- Kind
companies.msc
within the search bar and hit “OK.”

- Proper-click on “Home windows Search” from the checklist and hit “Restart.”

- Proper-click on “Home windows Search” as soon as extra and hit “Properties.”

- Whereas on the “Basic” tab, set the “Startup sort” to “Automated” or “Automated (Delayed Begin),” then hit “OK.”

Are you aware: There are a number of methods you possibly can carry out a search in Home windows.
11. Restart Home windows Cortana
Though Cortana is a strong voice assistant on Home windows 10 and 11, it integrates with the search perform and will typically trigger points.
Accordingly, you possibly can restart Cortana (and even disable it when you don’t use it typically) to make sure it doesn’t stand in the way in which of Home windows search.
- Proper-click on the “Begin Menu” and open “Job Supervisor.”

- Then click on “Extra particulars” within the backside left nook to get the total view.

- Go to the “Processes” tab, right-click on “Cortana,” and choose “Finish Job.”

12. Disable Home windows search integration with Microsoft Bing
Home windows 10 and 11 ship your search info to Microsoft servers, which return outcomes from Bing cloud search companies.
Nevertheless, if the cloud companies fail to reply, you possibly can repair the problems by disabling the mixing between Home windows Search and Microsoft Bing.
- Proper-click in your “Begin Menu” and open “Run.”

- Kind
regedit.exe
within the search bar and hit “OK.”

- As soon as the Registry Editor opens, go to the next tackle and double-click on “BingSearchEnabled:”
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSearch

- Change the parameters to “0” and click on “OK.”

- Reboot your laptop when the method finishes.

Tip: In the event you don’t like Bing, you too can stop all Home windows hyperlinks from opening in Edge and Bing.
13. Restore Home windows set up
Earlier than you begin worrying that this can delete all of your information and recordsdata, there’s a solution to refresh your Home windows set up whereas maintaining your very important information. It’s nonetheless a extra excessive measure than others on this checklist, so strive different options earlier than choosing this one.
- Create a bootable Home windows set up disk or USB, then launch it.
- Comply with the directions to improve your Home windows and guarantee to decide on “Maintain private recordsdata and apps” below “Change what to maintain.”

- Click on “Set up” and wait till the method finishes.

14. Use “Every little thing” as a substitute
The Every little thing app is a much more in-depth search choice than Home windows’ in-built choice. It indexes your drive quicker, its search technique works by eliminating and filtering search phrases as you sort, so that you’re actually ‘narrowing down’ your search, and it’s super-lightweight at 0.5MB, with a minimal interface that exhibits you every little thing you want.
Right here’s obtain and set up Every little thing on Home windows:
- Go to VoidTools and click on “Obtain Installer.”

- Set up the downloaded file and revel in.

In the event you nonetheless need assistance with the Home windows Begin Menu search, contact Microsoft’s official assist line for additional help.
Having issues with the Images app in Home windows 10? We are able to repair that, too. Or for one thing a bit extra cheery, take a look at our checklist of recent and retro Home windows 10 screensavers.
Incessantly Requested Questions
How do I repair the black Search bar on Home windows?
Proper-click on the “Begin Menu” and open “Job Supervisor.” Then click on “Extra particulars” within the backside left nook to get the total view. Go to the “Processes” tab, right-click on “Search,” and choose “Finish Job.” This may restart the Search bar and presumably repair your difficulty if it’s not one thing critical like lacking system recordsdata.
Why cannot I sort within the Home windows Search bar?
The typing difficulty typically surfaces attributable to corrupt system recordsdata, and one of the best ways to repair it’s to replace your OS. Excellent-click on the “Begin Menu” and open “Settings.” Navigate to “Home windows Replace” and set up the most recent updates.
How do I activate the Search perform within the Home windows Begin menu?
You may allow/disable gadgets in your Taskbar by means of its settings. Excellent-click on an empty a part of your Taskbar and choose “Taskbar Settings.” On the next window, activate the toggle subsequent to “Search.”