Fix: StartMenuExperienceHost.exe Crash (Start Menu Not Working)

In this article, we will see how to fix the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe crash that makes some user profiles unable to open the Start Menu and its possible causes.

This issue seems related to Microsoft and happens when the User Shell Registry is modified by a Windows update or a third-party app that uses the Microsoft Outlook API.

To fix the Start Menu not working, we need to make changes in the registry and run a command in PowerShell:

1. Enter Registry Editor on Windows Search and click on Open:
   
2. On the Registry Editor, navigate to the following path:
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
3. Right-click on the User Shell Folders key and click on Permissions:
   
4. On Permission for User Shell Folders, click on the Advanced button:
   
5. Check the box “Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object”:
   
6. Click on the Enable Inheritance button, then click on Apply and OK:
   
7. Now enter Windows PowerShell on Windows Search and click on Open.
8. On Windows PowerShell, run the following script:
   if (-not (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin)) { Add-AppxPackage -Register “$env:windir\SystemApps\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown } Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin
   
9. Restart your PC.

If this doesn’t work, try the next solution.

(If you dislike the Windows 11 Start Menu, read my article on how to bring back Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows 11.)

How to Fix StartMenuExperienceHost.exe Crash with a PowerShell Script

This solution is provided by the company Barco since many Barco Clickshare users had this issue. While they identified this issue as caused by Microsoft, they provided the fix below to recover the Start Menu:

1. After logging in to the user profile with the Start Menu issue, enter Check for updates on Windows Search and click Open:
   
2. Make sure that Windows is updated with the latest version:
   
3. Also, make sure your Microsoft Office is updated to the latest version by opening any Office app and going to File > Account. Look for Office Updates:
   
4. Now download this PowerShell script hosted on the Barco website, and save it on the Downloads folder of your PC:
   
5. Enter Windows PowerShell on Windows Search and click on Open.
6. Now run the following command on PowerShell to run the script you downloaded:
   PS C:\Users\user\Downloads> .\RecoveryStartMenu.ps1
   
   (This command will not work if you don’t save the RecoveryStartMenu script in the Downloads folder.)
7. Restart your PC.

If this also didn’t work, it might be that your Start Menu is corrupted. In this case, follow the solutions below.

Repair the Start Menu by Repairing Corrupt Files

If none of the previous solutions worked, try to run the DISM and sfc/ scannow commands in the Command Prompt to repair corrupted system files and fix your Start Menu.

Follow the steps below:

1. Enter Command Prompt on Windows Search and click on Run as Administrator:
   
2. Click Yes to allow Windows to make changes to this device.
3. In the Command Prompt, run the command below:
   DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
   
   (When running this command and the commands below you might need to wait a few minutes between running each of them)
4. After that, run the command:
   DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth
5. And then run the command:
   DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /StartComponentCleanup
6. Finally, run the sfc/ scannow command:
   sfc /scannow
   
7. Reboot your PC.

(To learn how to change your Start Menu search engine and browser, I’ve written an article on it.)

Re-register the Start Menu to Fix the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe Crash

Re-registering means reinstalling the Start Menu, this will naturally replace any corrupted installation files so it can fix Start Menu issues. You can try this so your weather app displays correctly on Start Menu. Here is how to do it:

1. Enter Windows PowerShell on Windows Search and click on Run as Administrator:
   
2. On Windows PowerShell, run the command below:
   Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

   (If you see an error message when running this command, make sure to open the Task Manager and end the Windows Shell Experience Host process.)
3. Reboot your PC.

Conclusion

The reason the StartMenuExperience.Host crashes and your Start Menu not working are likely due to Microsoft Outlook API modifying the user shell registry.

To fix your Start Menu, navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders in the Registry Editor, and edit the permission of the User Shell Folders key to Enable Inheritance as explained at the beginning of this article.

Other solutions include:

• Trying to run the script provided by Barco.
• Running the DISM and sfc /scannow commands.
• Re-registering your Start Menu.

If your folders and files are not refreshing automatically, I’ve written an article on how to fix it.