I'm using Windows 11 on an Acer Nitro 5 that's about two years old. Since switching off Bluetooth while watching YouTube, the network panel, widgets, clock/calendar, and Start menu have started closing almost immediately after I open them. Start sometimes stays open long enough to click one item, but then disappears. The rest of the computer seems to work normally, and I haven't installed anything recently. Restarting the computer didn't help, and Windows Update only worked briefly before the problem returned. I found suggestions involving PowerShell, but I can't open it through the Start menu, and the usual Windows-key shortcuts don't seem to work either. What can I try before considering a full reset or reinstall?
4 Answers
If Explorer keeps crashing, check whether a newly installed shell extension or graphics-related utility is causing it. You can boot into Safe Mode from the recovery menu and see whether the taskbar works there. If it does, remove recently added utilities or roll back the display driver. Back up important files before making larger recovery or reinstall decisions.
This sounds like a problem with the Windows shell rather than the whole taskbar hardware. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer, right-click it, and choose Restart. If that doesn’t help, use Task Manager’s Run new task option to launch PowerShell or Command Prompt and run the system file checker with `sfc /scannow`. You can also run `DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth` if SFC reports problems.
You may be able to repair the Windows shell from an elevated terminal even when Start is broken. In Task Manager, choose Run new task, enter `cmd`, check the option to create the task with administrator privileges, and run `sfc /scannow`. Restart afterward. If the issue began immediately after an update, you can also use Windows Recovery Options to uninstall the latest quality update instead of doing a factory reset.
Try System Restore before wiping anything. Open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc, select Run new task, type `rstrui.exe`, and choose a restore point from before the issue started. This normally keeps personal files, though it can remove recently installed apps or updates, so review the affected programs before confirming.
I hadn’t realized Task Manager could be used to launch programs directly. I’ll try restarting Explorer first and then run the repair commands if it comes back.