Windows 10 Start Menu or Search Bar is stopped responding

Summary: Windows 10 Start Menu or Search bar is stopped responding on the screen or locked from use.

Resolution

Manually powering off the computer and restarting the computer may resolve the issue, but important information and data mat be lost.

Use Windows Powershell to resolve.

This Powershell command resets the Start Menu Button/Search Function and restores their function:

1. Open Task Manager (Press Ctrl + Shift+ Esc keys together) this will open a Task Manager window.
2. In the Task Manager window, click File, then New Task (Run) or press the Alt key then down arrow to New Task (Run) on the drop-down menu, then press the Enter key.
3. Check the option to “Create this task with Administrator Privileges” then type powershell and press the Enter key.
4. In the powershell window, type the following command to reset Cortana:
   Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
   Then press the Enter key.
5. Disregard the red text that is generated by the command and once the command has completed its run, restart the computer.
6. If the issue still is not resolved, you can use this DISM command in Powershell:
   Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth 
   Then press the Enter key.