Windows 10 Taskbar and Explorer.exe not functioning

Question

Hi everyone.

I would greatly appreciate some help by anyone who experienced the same issues. The taskbar at the bottom of the screen is there but most of its functions are not working. The Start Button, Cortana, Task View, Network, Sound, Date and Notifications DO NOT RESPOND, The application icons, the hidden icons arrow and the language bar work normally. This is extremely frustrating as 90% of what I want to do cannot be achieved. For example, I cannot open Settings!

I have also noticed that some keyboard shortcuts also do not work. For example the Windows key + X or I do not wok, although the Windows key + R shortcut does work. I spent the last 4 days researching on the internet but nothing helped. I've updated my Windows to the Nov.2021 version, updated all my drivers, and followed all the guidelines I could possibly find. I also tried these patches through PowerShell as Admin:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register"$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}

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DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

NOTHING WORKED. I tried to located the explorer.exe file but couldn't. I suspect that all these problems are related to this damn file. Please help, I'm almost ready to throw my HP PC out of the Window and delete the words MS Windows from my vocabulary.

Thanks!!

Pavlos

Answer 1

Hello PetarNik,

Good day! I'm John Dev a Windows user like you and I'll be happy to assist you today. I know this has been difficult for you, Rest assured, I'm going to do my best to help you. When was the last time it worked properly?

Please try the following methods below.

**Restart Windows Explorer

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.

Select the Processes tab.

Scroll down and look for Windows Explorer

Right click then select Restart.

**Check for updates

Press Windows key+R to open Run then type: ms-settings:

Select Update and Security. Select Check for updates. Install any available and pending updates and restart your device.

**Repair all Windows apps via PowerShell

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager then click File

Select "Run new task" then type: powershell

Make sure to put a check mark on the "Create this task with administrative privileges" box

Copy and paste the command below then press Enter.

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_. InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode}

Restart your computer

Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

Kind regards,

John DeV

Independent Advisor

Answer 2

Hello Pavlos,

You're welcome. I look forward to receiving your update.

Stay safe and have a great day.

Kind regards,

John DeV

Independent Advisor

Answer 3

Hey John, I followed all above steps, installed a fresh and updated version of Windows but nothing changed. The taskbar is 90% unresponsive. This means that I cannot have access to a lot of functions like the control panel and settings and even if I want to simply turn off my PC, I must use Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Please let me know what else I can do. This is really frustrating. Microsoft should have a standardized fix for this issue already.

Pavlos

Answer 4

Hello Pavlos,

Thank you for updating me with that information. I apologize that the above methods did not resolve the issue.

If the issue persists, Please try performing an In-place Upgrade. Performing this can repair broken operating system files while your personal files, settings and installed applications will not be removed.

Download the media creation tool(Click Download tool now) and save it to your computer.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

Open the tool and select Upgrade this PC now.

Make sure to select Keep personal files and apps.

It might take some time to install Windows 10. Your computer will restart a few times, Make sure you don’t turn off your PC

Kind regards,

John DeV

Independent Advisor

Answer 5

Hello John and thanks so much for replying.

1. I tried this several times and it didn't work.

**Restart Windows Explorer
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Select the Processes tab.
Scroll down and look for Windows Explorer
Right click then select Restart.

2. I've tried this and got this message: "ms-settings: File system error (-2144927439). What does it mean?

**Check for updates
Press Windows key+R to open Run then type: ms-settings:
Select Update and Security. Select Check for updates. Install any available and pending updates and restart your device.

3. I've tried this and restarted my PC. No change.

**Repair all Windows apps via PowerShell
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager then click File
Select "Run new task" then type: powershell
Make sure to put a check mark on the "Create this task with administrative privileges" box
Copy and paste the command below then press Enter.
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -register "$($_. InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode}

Please take a minute and let me know what you think. It seems to me that the root of my problems is the explorer.exe file because during these days that I'm trying to work around the problem I got error messages about it.

Many thanks!!

Pavlos