Cannot Type On Taskbar Search Bar In Win 11, Start Menu Closes When Trying Search

My search bar in Windows 11 will not accept any typing, it is like the search field does not exist. It does not have a cursor or anything. When I try to use the search in the Start Menu, it closes the Start Menu.

I have done the basic stuff like restarting explorer, hard reboot of PC, manually starting file explorer in task manager, rebuilding the search index. I have been through Services and cannot see anything not running or disabled. I ran the Windows Troubleshooter which of course never found anything because it never does.

I found some Powershell commands on Windows help forums and other fixes such as

I ran ctfmon.exe

I rand Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

I re-installed mxctfmonitor.xml

I also restarted BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer and the Windows Update Services. I use Start 11 from Stardock so I disabled that and it still changed nothing. I am at a loss. I cannot find any fixes beyond these.

Any ideas?

 

Have you tried sfc /scannow? Have you had any problematic Windows updates?

 

Here’s a simplified review of the problem and a few suggestions: It sounds like your Windows 11 search bar is broken and won't let you type anything, you've already tried some good steps, but here are a couple more things to try:

1. Restart Windows Search Service:
   • Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Windows Search.
   • Click on Restart under "Search Permissions".
2. Run System File Checker:
   • Open the Command Prompt as an administrator.
   • Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
   • This will check for and fix any corrupted system files that could be causing the issue.
3. Re-register Windows 11 Start Menu:
   • Open PowerShell as an administrator.
   • Run this command:
     Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}
   • This will re-register Start Menu apps and might fix the issue.
4. Check for Updates:
   • Sometimes Windows updates include fixes for bugs like this. Go to Settings > Windows Update and check if there are any updates available.
5. Create a New User Profile:
   • If the problem persists, try creating a new user account and see if the search bar works there. Sometimes a corrupted user profile can cause issues like this.
6. Check for Conflicting Software:
   • You mentioned using Start 11 from Stardock. Although you've disabled it, it's worth fully uninstalling it to rule out any interference.

If none of these work, the issue could be deeper, and a system restore or even a fresh install of Windows might be needed.

Let me know if you need more help with any of these steps!

 

That is one of the first things I did, no issues.

I have been having issues since the "big update" a few weeks ago. I just did a clean install a month ago because I lost video completely.

 

I did all of these except a new profile. You may be onto something because it keeps denying me Admin permissions at times.