This tutorial will show you how to restart the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process to restart the Start menu as needed for your account in Windows 11.
The Start menu is comprised of three sections: Pinned, All apps, and Recommended. The Start menu contains shortcuts of all your apps, settings, and files.
Microsoft separated the Start menu into its own process, called StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. This has a number of benefits, including simplifying debugging and insulating Start from potential issues impacting other surfaces.
This will allow you restart the Start menu as needed without having to restart the explorer.exe process.
Restarting the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process can be helpful if the Start menu will not open, frozen, or acting buggy.
- Option One: Restart StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process (Start menu) in Task Manager Processes tab
- Option Two: Restart StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process (Start menu) in Task Manager Details tab
- Option Three: Restart StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process (Start menu) in Command Prompt
- Option Four: Restart StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process (Start menu) in PowerShell
EXAMPLE: Start menu
1 Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
2 Click/tap on the Processes tab in Task Manager. (see screenshot below)
3 Select Start in the Name column, and click/tap on the End task button. (see screenshot below)
4 The Start process will now automatically stop and start to restart your Start menu.
5 You can now close Task Manager if you like.
If the Start process doesn't automatically restart, you can run the C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
file to restart it.
1 Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
2 Click/tap on the Details tab in Task Manager. (see screenshot below)
3 Select StartMenuExperienceHost.exe in the Name column, and click/tap on the End task button. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on End process to confirm. (see screenshot below)
5 The StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process will now automatically stop and start to restart your Start menu.
If the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process doesn't automatically restart, you can run the C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
file to restart it.
6 You can now close Task Manager if you like.
1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Command Prompt.
2 Copy and paste the command below into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
taskkill /f /im StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
3 The StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process will now automatically stop and start to restart your Start menu.
If the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process doesn't automatically restart, you can run the start C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
command to restart it.
4 You can now close Windows Terminal if you like.
1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Windows PowerShell.
2 Copy and paste the command below into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
Stop-Process -Name "StartMenuExperienceHost" -Force
3 The StartMenuExperienceHost.exe process will now automatically stop and start to restart your Start menu.
If the Stop-Process -Name "StartMenuExperienceHost" -Force process doesn't automatically restart, you can run the Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe"
command to restart it.
4 You can now close Windows Terminal if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink