Windows explorer doesn't load properly after (re)starting the computer

I have a desktop system I use for Blue Iris and IP cameras. Overall, it runs very well but it has hard to diagnose issues when first starting up.

When Windows 11 starts up initially most of the time Windows explorer fails to load. Usually, the taskbar fails to load at all (just an empty/blank area at the bottom of the screen). Desktop icons display properly. The fix is to ctrl+shift+esc, force close explorer.exe and restart it.

Or, if the taskbar does load, the initial start menu works showing the pinned apps menu, but nothing past that works. If I try to search for an app to open it just gets stuck searching and never finishes. Eventually, after like 15-20 minutes, everything finally loads/searches without issue.

Once the computer is up and running everything else works fine. I have 16 cameras recording continuously without issue. I've tried reformatting my computer several times, but it's always the same. Looking at task manager it looks like I usually have 20% CPU and 45% memory utilization.

I listed my system specs in my profile.

Thank you

Welcome to the forum. One of the following suggestions should fix it.

1. If you have installed ANY third party app that alters the GUI, uninstall it.

2. Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some software conflicting with Windows. Brink's procedure will help you weed out which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

3. Make sure you have no corrupt system files that is causing this problem. Open a command prompt as administrator and type sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair. If it found corruption it could not fix followup with this command (note the spaces)
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Restart computer

4. Repair Install Windows 11 Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

glasskuter said:

1. If you have installed ANY third party app that alters the GUI, uninstall it.

Click to expand...

Ha! You might have hit the nail on the head on the first try. I hated W11 combing taskbar icons, no labels and at least used to StartAllBack to fix it..I think I deleted it after it wanted money but maybe it's still screwing things up.

Thank you for all the other suggestions, all look very helpful in tracking down the issue.