Solved Windows Search and Input fields issue

Hello, since the moment I've updated my Windows 10 into Windows 11 I am facing the same issue in regards to typing into Windows 11 input fields.
For example into "Search" of the Start Menu.



However the same applies for any similar field that has to do with Windows 11. I have tried pretty much everything there is on the net in regards to how I can fix the issue but unfortunately nothing worked so far.

Here are the steps I have followed and nothing worked:
1. I did reset the Windows Search service and set it to Automatic.
2. I did set to Automatic the Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel service as well as setting to 0 days the Reset fail counter.
3. I did use sfc/scannow command and windows returned no file issues whatsoever.
4. I did use the Troubleshooter -> Other troubleshooters -> Search and Indexing and returned no issues.
5. I did run the ResetWindowsSearch.zip but nothing changed.
6. I did run C:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe

I really don't know what more can be done, but this issue is very frustrating. However if I will copy something to clipboard and paste it into the field (with right click) it works fine.

I am running Windows 11 Version 21H2 (Build 22000.434)
Laptop Dell Inspiron 3593 fully updated.

Thank you in advance for any ideas / suggestions.

Hello @Cabal welcome to ElevenForum.

Are you saying you can't "manually type" into the search box?

@Ghot Thank you for the welcome.

Yes that's correct. I cannot manually type anything into the search box.

As I've mentioned I've really tried everything. But still nothing works.

Ghot said:

Hello @Cabal welcome to ElevenForum.

Are you saying you can't "manually type" into the search box?

Click to expand...

Thats what im wondering. I know for me what trips me, is when i open the start menu and click into the search box to type, mine switches to a second window and then i can type into it. I do not understand still why it does this but I thought maybe thats what he was referring to but lets wait to see his reply.

Cabal said:

@Ghot Thank you for the welcome.

Yes that's correct. I cannot manually type anything into the search box.

As I've mentioned I've really tried everything. But still nothing works.

Click to expand...

Are you using any 3rd party tweaks? Like those for the START menu or the Taskbar?

Nope nothing at all. That's the laptop I am using for work so I have nothing out of the ordinary installed.

Cabal said:

Nope nothing at all. That's the laptop I am using for work so I have nothing out of the ordinary installed.

Click to expand...

try these fixes once.
Windows 11 Start menu/ Search not working etc

I would also ask, are you up to date for Updates?

Well, you could try repairing Windows 11 with an In-Place upgrade.
Someone else may have an alternate solution, but I can't think of anything else...

Now if this is a "work" computer that was given to you... I would probably wait for other suggestions.
The company, may have altered something which is causing this.

Lastly, I'm not really a laptop person. It could possibly be some laptop "setting" that I am not familiar with.

An In-Place upgrade just "fixes" things in Windows that are broken, while leaving all non-Windows things untouched.
It's actually a pretty decent tool. On my computer it takes about 40 mins to run.

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

Here is the short version of the In-place upgrade tutorial...

DISABLE non-Microsoft:
a) antivirus software
b) firewall software
c) drive encryption software

Make a full OS backup with a program like Macrium Reflect (free)
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free

Go here and get the Windows 11 ISO (use the 3rd option), and save the ISO to your desktop.
Download Windows 11

Right click the ISO image and choose: MOUNT
Open File Explorer and you will see a new drive letter. It will "look" like a DVD optical drive.
Double click the new drive letter to open it.
Find setup.exe and double click it to start the in-place upgrade.

Choose the Keep personal files and apps option.

After it's all done... to UNmount the ISO image, right click the new drive letter and choose: EJECT.


The ONLY thing you will lose is some of your personalizations. Your programs and data will be intact.

Click to expand...

Let's try to summon a laptop person... @Fabler2

imanlien2020 said:

try these fixes once.
Windows 11 Start menu/ Search not working etc

I would also ask, are you up to date for Updates?

Click to expand...

I have the latest updates installed indeed. I have already tried most of the solutions provided in the article. I will do a quick skim in order to see if I missed any and try that.

Ghot said:

Well, you could try repairing Windows 11 with an In-Place upgrade.
Someone else may have an alternate solution, but I can't think of anything else...

Now if this is a "work" computer that was given to you... I would probably wait for other suggestions.
The company, may have altered something which is causing this.

Lastly, I'm not really a laptop person. It could possibly be some laptop "setting" that I am not familiar with.

An In-Place upgrade just "fixes" things in Windows that are broken, while leaving all non-Windows things untouched.
It's actually a pretty decent tool. On my computer it takes about 40 mins to run.

Click to expand...

The laptop was store bought by me, I just had to install everything related with the company. So there was no alteration whatsoever.
I will keep the In-Place upgrade as a last resort, in case nothing else will work.

Thank you both guys for your input. When I will have any update I will post it here.

UPDATE: Just for the shake of it. It seems that there was a new update from Dell today (BIOS and chipset), and now search works perfectly fine again. Not entirely sure if that was the case, or any of the other troubleshooting I've tried. But it seems a weird coincidence if it wasn't. All good now regardless.

I overcame my frozen text/data input box problem by running the SFC /SCANNOW command, which found and corrected corrupted Windows 11 module(s).
Unfortunately, SFC didn't fix the same problem on my Windows 10 PC. I then tried the DISM command but was not techie enough to get that done right. Maybe you can.
The PC is too old to be upgraded to Windows 11. Re-installing Win 10 with the Media Tool approach was my next attempt.
Unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem.
HOWEVER, I then did a RESET and reinstalled Windows 10 without saving files, settings and programs. That worked!
So, a non-destructive Windows reinstall is not a panacea after all. It just becomes one thing to try before throwing in the towel and resetting the PC completely! Surprising.