It appears that Microsoft has once again shipped rogue Windows 11 updates, with reports suggesting that the two most recent cumulative updates are causing serious problems with the Start menu.
The updates in question are KB5015882 and KB5015814, and it appears they have introduced a bug that causes the Start menu to disappear when you click to open it.
This is a pretty major issue considering the importance of the Start menu in Windows 11, and it’s an unwelcome reminder of the dark days of Windows 10 updates, where for a while Microsoft was releasing updates that seemed to cause more problems than they fixed.
Fortunately, Windows 11 updates are much more reliable, but we’d hate to see Microsoft revert to its old ways.
As Windows latest reports (opens in new tab)Microsoft has at least recognized that there is a problem (opens in new tab), posting that “We have received reports that a small number of devices may not be able to open the Start menu. On affected devices, clicking or selecting the Start button or using the Windows key on the keyboard may have no effect.”
This is a good sign as it shows that Microsoft is aware of the issue and is actively working on a fix.
If you have a device with this issue, please wait, as Microsoft has released an emergency server-side update that should fix the issue automatically – but this can take up to 24 hours to reach your device.
If you can’t wait that long, you can download Windows 11 21H2 KB5014668 220721_04201 Known issue rollback (opens in new tab) (the link downloads directly from the Microsoft website), which will roll back the update to fix the problem.
Microsoft also suggests restarting your device, which can help you get the emergency fix faster.
While we commend Microsoft for their quick response to this, let’s hope this broken update is just an unfortunate one and not a hint of more Windows 11 issues to come.
