Windows has introduced several new features and enhancements. One of the under-the-hood changes is the separation of the Start Menu from the Explorer process. It is now an independent process. This process can be seen in Task Manager as StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. If the Start Menu doesn’t respond, you can restart it. In this guide, we will share how to add or remove ‘Restart Start Menu‘ to Context Menu on Windows 11/10 Desktop.
The Windows Start Menu has a lot of features and options. A restart is always a solution if a problem appears.
Let’s assume that your Start Menu is not responding, or Start Menu is slow to open. At such moments, you can restart the Start Menu process or StartMenuExperienceHost.exe.
Microsoft has included or separated this process from others. This way, users will be able to restart the Start Menu separately without having to restart Explorer.exe.
By default, the StartMenuExperienceHost.exe is placed in the following folder on your system drive-
Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy
You can restart this process from the Task Manager. However, if you want to do it frequently due to a testing purpose or any other reason, the context menu option sounds better.
Add Restart Start Menu item to Context Menu
One needs to perform complex modifications to the registry, which we have mentioned towards the end of this post. To remove all the hassle, we will use a predefined registry file to add or remove the option. This will help you if the Start Menu starts performing abnormally.
1] Add ‘Restart Start Menu’ to Context Menu
- Download this REG file from our server.
- Double-click on the file and select Yes to the UAC or User Account Control prompt.
- Select Yes to the warning you get for adding an entry to the Registry value.
- Reboot your computer.
When you right-click on the Desktop, you will have the option of Restart Start menu.
Manual modification
You will have to create a .reg file. For that, open the Notepad or any other text editor on your PC and paste the following Registry code-
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\RestartStart] "icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\UNP\\UNPUX.dll,-101" "MUIVerb"="Restart Start menu" "Position"="Bottom" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\RestartStart\command] @=hex(2):63,00,6d,00,64,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2f,00,63,00,20,00,74,\ 00,61,00,73,00,6b,00,6b,00,69,00,6c,00,6c,00,20,00,2f,00,66,00,20,00,2f,00,\ 69,00,6d,00,20,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,72,00,74,00,4d,00,65,00,6e,00,75,00,45,\ 00,78,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,6e,00,63,00,65,00,48,00,6f,00,73,00,\ 74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,20,00,26,00,20,00,73,00,74,00,61,00,72,\ 00,74,00,20,00,43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,\ 5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,41,00,70,00,70,00,73,00,5c,00,4d,\ 00,69,00,63,00,72,00,6f,00,73,00,6f,00,66,00,74,00,2e,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,\ 64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,2e,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,72,00,74,00,4d,00,65,00,6e,\ 00,75,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,6e,00,63,00,65,00,48,00,\ 6f,00,73,00,74,00,5f,00,63,00,77,00,35,00,6e,00,31,00,68,00,32,00,74,00,78,\ 00,79,00,65,00,77,00,79,00,5c,00,53,00,74,00,61,00,72,00,74,00,4d,00,65,00,\ 6e,00,75,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,69,00,65,00,6e,00,63,00,65,00,48,\ 00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,00,00
Click the File option and select Save As.
Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+S buttons together.
Now, select a location where you want to save the file. After that, enter a name with .reg extension (e.g., mytest.reg). Select All Files from the Save as type drop-down list, and click the Save button.
Then, double-click on the .reg file. If the UAC prompt appears, click on the Yes button. Following that, click the Yes button again to confirm the addition. After doing the last step, you will see the Restart Start Menu option if you right-click on the desktop.
2] Remove ‘Restart Start Menu’ to Context Menu
- Download this REG file from our server.
- Run that file with a double click and select Yes to the UAC or User Account Control prompt that you get.
- Select Yes to the warning that you get.
- Reboot your computer.
The option in the context menu on Desktop would be gone by now.
Manual method
If you want to remove this option, follow these steps-
Open the Registry Editor and navigate to this path-
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\RestartStart
Right-click on RestartStart, select the Delete option, and confirm the change.
It was smart to separate Start Menu into a dedicated process. It will streamline the debugging process for the Start Menu, and any issues with it will not impact any other component.
