Start Menu Tiles going dark on Windows 10

Sometimes, for no reason, the Start menu tiles in Windows 10 goes dark and shows a semi-transparent background. This behavior becomes visible when you hover your mouse cursor over a tile. It can also occur randomly. You can try the following troubleshooting steps to fix the problem in Windows 10.

Start Menu Tiles going dark on Windows 10

Initially, many users thought it was just a bug that would get fixed when reported. However, the issue continues to persist. Here’s what you can do!

1. Unpin and repin Tile.
2. Restart the Start Menu process.
3. Update Graphics Drivers.
4. Reset the concerned Windows app.
5. Run the DISM Tool.

The tile icons can also appear blurry or pixelated, if not entirely dark.

1] Unpin and repin the tile

In most cases, the simplest solution that seems to work is Unpinning and repining the tile. Click on the tile that appears dark or blurry, right-click it, and select ‘Unpin from Start’ option.

Next, type the tile name in the search bar and when the tile shows up, right-click it and select ‘Pin to Start’.

This should fix the problem. If it doesn’t move to the next solution.

2] Restart Start Menu process

Now, there is a separate process available for Start Menu — StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. If the above solution does not yield the desired results, you can try restarting the Start Menu process to see if it fixes the problem.

3] Update Graphics Drivers

Right-click on your Desktop and select ‘Intel Graphics Settings’.

Next, click the 3D icon to enter ‘Global Settings’.

In the right pane, under ‘Application optimal mode’ heading, click the ‘Disable’ link to disable the application optimal mode.

Next, run Intel’s Driver Update Utility and check if there are any new graphics drivers available. Update them, if necessary.

If your system uses AMD, you can use AMD Driver AutoDetect.

4] Reset the concerned Windows app.

You can Reset the Windows Store app through Settings.

5] Run DISM Tool

If there are any corruption problems related to the Windows app, the DISM tool can help fix it.

That’s all there to it!