Windows 10: Windows Explorer Issues - Black background/screen, app icons not loading, start menu...

We recently updated from windows 10 to windows 11. There are almost hourly issues of explorer.exe related items crashing/not working including the screensaver going black, the start menu not working, all of the app icons on the start bar and screen not loading at all, or loading incorrectly and not being able to click on the buttons. Restarting the computer helps or going into task manager and restarting explorer.exe but its getting pretty old doing this 4-5 times daily.I have checked for updates, my drivers are up to date.

:)

 

Start menu icons background edit

I'm trying to make the start menu look more or less color-consistent, but some apps in the list stand out and create contrast. Is there a way to edit the icon background to make it the same blue as the rest in the list? I know how to change the shortcut icon but couldn't find the ones with an identical blue background.

 

missing icons in start menu

Hi Wickiwizard,

It is possible that the icon of your apps in Start menu is missing due to a corrupted system files. To provide you the accurate resolution, kindly answer the following questions:

• Have you made any recent changes prior to this issue?
• Does this happen only with icons in Start menu?
• What troubleshooting steps you've done so far?

Meanwhile, we suggest that you perform the steps in this
article on how to troubleshoot problems with Start menu or Cortana.

If the issue still persists, we recommend that you follow the suggestion shared by
Meliton Dec on this thread.
The given troubleshooting steps will help repair or reset not only missing apps but also lost icon.

Keep us posted if you need additional help.

 

Start menu default internet acces icon screwed?

You generally set that via the Start Menu settings (right-click start menu -> properties).

I had that issues a while ago, and it meant removing it from the Start Menu, and reinstalling my browser to get the icon back, it was very odd.