Microsoft confirms Windows 11 24H2 bug that crashes the Start Menu, File Explorer and more

Microsoft has acknowledged a serious issue with Windows 11 24H2 which it says can cause “multiple symptoms”. The problem has been around for a number of months now, and occurs when provisioning systems with cumulative updates released from July 2025.

The list of potential issues caused by the bug includes problems with File Explorer, the Setting apps, the Start menu, the Taskbar and more besides. While it is good that Microsoft has now confirmed that it is aware of the issues that have been affecting people for so long, the company is yet to come up with a proper fix – only a workaround.

In a support document about the KB5072911 update, Microsoft says: “After provisioning a PC with a Windows 11, version 24H2 monthly cumulative update released on or after July 2025 (KB5062553), various apps such as StartMenuExperiencehost, Search, SystemSettings, Taskbar or Explorer might experience difficulties”.

The company says that the problems can occur the first a time a user logs on after a cumulative update was applied, or when any user logs on to a non-persistent OS installation such as a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or equivalent as application packages must be installed each logon in such scenarios.

Microsoft shares a very long list of common symptoms that may be experienced by users:

These issues typically occur after updates to built-in dependency packages hosting XAML components, such as the following: 

• MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy
• Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe
• MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy

Shell components 
These shell components may fail and report an on-screen error or silently fail to execute such as the following: 

• Explorer.exe
• shelhost.exe
• StartMenuExperienceHost
• Application crashes when initializing the XAML views
• Explorer running but no taskbar window.
• other XAML island views fail to initialize.
• ImmersiveShell

Other symptoms
Other symptoms include but are not limited to the following: 

• Explorer crashes
• The Start menu fails to launch, often displaying a critical error message
• System Settings. Start > Settings > System silently fails to launch
• ShellHost.exe crashes
• Application crashes when initializing XAML views
• Explorer running but no taskbar window
• other XAML island views fail to initialize

Microsoft has determined the cause of the problems, even though it has not yet been able to provide a fix. The company explains that all of the application in the list “have dependency on XAML packages that are not registering in time after installing the update”.

For anyone affected by the problem, the company has a manual workaround:

Manual registration of the missing packages 

Register the missing packages in the user session and restart SiHost to allow Immersive Shell and related components to pick them up. To do this, run the following commands to register each of the missing packages:

Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode 

Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode 

Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode 

Run this sample PowerShell script on non-persistent OS installations

For non-persistent environments, a logon script approach remains the best option. Create a batch file wrapper to execute synchronously before Explorer launches.

Note This approach ensures the script runs synchronously, effectively blocking explorer.exe from launching prematurely until the required packages are fully provisioned.

@echo off
REM Register MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS 

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode" 

REM Register Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS 

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode" 

REM Register MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core 

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode" 

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