Microsoft Confirms Widespread Issues Crippling Windows 11 Core Features: Start Menu, Taskbar, and Explorer Affected

Recent weeks have presented a challenging landscape for Microsoft, marked by a series of technical setbacks. Following a Microsoft 365 outage that rendered files temporarily unusable and Nvidia pinning recent gaming performance dips on a Patch Tuesday update, the tech giant is now confronting a more fundamental problem within its flagship operating system.

In a significant admission, Microsoft has acknowledged severe issues impacting nearly every major Windows 11 core feature. This candid revelation comes after growing user frustration and a recent backlash regarding the OS’s evolution into an “agentic” system.

Understanding the Core Problem: XAML Component Failures

The root of these widespread Windows 11 bugs lies within the XAML component, which is critical for rendering graphical user interface elements. This impacts vital Shell components that users interact with daily, including:

• Start Menu
• Taskbar
• File Explorer
• Windows Settings

Interestingly, while Microsoft is only now publicly acknowledging the problem in November 2025, evidence suggests these issues have been present since the July 2025 Patch Tuesday update (KB5062553). This means users have been grappling with these critical Windows 11 issues for approximately four months. Furthermore, since Windows 11 25H2 shares its codebase with version 24H2, the newest feature update is also affected.

Impact on Provisioning and Enterprise Environments

According to Microsoft’s support article, the problems manifest “After provisioning a PC with a Windows 11, version 24H2 monthly cumulative update released on or after July 2025 (KB5062553).” Provisioning refers to the automated process administrators use to configure devices by deploying various settings and policies. The issues are particularly noticeable in two scenarios:

• First-time user logon after a cumulative update is applied.
• All user logons to non-persistent OS installations, such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), where application packages are reinstalled with each logon.

Given the vast number of enterprise PCs running Windows, this VDI bug and provisioning error poses a significant challenge for IT departments globally.

The Technical Culprit: Specific Package Updates

Microsoft has identified the XAML component and specific package updates as the triggers for these observed problems. These include:

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

Observable Symptoms and Failures

Users might experience a range of symptoms, from on-screen error messages to silent failures. The documented problems include:

• Explorer.exe crash
• shelhost.exe crash
• Issues with StartMenuExperienceHost
• System Settings silently failing to launch
• Application crashes when initializing XAML views
• Explorer running but no taskbar window
• Other XAML island views failing to initialize
• ImmersiveShell related problems

Temporary Workarounds Provided by Microsoft

While Microsoft works on a permanent solution, they have released a couple of temporary Windows 11 fixes to mitigate the impact:

1. Restarting the Shell Infrastructure Host (SIHost.exe) Service

This method helps restore missing Immersive Shell packages. Users can execute the following commands in PowerShell:

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

2. PowerShell Logon Script for Explorer Delay

Microsoft also provides a PowerShell logon script designed to prevent Explorer from launching prematurely until the necessary packages are fully provisioned. The batch script for this workaround is:

@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"

For complete details and the latest updates, users and IT professionals are encouraged to refer to the official Microsoft support article under KB5072911 on Microsoft’s official website.