Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10

Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10: Recently, users are facing a problem where some programs are not clickable in search results of Windows 10, so when a user search for something, for example, cmd in the Start Menu search, the result would be displayed but it wouldn’t be clickable, all you would see is the option of pin to start if you right-click on it and that’s a very annoying issue. Now if you select the option, pin to start it would just put a blank tile to the start menu and this tile will also be not clickable similar to the search result.

Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10

Some programs will be clickable in the search result while others won’t respond to the click. In some cases, this problem seems to be only with Windows Settings, which means if you search for a particular Settings in Start Menu search, for example, let’s say you search for WiFi then you wouldn’t be able to click on Change Wi-Fi settings search result from the Taskbar. Even using arrow keys and pressing Enter on the search result won’t open the particular program or settings.

There is no particular cause to the problem but things like indexing option, region & language settings, Cortana & Search settings seems to be altogether causing the problem. Few users were also facing this issue because of corrupted Windows files or corrupted local account, so as you see there is no single cause of this problem so we have to try all possible solutions in order to fix this issue. So without wasting any time let’s see how to actually Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10 with the below-listed troubleshooting steps.

Note: This problem might be temporary so restart your PC and see if your search results are working fine but if the problem still persists then continue with this guide.

Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Restart Windows Search service

1.Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter.

services windows

2.Find Windows Search service then right-click on it and select Properties.

right click on Windows Search and select Properties

3.Make sure to set the Startup type to Automatic and click Run if the service is not running.

4.Click Apply followed by OK.

5.Reboot your PC to save changes.

Method 2: Run Search and Indexing Troubleshooter

1.Press Windows Key + X and click on Control Panel.

control panel

2.Search Troubleshoot and click on Troubleshooting.

troubleshooting hardware and sound device

3.Next, click on View all in the left pane.

4.Click and run the Troubleshooter for Search and Indexng.

Select Search and Indexing option from Troubleshooting options

5.The Troubleshooter may be able to Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10.

Method 3: Run Windows 10 Start Menu Troubleshooter

Microsoft has released official Windows 10 Start Menu Troubleshooter which promises to fix various issues related to it including searching or indexing.

1.Download and run Start Menu Troubleshooter.

2.Double click on the downloaded file and then click Next.

Start Menu Troubleshooter

3.Let it find and automatically Fix Search results not clickable issue in Windows 10.

Method 4: Rebuild Windows Search Index

1.Press Windows Key + X then select Control Panel.

control panel

2.Type index in the Control Panel search and click Indexing Options.

click on Indexing options in Control Panel search

3.If you can’t search for it then open control panel then select Small icons from the View by drop-down.

4.Now you will Indexing Option, just click on it to open settings.

Indexing Options in Control Panel

5.Click the Advanced button in the bottom in the Indexing Options window.

Click Advanced button in the bottom of Indexing Options window

6.Switch to File Types tab and check mark “Index Properties and File Contents” under How should this file be indexed.

Check mark option Index Properties and File Contents under How should this file be indexed

7.Then click OK and again open the Advanced Options window.

8.Then in Index Settings tab and click Rebuild under Troubleshooting.

Click Rebuild under Troubleshooting in order delete and rebuild the index database

9.Indexing will take some time, but once it’s complete you shouldn’t have any further problems with Search results in Windows 10.

Method 5: Increase Paging File Size

1.Press Windows Key + R then type sysdm.cpl and hit Enter.

2.Switch to Advanced Tab in System Properties and then click Settings under Performance.

advanced system settings

3.Now again navigate to the Advanced tab in the Performance Options window and click Change under Virtual memory.

virtual memory

4.Make sure to uncheck  “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.

5.Then select the radio button which says Custom size and set the initial size to 1500 to 3000 and maximum to at least 5000 (Both of these depends on the size of your hard disk).

set the initial size of Virtual Memory to 1500 to 3000 and maximum to at least 5000

6.Click Set Button and then click OK.

7.Click Apply followed by OK.

8.Reboot your PC to save changes and see if you’re able to Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10.

Method 6: Re-register Cortana

1.Search Powershell and then right-click on it and select Run as Administrator.

powershell right click run as administrator

2.If the search is not working then press Windows Key + R then type the following and hit Enter:

C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0

3.Right-click on powershell.exe and select Run as Administrator.

right click on powershell.exe and select Run as administrator

4.Type the following command in powershell and hit Enter:

Get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.Cortana | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

Re-register Cortana in Windows 10 using PowerShell

5.Wait for the above command to finish and reboot your PC to save changes.

6.See if re-registering Cortana will Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10 issue.

Method 7: Registry Fix

1.Press Ctrl + Shift + Right-click on an empty part of Taskbar and select Exit Explorer.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Right-click on an empty part of Taskbar and select Exit Explorer

2.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to Registry Editor.

Run command regedit

3.Navigate to the following Registry Key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{ef87b4cb-f2ce-4785-8658-4ca6c63e38c6}\TopViews\{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

4.Now right-click on {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} and select Delete.

Registry hack in order to Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10

5.Start the explorer.exe from Task Manager.

6.Reboot your PC to save changes.

Method 8: Set Correct Language Settings

1.Press Windows Key + I to open Settings then click on Time & Language.

Time & Language

2.Now from the left-hand menu click on Region & Language.

3.Under Languages set your desired language as default, if your language is not available then click Add Language.

Select Region & language then under Languages click Add a language

4.Search for your desired language in the list and click on it in order to add it to the list.

Select your desired language from the list and click on it

5.Click on the newly selected locale and select Options.

Click on the newly selected locale and select Options

6.Under Download language pack, Handwriting, and Speech click Download one by one.

Under Download language pack, Handwriting, and Speech click Download one by one

7.Once the above downloads are complete, go back and click on this language then select the option Set as Default.

Click on Set as default under your desired language pack

8.Reboot your PC to save changes.

9.Now again go back to Region & Language settings and make sure under Country or region the country selected corresponds with the Windows display language set in the Language settings.

Make sure the country selected corresponds with the Windows display language

10.Now again go back to Time & Language settings then click Speech from the left-hand menu.

11.Check the Speech-language settings, and make sure it corresponds with the language you select under Region & Language.

make sure the speech language corresponds with the language you select under Region & Language.

12.Also tick mark “Recognize non-native accents for this language.

13.Reboot your PC to save changes.

Most of the type configuring the above settings seems to Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10 issue but if you are still stuck on the same problem then continue with the next method.

Method 9: Run DISM to fix corrupt Windows files

1.Open Command Prompt using the above method.

2.Enter the following command in cmd and hit enter:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

cmd restore health system

2.Press enter to run the above command and wait for the process to complete, usually, it takes 15-20 minutes.

NOTE: If the above command doesn't work then try on the below: 
Dism /Image:C:\offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows /LimitAccess

Note: Replace the C:\RepairSource\Windows with the location of your repair source (Windows Installation or Recovery Disc).

3.After the DISM process if complete, type the following in the cmd and hit Enter: sfc /scannow

4.Let System File Checker run and once it’s complete, restart your PC.

Method 10: Create a New Administrator User Account

1.Press Windows Key + I to open Settings and then click Accounts.

From Windows Settings select Account

2.Click on Family & other people tab in the left-hand menu and click Add someone else to this PC under Other people.

Family & other people then click Add someone else to this PC

3.Click I don’t have this person’s sign-in information in the bottom.

Click I don’t have this person’s sign-in information

4.Select Add a user without a Microsoft account in the bottom.

Select Add a user without a Microsoft account

5.Now type the username and password for the new account and click Next.

Now type the username and password for the new account and click Next

6.Once the account is created you will be taken back to Accounts screen, from there click on Change account type.

Change account type

7.When the pop-up window appears, change the Account type to Administrator and click OK.

change the Account type to Administrator and click OK.

8.Now sign in to the above-created administrator account and navigate to the following path:

C:\Users\Your_Old_User_Account\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy

Note: Make sure show hidden file and folder’s is enabled before you can navigate to the above folder.

9.Delete or rename the folder Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy.

Delete or rename the folder Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy

10.Reboot your PC and sign-in to the old user account which was facing the problem.

11.Open PowerShell and type the following command and hit Enter:

Add-AppxPackage -Path “C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register

re register cortana

12.Now restart your PC and this will definitely fix the search results issue, once and for all.

Method 11: Repair Install Windows 10

This method is the last resort because if nothing works out then this method will surely repair all problems with your PC and will Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10. Repair Install just uses an in-place upgrade to repair issues with the system without deleting user data present on the system. So follow this article to see How to Repair Install Windows 10 Easily.

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That’s it you have successfully Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10 but if you still have any questions regarding this guide then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

1 thought on “Fix Search results not clickable in Windows 10”

  1. My solution or fix was to Exit or kill Explorer.exe and then restart it from task manager. I cannot actually do the Registry or other fixes as this is an office PC where I don’t have admin rights, I just need it to work. It is also too much to ask IT to deal with every time.

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