One of the great features of Windows 10 is its search bar which is located on the lower left side of the screen. Just type anything in it and it will show you the results of the best possible matches. You can search for a specific file in your computer or for an application. There are however instances when this feature will fail to work properly. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the windows 10 can’t type in search issue.
How To Fix Windows 10 Can’t Type In Search Issue
Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and remove any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.
There are several factors that can cause this particular problem ranging from an issue with a process to an unresponsive Cortana service. Listed below are the troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix the problem.
Run ctfmon.exe
Ctfmon is a process that runs in the background and monitors the active program in case the program needs support for speech recognition, handwriting recognition, or other alternative user input services. Make sure that this process is running as it is required by the search bar.
- Hold Windows key and press R
- Type C:\Windows\system32\ctfmon.exe and press Enter
Check if the Windows 10 can’t type in search issue still occurs.
If you keep on performing this step every time you restart your computer then you can make the changes permanent by doing the steps listed below.
- Press Windows key once
- Type Command Prompt in the search bar
- Right Click command prompt from the start search and select Run as administrator
- Type PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted and press Enter
- You should be able to see the PowerShell –ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted appear on the top of command prompt.
- Type Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”} then press Enter.
- Restart your computer
If the issue still persists then perform the following.
- Press and hold CTRL, SHIFT, Esc keys simultaneously (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC). This should open the Task Manager
- Click File and select Run new task
- Check the option Create this task with administrative privileges
- Type Powershell and click OK
- Type $manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + ‘\AppxManifest.xml’ ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest then press enter.
- Restart the computer.
Restart Cortana
If Cortana is unresponsive then it can also lead to this particular issue. To fix this you will have to restart this service.
- Press and hold CTRL, SHIFT, Esc keys simultaneously (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC) to open the Task Manager
- Locate the Cortana service from the Processes list. If you can’t find Cortana in this list then select the Services tab and check there
- Locate and right-click Cortana
- Select End Task
Check if the Windows 10 can’t type in search issue still occurs.
Import MsCtfMonitor.xml from another Windows 10
If the MsCtfMonitor of your computer has been corrupted then it can lead to this problem. To fix this you will need to copy MsCtfMonitor from another Windows 10 computer to your computer.
- Log in to another Window 10 PC
- Hold Windows key and press R
- Type taskschd.msc and press Enter
- Double-click Task Scheduler Library from the left pane
- Double-click Microsoft from the left pane
- Double click Windows from the left pane
- Select TextServicesFramework from the left pane
- Right-click MsCtfMonitor from the mid pane and select Export
- Select a location that you can remember and click Save
- Copy this exported file to a USB and paste it to the problematic pc
- Repeat steps from 1-7
- Go to the location where you pasted the MsCrfMonitor.xml file from the other machine and select it
- One imported, right click the file from the mid pane and select Run
Check if the Windows 10 can’t type in search issue still occurs.