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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →There is no single reset that fixes every Windows 8 Start screen failure. The correct remedy depends on whether the computer runs Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows RT; whether tiles are missing, blank, frozen, or tied to one app; and what happened immediately before the problem. Microsoft documents several narrowly defined causes, so match your symptoms to one of those cases before changing policies or reinstalling apps.
First note the exact wording of the failure: “Start screen becomes blank,” “there’s no app tiles listed,” “icons or tiles on the Start screen freeze,” or an app that opens and immediately returns to Start. Also record the last update, settings change, app removal, or first sign-in that preceded it. Those details determine which fix is safe.
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Identify your Windows version and the scope of the failure
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 share the tile-based Start screen but do not share every update or fault. Windows RT and Windows RT 8.1 use the same Start experience as their corresponding Windows release, while their hardware and update paths differ from ordinary PCs. A fix for one release should not be treated as a general Windows 8 repair.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteCheck the version before applying anything. Press Win+R, enter winver, and note the release shown. If the machine is managed by an organization, also record whether it is affected by User Configuration policies. Do not infer the version from the Start screen’s appearance alone.
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Then classify the problem by scope:
- Only the first sign-in is affected: the Start screen shows a few built-in tiles but not the normal set.
- The whole Windows 8.1 Start screen is blank: the app list reached with the down arrow is empty and controls such as Power or the user tile do not respond.
- Tiles stop responding after a settings action: freezing follows copying or pasting network information in PC Settings.
- One Bing app fails: it flashes open and returns to Start, or its Store installation fails, while other tiles remain usable.
These distinctions matter because the documented causes are different. A missing tile after first logon is not the same fault as a blank screen caused by policy settings, and neither is the same as a Bing app’s corrupted shared content.
Use the symptom and trigger to choose a documented case
| What you see | Windows release covered | What happened immediately beforehand | Likely scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Only Desktop, File Explorer, Internet Explorer, and Store appear after the first logon | Windows 8 or Windows RT on an OEM image | First sign-in on the newly installed system | Provisioned in-box apps did not finish installing before Explorer started |
| Blank Start screen, no tiles after selecting the down arrow, and an unresponsive Power button or user tile | Windows 8.1 | Affected Start Menu and Taskbar User Configuration policy is enabled | System-wide Start screen and controls |
| Icons or tiles freeze | Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 | Update rollup 2883200 was installed and network information was copied or pasted in Network in PC Settings | Tile interaction after that settings action |
| A Bing app returns to Start without an error, or installation reports 0x80073cf9 | Windows 8.1 | One Bing app was removed while other Bing apps were running | The affected Bing apps, rather than the entire Start screen |
Missing tiles after the first Windows 8 or Windows RT sign-in
Microsoft describes a specific OEM provisioning problem. On the first logon, Windows Explorer can start before every in-box AppX package has finished installing. The normal App check then does not see packages whose installation has not completed, so their tiles are absent. The visible result is unusually sparse: Desktop, File Explorer, Internet Explorer, and Store may be the only tiles shown.
Confirm that this is the first-logon scenario
- Verify that the computer is running Windows 8 or Windows RT, not Windows 8.1.
- Confirm that the missing tiles appeared immediately after the first sign-in to an OEM-installed system.
- Check whether the four built-in tiles listed above are present. A different combination, or a problem that began after weeks of normal use, is not established by this Microsoft case.
Apply the version-specific update
For this first-logon provisioning failure, Microsoft identifies Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 update rollup 2836988 as the fix. Install that rollup through a Microsoft-supported update source for the affected release, then restart and sign in again so Windows can complete package provisioning.
Do not present rollup 2836988 as a universal missing-tile repair. It addresses the timing failure described above. If tiles were removed manually, disappeared after a later update, or are missing only from a different account, the documented first-logon explanation does not establish the cause.
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Verify the result without changing unrelated settings
After the restart, check whether the previously absent in-box tiles appear and whether they launch normally. Avoid deleting the user profile, resetting the Start layout, or removing Store packages merely because the first sign-in looked incomplete; those actions can destroy useful evidence and are not part of this narrowly defined fix. If the same sparse layout remains but the computer no longer fits the first-logon conditions, move to version- and symptom-specific support instead of repeating the rollup.
Blank Windows 8.1 Start screen with controls that do not respond
A different Microsoft case concerns Windows 8.1 systems affected by either of these User Configuration policies:
- Remove common program groups from Start Menu
- Remove user’s folders from the Start Menu
When the policy state and the documented bug coincide, the Start screen can appear blank. Selecting the down arrow shows no app tiles, and the Power button or user tile does not respond. This is a policy-related Windows 8.1 problem, not the first-logon AppX timing issue.
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- Confirm that the release is Windows 8.1.
- Ask an administrator whether either policy is configured for the user or applied through a domain policy.
- Inspect the exact policy names under the user’s Start Menu and Taskbar policy settings. Record whether they are enabled, disabled, or not configured before changing anything.
- If an organization intentionally enabled a policy, have its administrator decide whether that policy can be changed. A local change may be overwritten at the next policy refresh.
Microsoft says an update is available to resolve this issue. Use the update details in Microsoft’s support article for the affected Windows 8.1 build rather than substituting a Windows 10 or Windows 11 Start-menu procedure. Because the available update is tied to the policy-specific failure, do not invent a different package number or assume that any cumulative update has the same documented effect.
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After the policy and update check
Restart or sign out and back in only after the administrator has confirmed the policy state and the applicable update. Test the Start screen, the down-arrow app view, the Power button, and the user tile separately. If those controls work but particular apps are still absent, the blank-screen policy case is no longer a complete explanation; classify the remaining problem by the app or provisioning symptom instead.
Frozen icons or tiles after copying network information
Microsoft documents a regression affecting Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1. It can occur after update rollup 2883200 is installed and network information is copied or pasted in the Network section of PC Settings. The resulting icons or tiles may stop responding. The trigger is important: a tile that froze at another time or after another settings page does not match this documented scenario.
Use the documented workaround
- Confirm that the system is Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1.
- Check whether rollup 2883200 was installed before the freeze began.
- Recall whether network information was copied or pasted in Network in PC Settings immediately before the tiles stopped responding.
- Sign out of Windows and sign back in. Microsoft identifies this logoff/logon cycle as the workaround for the affected state.
Install the stated resolution
Microsoft identifies update 2919355 as the resolution for this regression. Apply it using the update channel appropriate to the edition, then restart and test the tiles again. The update and workaround belong to the 2883200-plus-network-information sequence; they should not be advertised as a general cure for every frozen Start screen.
If signing out restores responsiveness but the freeze returns only after repeating the same copy or paste action, stop reproducing that action until the resolution update is installed. If the freeze began without that update and settings trigger, record the different trigger and seek instructions that explicitly cover it.
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A Bing app opens and immediately returns to Start
Another narrowly scoped Windows 8.1 issue affects Bing apps. Microsoft says that removing one Bing app while one or more other Bing apps are running can corrupt shared content used by the remaining apps. Affected symptoms include an app that appears to start and then returns to Start without an error, or a Store installation that fails with error 0x80073cf9.
Establish that the failure is limited to Bing apps
- Confirm that the operating system is Windows 8.1.
- Test whether ordinary, non-Bing tiles still open. If the entire Start screen is blank or frozen, use the corresponding sections of this guide instead.
- Identify whether a Bing app was removed while other Bing apps were open or running in the background.
- Look at the affected Bing tile. Microsoft notes that a small x in the lower-right corner indicates that the app can be repaired.
Repair the affected tile state
When the small x is present, use the repair action Microsoft documents for that Bing tile. This is preferable to deleting unrelated apps or rebuilding the whole Start layout. If the app still returns to Start, or the Store continues to show 0x80073cf9, keep the failure classified as the Bing shared-content case and follow Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 Bing-app recovery instructions for the exact app set.
For future removals, close other Bing apps first so that a running app is not sharing content with the one being removed. That precaution follows the documented trigger, but it does not repair content that is already corrupted. Do not generalize this cause to every Store app that closes immediately; the evidence here is specific to the covered Bing apps.
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How to distinguish overlapping symptoms
“Missing tiles,” “blank screen,” and “frozen tiles” describe different states. Use four checks before choosing a fix:
- Release: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows RT, and Windows RT 8.1 have different covered updates.
- Timing: first sign-in, immediately after a policy refresh, after a particular update, or after removing an app are materially different clues.
- Scope: determine whether every tile and control is affected, only newly provisioned tiles are absent, or one Bing app fails.
- Visible evidence: note the four-tile first-logon layout, an empty down-arrow app view, an unresponsive Power or user tile, a small x on a Bing tile, or error 0x80073cf9.
For example, a Windows 8.1 computer with a blank screen and an unresponsive Power tile should be checked for the named User Configuration policies, not treated as a Windows 8 first-logon provisioning failure. Conversely, a Windows RT machine that showed only four tiles on its first sign-in does not match the Windows 8.1 policy case merely because the screen looks empty.
A version-safe troubleshooting workflow
- Write down the release and edition. Include Windows 8 versus 8.1 and Windows RT where applicable.
- Capture the symptom before changing settings. Record which tiles are present, whether the down-arrow app list is empty, which controls respond, and any error text.
- Record the immediate trigger. Note first logon, a policy change, rollup 2883200, network-information copy/paste, or removal of a Bing app while others were running.
- Choose only the matching Microsoft case. Apply rollup 2836988 for the documented first-logon provisioning problem; use the policy-specific update guidance for the Windows 8.1 blank-screen case; log off/on and install 2919355 for the 2883200 network-information regression; or use the Bing tile repair path for the shared-content failure.
- Restart or sign back in when the case calls for it. The logoff/logon step is specifically documented for the frozen-tile regression; a restart after installing an update allows that update and package provisioning to take effect.
- Re-test the original symptom. Use the same tile, control, settings page, or app that exposed the problem. A different result does not prove that an unrelated fix worked.
- Stop when the case no longer fits. Do not stack updates, policy changes, profile deletion, and app removal without a version-specific reason. Preserve the observed state for the next support step.
Why Windows 10 and Windows 11 instructions should not be copied
Microsoft’s currently surfaced general pages for blank screens, clean boot, and app repair describe Windows 10 and/or Windows 11. They discuss modern display modes, graphics drivers, Explorer recovery, and current app-repair controls. Those pages do not validate the same procedures for Windows 8 or Windows RT.
Do not silently replace the Windows 8 Start screen with a Windows 10/11 troubleshooting checklist. A clean boot, current Settings path, or modern app-reset command may have different names, prerequisites, or effects on Windows 8. If you consult a general Microsoft page, verify that it explicitly lists the installed Windows release before following it.
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When none of the documented cases fits
The Microsoft material covering these symptoms is issue-specific; it does not establish one universal Windows 8 Start screen repair. If the failure began after an event not listed here, or if it affects a different Windows edition, leave the cause unresolved rather than guessing.
Use the notes you collected—release, edition, scope, exact error, recent update, policy state, and immediate action—to find support instructions that explicitly name that version and symptom. Avoid presenting a Windows 8.1 remedy as a Windows 8 or Windows RT fix, and do not recommend hardware, registry cleaners, or generic repair tools as substitutes for a verified cause.
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