Tech giant Microsoft has officially acknowledged a long-standing, widespread bug in the Windows 11 operating system, affecting its most fundamental components. In a support article, the company revealed that key Shell components such as the Start menu, taskbar, File Explorer, and Windows Settings were affected by XAML-related issues.
Microsoft acknowledges bugs
Although Microsoft confirmed these issues in November, it states that the bugs began with the July 2025 Patch Tuesday update (KB5062553). This means the bugs have been affecting users for a full four months.
These issues, which affect nearly every core component of the operating system, lead to Explorer.exe and ShellHost.exe crashes, StartMenuExperienceHost errors, the Settings app failing to open silently, and the taskbar not being displayed.
Additionally, issues such as application crashes when launching a XAML view, other XAML-based interface elements failing to load, and ImmersiveShell malfunctioning.
The support article states that after applying the monthly cumulative updates released after July 2025 for Windows 11 version 24H2, various applications may not function properly during the first user session.
The problems are particularly pronounced in non-persistent VDI environments, where packages are reloaded at each session start. The fact that Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 share the same codebase means that the latest version also experiences the same issues.
The company has been the target of intense criticism during this period for both service outages and performance issues. Following allegations that the Patch Tuesday update released this week caused performance issues in games, Nvidia issued an emergency patch, directing responsibility to Microsoft.
Microsoft confirms that it is currently working on a permanent fix. As a temporary workaround, it is reported that restarting the Shell Infrastructure Host (SIHost.exe) process may help restore missing Immersive Shell packages. The official support document for the issue is available on Microsoft’s website under the number KB5072911.
