The Windows 10 Action Center is the central location that collects and displays system notifications and provides quick access to various settings on your computer.
If this setting is disabled, Windows 10 Action Center won’t open or appear in the notification area of ??the taskbar. You will still receive notifications, but you will not be able to view them in the Notification Center.
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Some of the reasons Windows 10 Action Center won’t open include:
- Action Center isn’t enabled.
- User profile corruption.
- Damaged system files
- Non-trivial system crashes.
These problems can destabilize Windows, so you need to fix the problem as soon as possible.
How to Fix: Windows 10 Action Center not opening
The quickest way to open Action Center is by using the icon on the taskbar. If that doesn’t work, you can still use the Windows logo key + keyboard shortcut and see if that helps.
If these two shortcuts don’t work and you’re out of luck restarting your computer, here are a few things you can try.
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Restart Windows Explorer
- Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.
- Right-click explorer.exe or Windows Explorer and select End Task.
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- In Task Manager, click File> Start New Task.
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- Type explorer.exe, click OK to restart Windows Explorer, and exit Task Manager.
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Perform disk cleanup
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When Windows 10 runs out of disk space and memory, the operating system can slow down significantly as critical processes like Action Center try and fail to start. Disk Cleanup will delete temporary files that might prevent Windows 10 Action Center from opening and free up space on your hard drive.
- To delete temporary files, type disk cleanup in the search box and select Disk Cleanup from the search results.
- Select the type of files you want to remove in the Files to Remove section and click OK.
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- To free up more space, click Clean Up System Files in Disk Cleanup, select the files you want to delete, and click OK.
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After completing the system cleaning, the window will close automatically. Restart your computer to completely delete the files and check if the Action Center opens.
Enable Support Center
Sometimes Windows 10 Action Center won’t open because it’s not enabled on the system.
- To turn on the Action Center, type “Turn system icons on or off” in the search bar and click Turn on or turn off system icons.
- Click to enable the Action Center, and then check if the Action Center opens.
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Clean up your hard drive
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Temporary, unnecessary and corrupted files tend to clog your computer and cause problems with Windows 10. Cleaning your hard drive with SFC and DISM scans can help scan and repair corrupted system files.
- Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. Click File> Run New Task. Enter CMD and check the “Create this task with administrator rights” checkbox.
- In the Command Prompt window, enter the following commands one after another and press Enter after each command:
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DISM / Online / cleanup-image / restorehealth
sfc / scannow
PowerShell
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object {$ _. InstallLocation -like “* SystemApps *”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$ ($ _. InstallLocation) AppXManifest.xml”}
- Close the command prompt window, restart your computer and check if you have it is possible to open the Support Center.
Create a new user account
A corrupted user profile can cause Windows 10 Action Center not to open. To fix this problem, create a new user account and check if the problem persists.
- Click Start> Settings> Accounts.
- Click Family & Others.
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- Then click “Add someone to this computer” in the “Other users” section.
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- Select a user login method and click I do not have this person’s login information.
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- Click “Add user without Microsoft account”, enter a name for the new account and grant the required permissions. Click Finish and check if the Action Center is working on the new user profile.
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- Enter the username and password for the account. Sign in with your new user profile and check if the Action Center opens.
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Re-register Support Center
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If for any reason the Windows 10 Action Center is damaged, you can re-register it using Windows PowerShell and restore it to a working state. Here’s how to do it.
- Right-click Start> Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- Type the following command and press Enter to run it:
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Get-AppxPackage | % {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$ ($ _. InstallLocation) AppxManifest.xml” -verbose}
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Make sure Action Center still doesn’t open after running the command.
Edit Registry
If Windows 10 Action Center won’t open or appear on your computer, check to see if a registry value is preventing Action Center from appearing.
- Right-click Start> Run and type regedit to open Registry Editor.
- In Registry Editor, go to this path: HKEY _ CURRENT _ USER SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows Explorer and change the value for disabling notifications from 1 to 0. Restart your computer. and check if the Action Center is visible and can be opened.
Rename UsrClass file
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The UsrClass file is a .DAT file that stores ShellBag information for the desktop. The ShellBag consists of registry keys (in relation to Windows Explorer) that contain folder information such as size, icon, and position to help identify user activity.
In addition, the usrclass.dat file contains remote and local folders, zip files, virtual folders, and Windows special folders.
If you delete the UsrClass file from the system, some things like search and desktop options, start menu, sound button and calendar will not work.
However, you can rename the usrclass.dat file and restart your computer to restore it, and then rename the file so that all features, including Action Center, work by default.
- Right click. Start> Run and type localappdata% Microsoft Windows.
- Find the usrclass.dat file, rename it to usrclass.old.dat and restart your computer.
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Update Windows
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Some users have complained that Windows 10 Action Center stopped working or opening after Windows update. If your computer has a pending update, you can try updating it and see if Action Center opens after you restart your computer.
- To update Windows, click Start> Settings> Update & Security.
- Click Check for Updates next to Windows Update and install any pending updates.
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After installing the updates, restart your computer and see if the Action Center opens.
Perform a system restore
System Restore helps with certain types of problems, such as installing a driver that destabilizes your computer or corrupts files when removed. Recovery helps repair damage caused by Windows updates or a rogue app.
- To perform a system restore, create a restore point before Action Center stopped opening. Enter system restore in the search box and select “Create a restore point”.
- Click New on the System Protection tab.
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- Enter a description, such as “Support Center Restore” to help you remember why you created a restore point, and click Create. After the restore point is created, click Close.
- Then restore the system to an earlier restore point. To do this, go back to the System Protection tab and click System Restore> Next.
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- A new window will show the available restore points. Select Show more restore points if you do not see a restore point that you created or that was created before the Action Center crashed.
Click on the created restore point and then click “Scan for affected programs†to see which programs will be affected before you start the recovery process. When you are ready to restore, click on the restore point you want to use and then click Next.
- Confirm the recovery and then click Finish. Click Yes to start the process. Your computer will reboot to start the system restore process, and once it’s complete, check if the Action Center opens normally.
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Note. If all else fails, you can restore Windows to factory settings Use a factory reset only as a last resort. Also read our guide on how to factory reset Windows 10 without admin password.
Make Windows 10 Action Center run again
Did any of these solutions help you solve the problem with closing the Windows 10 Action Center? Share with us in the comments.
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