KB5034765: The update is causing issues on Windows 11, but there is a workaround

It seems that the latest Patch Tuesday updates to Windows 11, released in the KB5034765 package, are breaking the operating system’s UI, from the taskbar to a lag in login, to the Start Menu not showing up.

Many users complained on Reddit that installing the KB5034765 rendered their Windows 11 unusable, or very slow, with many reporting that the taskbar and the Start many suddenly disappeared.

My taskbar is completely gone after this update. No start menu nothing.

Reddit user

Same, had to run CTRL SHIFT ESC to open task manager and then go to details, terminate explorer.exe and then new task, run it again. While it works, it’s annoying.

Reddit user

As you can see above, users claim that these KB5034765 issues can be momentarily solved by opening Task Manager and terminating explorer.exe. However, others agree that uninstalling and reinstalling KB5034765 again will solve almost all of these issues.

Possibly, but after removing KB5034765 my desktop loaded correctly. I must have waited over an hour to see if the desktop would fully load and it did not.

Reddit user

Hey everyone, reinstall KB5034765 update again, the issue has been fixed.

Reddit user

Uninstalling and reinstalling Windows updates can be a tricky thing, especially if you’re not tech-savvy, or familiar with the way Windows updates work. But, while this might be a bumpy road, we have a guide that will show you step-by-step what you need to do to successfully uninstall and reinstall KB5034765.

Microsoft, through its Windows update managers, confirmed that this is the definite way to solve these issues. Not everybody experiences these issues, so certain Windows devices might be more affected than others.

On the other hand, installing KB5034765 is mandatory, despite the issues, because the patch contains updates for tens of Windows vulnerabilities: more than 70 security flaws were addressed.