Black backgrounds on icons in start menu

from Stardock Forums

One day a few weeks ago when I clicked on the start menu (Start 11 v2 latest version) most of the icons suddenly had a black square background. First I tried removing an icon and re-pinning it but that didn't work. Then I tried deleting and rebuilding all the icon caches. Nope. I reset Start 11 to default settings, but when I added the icons back one at a time they still had black backgrounds. I tried switching through the different menu types but they all had the same issue. 

What finally solved the problem was going to each icon, open file location, right click the program file, select properties, then select change icon, click on the icon, then either apply or OK. I didn't have to change the icon. Just clicking the same icon and applying it removed the black background in the start menu. I had to do that for every icon, about 15, on the menu which was very annoying.

The problem seems to be that Start 11 extracts the icon images and saves them somewhere and if those files get corrupted or "something" the only way to fix them is to make Start 11 re-extract the icons by pretending to change them. There should be a way to delete those images so Start 11 has to re-extract them for issues like this. At the very least it would be handy to know where those images are saved so I could manually delete them if it happens again.

Stardock Software Start Menu Products Type: Bug Report
319 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Are your icons PNG files, and are they on OneDrive?

 

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I asked because usually when an .ico or .png file has a black background, it's because the Alpha channel is missing, so it gets displayed as black. Files of .ico and .png types that are synced with OneDrive are notorious for this, and it has been going on for years. However, they usually display correctly on the Start11 menu.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Start11 uses the OS cache for icons for normal apps.  It does not have a cache for them.

Are you able to list some apps which were impacted so we can see if they all have something in common?

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Sure. Android Studio, Libre Office, Notepad++, command prompt, Replit, Free file sync, Battle.net, Logitech gaming software, Revo uninstaller, Wise Disk Cleaner, ImgBurn, Folder Sizes 9, Private Internet Access, Control Panel.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having issues. It is best to include few more details on your system and issue.

  1. Your Windows 10 /11 full version and OS Build number. Use Winver.exe to get these numbers.
  2. Start11v2 full version number installed.
  3. Start11 Start menu style you're using. And if you change to any other style, does the black background gone?
  4. Post some screenshots of your issue.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community  Assistant

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Windows 11 Pro OS Build 26200.9445

Start 11 v2.8

I use Windows 10 style menu, but in diagnosing the issue I tried all the other styles and they all had the same icon issue.

I can't post any screen shots because I fixed it as I described in the original post. I am just giving you (Stardock) a heads up of what happened, what I tried in order to fix it, and what finally did solve the problem.

Something I didn't mention is that the normal (non-Start 11) Windows menu did not display this issue with the icons. It was only in Start 11, any style, that the icons had black square backgrounds. Basically, the icon's transparent backgrounds turned black. But out of the 20+ icons I have on the start menu 6 remained normal.

Also, in trying to solve the problem I searched all over the Internet for anyone having the same issue and found nothing, so it's likely this was an anomaly that may never happen again and could have been caused by my particular combination of programs and settings. If anyone in the future encounters the same issue at least they can find this thread and my solution.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Please note that this doesn’t appear to be a common issue. If it were, we would expect more users to encounter the same steps you had to take. From what I recall, I haven’t seen similar reports, so it’s unusual that you needed to resolve it in this way. It may be something unique to your system or related to other applications running alongside.

That said, I’m glad you managed to resolve it, and we truly appreciate you sharing your experience, it could be valuable for others who face a similar situation in the future.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community  Assistant

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Something I just realized/discovered, all the icons that changed to the black background suddenly were not on the Windows start menu. They had been added to the Start 11 menu only. The 6 icons that still showed the correct transparent background were the ones that were also on the Windows start menu.