Windows 11: CTRL + SHIFT + ESC

The Task Manager

On Windows 11, the CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys combination is a shortcut to open the Task Manager.

But of course, Task Manager can be accessed through other methods:

• Right clicking the taskbar ➡️ we will see Task Manager option in the context menu.
• The CTRL + ALT + DEL ➡️ we will also see Task Manager in the menu.

Well, assuming the user is given privilege to access Task Manager. Let us assume the user is ourselves, the owner of the computer, an administrator on Windows 11.

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The Background: Emoji Picker

I frequently use the emoji.

For our information — to access the emoji picker on Windows 11, we do:

Windows key + . (dot or period)

It will bring the emoji picker dialog:

Now, the background — why I post this Windows 11 Task Manager shortcut.

My problem was when I opened the emoji picker

the search box was MISSING!

That's comparable to when we're on bada Bing bada boom, there's NO SEARCH BOX. *Ba-dum-tss* 🥁 — Eyyy, what to do here-a? Ees only the news-a! Mamma mia!

Right.

I couldn't recreate it. But it was this UI, marked with red box and arrow:

I did not realise it until I typed anything. I thought —

Why does the emoji picker keep closing?

— and then I noticed, the search box WASN'T there! I thought again —

Is this yet another of that missing "Open with Code" from context menu? 🤔 Or that enforced folders and icons in start menu?

How to fix it?

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Fix Missing Search Box in Emoji Picker

Without further presumptions, I simply did the most common technique:

RESTART that particular process.

It can be done through Task Manager.

Full circle now.

Because we need to restart the Windows Explorer or File Explorer.

Indeed, it is a part of "Explorer", that emoji picker.

The steps:

1. Open the Task Manager — through either way above.
2. Search for "explorer" from the Task Manager search box.
3. Right click on it and pick "Restart".
   
4. Wait for a moment. The emoji picker UI should be back to normal. ✅

Fortunately in my case, the Task Manager search box was still there. Imagine if all search boxes disappeared. 🤔

It was a rendering bug — as I've observed. Perhaps caused by a system update. Most likely, it was.

Anyway, Windows Explorer = File Explorer. The latter is the latest name of the similar program. "Windows Explorer" is its legacy name. Now, it's "File Explorer". But in Task Manager, it's "Windows Explorer". Mm.

Two layers of context menu, anyone? Delightful.

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Bug

"Bug", to refer to a defect in software world.

So there's the Middle Welsh bwg — meaning:

A ghost, a goblin, a things-that-go-bump-in-the-night creature. Something unseen, lurking, causing mischief. Which gave us bogey, bugbear, and bogeyman.

And we have Middle English bugge — meaning:

Something frightening, scarecrow.

Well, Middle Welsh came first. Welsh, being a Brythonic Celtic language, had "bwg" well before Middle English even existed as a form of the language. Middle English itself only emerged around the 11th to 12th century after the Norman Conquest, whereas the Welsh Celtic traditions and vocabulary stretch back considerably further.

And then we have the insect "bug".

The root is still uncertain. But it may stem from Middle English "bugge", or even Old English budde — meaning beetle, which sounds like "bug". Well, if we're tipsy enough whilst uttering it. —

Ic geseah budde! *Hiccup* — micel hēo wæs, sōþlīce!

(I saw a bu***! *Hiccup* — big he was, verily!)

Hwæt, cwæþ þū?

(A what, said thou?)

Hwæt? *Hiccup*

(What? *Hiccup*)

⬆️ Old English, mate.

Right. Back to software "bug". Here's a list of several proper terms:

• Defect
  The most widely used formal term in QA (Quality Assurance) and testing.
• Fault
  Used in reliability engineering and formal methods.
• Failure
  Specifically when the defect manifests and causes the system to misbehave.
• Error
  Refers to the human mistake that introduced the fault in the first place.
• Anomaly
  Common in IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standards and safety-critical systems.
• Issue
  Broader, informal-but-accepted term in project tracking tools like Jira.
• Regression
  Specifically when something that worked before is now broken, often after an update.

The IEEE 610.12-1990 standard actually distinguishes:

MISTAKE ➡️ ERROR ➡️ FAULT ➡️ FAILURE

— as separate stages in a chain.

In my universe:

GOBLIN A ➡️ GOBLIN B ➡️ GOBLIN C ➡️ GOBLIN D

⬆️

Goblin A = Goblin Aw... MISTAKE!

Goblin B = Goblin Bloody... ERROR!

Goblin C = Goblin Cannot... RELY ON THIS!

Goblin D = Goblin Doom. ⬅️ The acceptance. Lotus position. Exhale slowly. Inhale.

They're like a group of villains in Super Sentai. —

I'm Goblin A!

Pardon —

WATASHI WA GOBURIN ADESU!

Shouting his description —

Watashi am the machigai!

— with aerobics poses.

And so forth.

Then they do cartwheel, a power combine grip, jump kick, and clattering together like mismatched motherboard components until they form a clumped blenders. —

We are THE GOBLINS UNITED!

ORE ORE ORE ORE!

HAHAHA!

OREO!

ハハハ！

(Blender motor sound.)

I am contributing to software engineering literature.

Side observation, "agile methodology". That "agile" term. Sounds like the bloke dashing about in the room, hitting chairs, knocking teacups, papers flying off the desk, trousers gone, and — IT'S DONE! Shipped! I'm very agile! — Indeed. Waterfall methodology sends its regard. (Lotus position under Niagara.)

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Right then, that's all. Cheers. 👋