No quick Start screen.

[jgarland]

I sent the following request to tech support:

"I was in the middle of an edit when Sonar crashed. On re-launch the Quick Start screen does not show at startup. The Preferences/Display settings are ticked to show the screen on start up but that makes no difference. I upgraded to the latest version 2025.07 build 097 x64 but that did not help. I did not have this problem before the crash. Please help."

I have had several replies with possible fixes (listed below), none of which have worked:

I Apologize for the long post but thought it helpfull to include all steps taken to resolve this problem.

 

#1: Thanks for reaching out. Sorry to hear about the issue you're experiencing after the crash.
 To help us investigate further, could you please try the following:

Create a brand-new project and then relaunch Sonar — does the Quick Start screen appear?  Answer: NO

Let us know if you’re using any custom workspace or layout. Answer: No

Can you confirm whether Sonar is launching directly into a project, or just the blank interface? Answer: Standard screen with 1 Audio & 1 Midi Track

Lastly, please share a screenshot of your Preferences > Display settings so we can take a closer look. Screenshot sent, dump file also sent.

#2: Just to confirm—have you tried manually opening the Quick Start screen by going to File > Quick Start Screen? This can help verify if the feature is still functional but simply not set to appear on launch. Answer: Yes, manually opening works.

#3: My Update to Tech support:

New information. I signed out of Bandlab from inside Sonar and closed the program. I then re-launched Sonar, and got the prompt to Sign in to Activate. At this point (before activation) the Quick Start screen has still not come up. But as soon as I sign in to Bandlab to activate, and then close the sign in page, the Quick Start Menu is now showing.

I then closed Sonar, but did not sign out first. On Sonar relaunch the Quick Start menu is gone again.

I repeated the following 5 steps 3 times in a row, and got the same result every time.

1. Launch Sonar - no Quick Start menu appears
2. Close Sonar without signing out.
3. Relaunch Sonar again and there still is no Quick Start menu.
4. Sign Out from Bandlab and close Sonar.
5. Relaunch Sonar and sign back in to Bandlab - the Quick Start menu appears.

Again this all started after the Sonar crash.

Note that I re-set Sonar via holding down the shift key and launching the program but that did not help.

#4 tech support suggestion (edited):

1) Uninstall Cakewalk Sonar. 

 2) After the uninstalling, open the Run Prompt. In Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11, you can open the Run Prompt by holding down the Windows key and pressing “R” on the keyboard.

 3) At the Prompt, type regedit and click [OK].

 4) Delete the following Registry keys: If you do not have one of the Registry keys below, simply proceed to the next one on the list.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cakewalk Music Software\Cakewalk\ Core
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Cakewalk Music Software\Cakewalk\ Core
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Cakewalk Music Software\Cakewalk\ Core
 

6) Open the Run Prompt again.
 
7) Copy and paste %appdata%\Cakewalk into the prompt and click [OK]. On Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11, the “AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk” folder will open.
 
😎 Right-click on the Cakewalk Core folder and choose “Delete.”
 
9) Delete the contents of the following directory: C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core
 
10) At this point, install Cakewalk Sonar via Cakewalk Product Center

 #5: My reply: (edited short answer): None of that worked. I still don't have a Quick Start screen at startup, and have heard nothing back from tech support Since July 29th.

Does anybody have any ideas on this?

[Noel Borthwick]

Record a brief video of your actions. Including manually opening the start screen.

[jgarland]

Thanks for replying Noel. I've uploaded the requested video to my Support ticket #Request #2030700.