By Lydia | Last Updated
File Explorer is a crucial tool for navigating and managing files in Windows 10 and 11. However, users sometimes encounter issues like Windows File Explorer not working. This can be very frustrating, here are some solutions for you to resolve it.
During daily usage of Windows 10/11, you may encounter slow loading times when opening large folders in File Explorer. This may due to Windows built-in File Type Discovery feature, which analyzes the contents of folders to optimize folder views based on file content types, thereby causing File Explorer to load slowly.
Step 1: Press <Win + R>, type "regedit" in the run dialog, then press "Enter".
Step 2: Navigate to:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags \AllFolders\Shell
Step 3: Right-click on the blank space on the right, choose New -> String Value
Step 4: Name it to "FolderType", and its value to "NotSpecified". Then restart the computer.
Step 1: Press <Ctrl + Shift + Esc> to open Task Manager.
Step 2: Locate "Windows Explorer" and right-click it and select "End Task" to solve explorer.exe not responding.
Step 3: Click on "Run new task" option in Task Manager, type "explorer.exe", then click on "OK".
SFC(System File Checker) command scans and repairs corrupted system files that may be affecting File Explorer not working on windows 10/11.
Step 1: Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
Step 2: In Command Prompt (admin mode), run "chkdsk /f /r" to scan and repair disk errors.
Step 3: Type "sfc /scannow" and press Enter.
If Windows explorer keeps freezing occurs after you update your computer system, consider perfome System Restore with Restore Points to revert Windows to a previous working state.
Step 1: Type "Disk Cleanup" in the Windows search box to use Windows built-in tools – Disk Cleanup to remove unnecessary files.
Step 2: Open File Explorer, go to "View" tab, click on "Options". Under "General" > "Privacy", click on "Clear" to delete File Explorer history and cache.
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