Alex Ruben
How To Troubleshoot and Fix File Explorer Issues on Your PC or Laptop
Experiencing issues with File Explorer on your PC or laptop can be super annoying, especially when it just refuses to open or crashes mid-click. Turns out, there are some pretty straightforward fixes that don’t involve bombing your system with resets. Here’s a run-through of what’s worked when File Explorer acts up, sometimes just a quick restart or tweak can make it behave again. Of course, stuff like corrupted cache, default settings messing things up, or Quick Access glitching out are often the culprits.
Step 1: Restart Windows Explorer via Task Manager
This one’s classic—kind of weird, but restarting Windows Explorer often clears up those stubborn glitches. You need to open the Task Manager. To do that:
- Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Look under the Processes tab for Windows Explorer.
- Right-click it and select Restart.
That’ll refresh the File Explorer UI. Sometimes, it’s similar to hitting a reset button for a temporary hiccup. On some setups, it might fail the first time, but if you do this, then immediately try opening Explorer again, it often gets unstuck. Cheesy, but works more often than not.
Step 2: Hit the Control Panel and tweak File Explorer Settings
If that didn’t do the trick, next is to go into the Control Panel and reset some defaults. Type “Control Panel” into the search bar, hit Enter. Once there:
- Set the view to Small icons if it’s on Category, so everything’s visible.
- Find and double-click File Explorer Options.
In the popup: This freshening of settings often resolves those phantom glitches caused by corrupted configs. Still seeing issues? It might be Quick Access acting up. In File Explorer Options again (from Control Panel), go to the General tab. Look for the section called Open File Explorer to:. On some setups, Quick Access can get corrupted or laggy, so pointing to This PC helps avoid that trap. End of the line — reboot your machine. Not just log out, actually restart. Because Windows has to “reset” some processes, and a fresh boot often clears lingering issues. If Explorer still acts weird after this, it’s time to look deeper. If problems still persist, these might help: Most of the time, these tricks get Explorer working again without major hassle. Sometimes, it’s just cache or default settings messing things up, but a quick restart and setting tweak can fix it. Not rocket science, but kind of weird how Windows makes it harder than it needs to. Make sure Windows is current — sometimes, a patch or update fixes the crash bug. Also, running Yes, in File Explorer Options, just click Restore Defaults. That resets the way Explorer looks and behaves to the default state the system shipped with. Frequent crashes, missing functionality, or settings not sticking are red flags. Running
Step 4: Change ‘Open File Explorer to:’ setting
Step 5: Restart everything
Extra tips & stuff to check
sfc /scannow.Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if Explorer keeps crashing?
sfc /scannow in admin command prompt helps fix corrupted system files that could cause Explorer to die.Can I reset File Explorer back to its original settings?
How can I tell if my File Explorer is seriously corrupted?
sfc /scannow or even trying to reset Explorer settings could help diagnose or fix the issue.