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Win10 Windows Explorer crashes when attempting to open a folder containing corrupted image files
When you open a folder containing corrupted image files, Windows Explorer often crashes or becomes unresponsive.
The problem occurs more frequently when thumbnail previews are enabled, because the system attempts to generate previews from the corrupted files. Disabling thumbnails prevents these crashes.
2 Replies
Corrupted thumbnails stored in the cache can cause conflicts. Clearing them forces Windows to rebuild fresh previews, which often resolves the issue.
Explorer crashes while generating thumbnails from damaged images, and disabling thumbnails prevents it, which is a strong isolation result. Keep File Explorer in Details view and enable Always show icons, never thumbnails while identifying the files. Move groups to a temporary folder, reopen the source after each move, and narrow the failure to the smallest group. Do not use the preview pane on suspected files; test copies with Photos or another trusted decoder. Delete a file only when a backup exists and recovery is unnecessary. Clear the thumbnail cache with Disk Cleanup, restart Explorer, and install Windows and graphics-codec updates. If Explorer also crashes with known-good images, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth followed by sfc /scannow. Preserve a reproducible file for vendor analysis rather than previewing it. If many unrelated formats cause crashes, inspect installed shell extensions and codec packs, then test a clean boot before considering a Windows reset.
