Win10 Windows Explorer crashes when attempting to open a folder containing corrupted image files

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.