Forum Discussion
File Explorer Crashing or Freezing Frequently on Windows 11
I have been having constant Windows 11 Explorer "Not Responding" freezing/crashing for years now and have just finally noticed a correlation. To be clear I do not have any third-party GUI tools installed now do I have any sort of customized setup. This is pretty vanilla Windows 11 Pro setup with Windows Defender as only AV.
I like to keep my Explorer window docked on one half of the screen (almost always the right side, but I doubt the side matters) and this is when all the "Not Responding" happens. When the Explorer window is not docked and free-moving I have yet to experience a crash. Even in large directories where it was more likely to happen, and no it didn't happen only in larger directories with large amounts of files/folders, it happened in smaller/less complex directories too.
The "Not Responding" when it happens outside of the docking, it does seem to happen the most when I select multiple files. However, it happens sometimes when selecting just one file or even sometimes just clicking in the Explorer window will set it off. Outside of the docking I have no other possible causes.
Whether this is noted or looked into is up to MS, but I have to imagine I'm not the only one to ever experience this.