Forum Discussion
Win11 File Explorer Address Bar Drop-Down Menu Freezes
When you click the drop-down arrow in the File Explorer address bar to view the path history, the drop-down menu freezes for a few seconds or even causes the entire window to become unresponsive, requiring you to restart File Explorer to resolve the issue.
3 Replies
In File Explorer Options, check the box next to “Open folder windows in a separate process,” then restart your computer.
Hi!
I’m really glad to help — and don’t worry, this issue is more common than it looks.
Since I work with Windows internals a lot, I’ll give you both the simple and advanced steps.
1) Reset the File Explorer UI package
Run PowerShell as admin:
Get-AppxPackage *windows.fileexplorer* | Reset-AppxPackage
2) Disable history in the address bar
•
Open File Explorer Options
•
Uncheck “Show recently used files”
•
Uncheck “Show frequently used folders”
3) Clear the MRU (Most Recently Used) registry keys
Open Run → type:
regedit
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TypedPaths
Delete all entries except (Default).
4) Check for OneDrive sync delays
If OneDrive is indexing a large folder, the dropdown may freeze.
Pause sync for 2 minutes and test.
If the issue continues, I can help you check the Explorer crash logs in Event Viewer to pinpoint the exact module causing the freeze.
Creating a new user profile or performing a repair install of Windows might be necessary.
