Forum Discussion
Windows 11 file explorer hangs, open
Hey there! Ah, the good ol’ file explorer hang-ups—been there. It can feel like it’s taking a coffee break when you just need to get to your files 😅. But no worries, let’s see if we can get things flowing smoothly again.
Since the sfc /scannow didn’t work, here’s what you can try next:
- Restart File Explorer:
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer, right-click, and hit Restart. This might give it the nudge it needs. - Clear File Explorer History:
Open File Explorer Options (search for it in the Start Menu), under the General tab, click Clear under Privacy. This helps sometimes if it’s holding onto some funky data. - Update Windows:
It could be a bug that a Windows update has fixed. Go to Settings > Windows Update and check if there’s an update waiting for you. - Try a Clean Boot:
It might be a startup app causing the hang. Type msconfig in the Run dialog (Win + R), go to the Services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services, and then disable the rest. Restart your PC and see if the issue continues.
If none of that works, you might wanna try the nuclear option: resetting Windows Explorer’s settings or even running DISM to fix any deeper issues:
- DISM command: Open Command Prompt (Admin) and type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. Let it run and see if that does the trick.
Hope one of these gets File Explorer back on track and out of its slumber! 🤞
When I encounter this problem, task manager tries to restart File Explorer and frequently fails. The system is then unstable and a hard power-off is usually necessary.
Clearing File Explorer History did it for me.
I have an idea, that the problem started after I accidentally put an apostroph (') in a filename. I used command prompt to rename the file and then cleared the history.
