File Explorer fails to do literally anything

[paintballer4lfe]

So this is a bit of a new one and I have no clue what to try and do besides your usual sfc /scannow and DISM restore.

So I can of course bring up a new file explorer window via win + r > explorer however that's not a fix to the issue, just an annoying workaround. Task manager of course works too but that's via run also.

I just upgraded to windows 11 like 20 minutes ago and ran the usual repair and restore commands with no resolution. Does anyone have a clue what to try next to figure out why it's not coming up via the start menu or task bar? I'm genuinely clueless, event viewer shows nothing either so I'm pretty stuck in the water.

[#2]

Hello, 

Try resetting File Explorer (explorer.exe) process: 

1. Press Windows Key + R and type SYSDM.CPL in Run. Click OK or press Enter key. 

2. In System Properties window, switch to Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance. 

3. Next, in Performance Options, under Processor scheduling, make sure that Adjust for best performance of: is set to Programs. 

4. Then in the same window, under Virtual memory, click Settings button. 

5. On Virtual Memory page, make sure Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives option is checked. Click OK, then Apply, OK on rest of windows. 

6. Reboot the machine and see if issue is resolved now. 

Let us know if this helps! 

Reference: https://www.kapilarya.com/fix-file-explorer-not-working-in-windows-10

Note: Included link in this reply refers to blog post by a trusted Microsoft MVP.

[#3]

@Kapil Arya Yeah those are already the default options configured. Still not working correctly and now anytime I shift + right click on the explorer icon it crashes the explorer instances completely and I have to click the crap out of it to crash it and reboot explorer or I can go through task manager.