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Win11 Closing a window via the X button sometimes restarts File Explorer
When you click the red X button to close certain File Explorer windows, the File Explorer process occasionally crashes and restarts automatically.
This issue occurs more frequently when multiple File Explorer windows are open at the same time. During the restart, all open File Explorer windows are closed, interrupting file management tasks.
2 Replies
In File Explorer Options, check the box to open folder windows in a separate process and disable the Show recently used files feature in Quick Access.
Closing a File Explorer window should not restart Explorer or close every open folder, so this is a crash rather than normal X-button behavior. Install Windows updates and restart first. Reproduce it with a local folder; if it affects only particular locations, note whether they are network, OneDrive, archive, or removable-drive folders. Disable non-Microsoft shell extensions and context-menu add-ins, because they load inside Explorer and can crash the process when windows close. In an elevated Command Prompt, run DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth, then sfc /scannow, and restart. Clear File Explorer history from File Explorer Options and test with “Launch folder windows in a separate process” enabled. Reliability Monitor should show the faulting module for each explorer.exe failure; include that module name, Windows build, and timestamp if you report it. If a clean boot or new profile stops it, re-enable extensions or startup items gradually to identify the component.
