Normally you open File Explorer by clicking its taskbar icon or pressing Windows logo key + E. When nothing happens, or the window hangs on a loading message, the culprit is often a stuck Explorer process, a pending update, a bad history entry or damaged system files. Work down this list from quickest to most involved, testing File Explorer after each step.
Restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager
Explorer also draws the taskbar, Start menu and desktop, so restarting it is the fastest reset and does not close your other apps.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. If that does not work, press Ctrl + Alt + Del and choose Task Manager.
- On the Processes tab, scroll to Windows Explorer, select it and choose Restart. The taskbar disappears for a moment and comes back.
- If the taskbar and desktop are missing entirely, the process has stopped. Choose Run new task, type explorer.exe and select OK.
Restart Explorer with two commands instead
If you can reach Command Prompt or PowerShell, you can stop and start the process by hand. Run the first line, wait for the taskbar to vanish, then run the second.
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe start explorer.exe
Install updates and restart the PC
A known bug may already be fixed in a newer build, and a restart finishes any update that is waiting.
- Select Start > Settings > Windows Update, then select Check for updates.
- Install whatever is offered and restart the PC, even if no update asks for it.
Clear File Explorer history and reset its options
Bad data in the recent-files list can leave Explorer stuck at startup.
- Search Start for File Explorer Options (typing Folders also finds it) and open it.
- On the General tab, under Privacy, clear the boxes for Show recently used files and Show frequently used folders.
- Select Clear next to Clear File Explorer history, and set Open File Explorer to to This PC.
- Open the View tab and select Reset Folders.
- Select Apply and try opening a folder again.
Repair damaged system files
Missing or corrupted Windows files can stop Explorer from running. Search for cmd, then right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. Run the first command and let it finish. If it reports files it could not fix, run the second, and restart afterward.
sfc /scannow DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Disable shell extensions added by other programs
Cloud storage apps, archive tools and antivirus scanners add items to the context menu, and those add-ons can crash Explorer. The free ShellExView utility from NirSoft lists them. Open it and sort the list by company, then ignore the Microsoft entries, because the Microsoft ones are unlikely to be the cause. Start with a program you installed shortly before the problem began. Select one of its extensions and choose Disable Selected Items, restart Explorer and test. Change one extension at a time so you know which one mattered, and turn it back on if it made no difference. You may need to restart the PC before a change takes effect.
Test with a different user account
Go to Settings > Accounts > Other users and add a second local account, then sign in to it and open File Explorer. If it works there, the problem lives in your original profile rather than in Windows itself. You can move your files to the new account.
Check that Windows manages the paging file itself
- Type control panel in the taskbar search box and open it.
- Select System and Security > System > Advanced system settings.
- On the Advanced tab, under Performance, select Settings, then open its Advanced tab and make sure Adjust for best performance of is set to Programs.
- Under Virtual memory, select Change and tick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
- Select OK, then Apply, and reboot.
Free up disk space and run the maintenance troubleshooter
Search for disk cleanup on the taskbar, pick a drive, tick the file types to remove and select OK. Check the Recycle Bin first, since this can empty it. Then open Control Panel, set View by to large or small icons, and go to Troubleshooting > View all > System Maintenance. Select Next and choose Try troubleshooting as an administrator to see what it finds.
Run Startup Repair when nothing else works
If File Explorer still fails, Startup Repair tries to fix registry damage.
- On Windows 10, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
- Under Advanced startup, select Restart now.
- On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair.
- Pick your account and enter its password. The PC may restart while the repair runs.
- If Startup Repair does not help, resetting the PC from its recovery options is the last option.