Fix File Explorer not responding error in Windows 11/10

File Explorer, also known as Windows Explorer is a built-in File Manager utility that comes pre-installed on Windows 10/11 computers and also on devices running older versions of Windows Operating System.

All in all, File Explorer works flawlessly and makes it really easy to manage Files, Folders, and external drives attached to your computer.

In most cases, File Explorer not responding issue in Windows 10/11 can be fixed by restarting File Explorer using Task Manager.

If this doesn't work, you can fix the problem using other methods as provided below.

1. Restart File Explorer using Task Manager

Right-click the Start bar and click Task Manager  . On the Task Manager screen, right-click the Windows Explorer entry and click  Restart  .

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Then try opening File Explorer and see if it works properly.

2. End File Explorer and restart

Open Task Manager  > right click on the Windows Explorer entry in the 'Process tab' and click End Task .

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Next, click the  File tab and select the Run New Task option in the menu that appears.

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Type  explorer.exe  in the Run Command window and click  OK  .

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Then try using File Explorer and see if it works properly.

3. Install updates

Sometimes, the problem is caused by Windows Update waiting to be installed on the computer.

Windows 10: Go to Settings > Update & Security  > select  Windows Update in the left pane and click the Check For Updates button  .

Windows 11: Go to Settings  > click  Windows Update  in the left pane. In the right pane, click the Check for Updates button  .

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Allow Windows to check for updates and follow the instructions to download and Install updates (If available).

4. Clear File Explorer's cache

Type Control Panel in the Search bar and click Control Panel App in the search results.

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On the Control Panel screen, switch to Large Icons view   and click  File Explorer Options  .

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On the File Explorer Options screen, switch to the General tab and click the Clear button .

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Click  OK  and try using File Explorer.

5. Use the Troubleshooting troubleshooter

The System Maintenance Troubleshooter available in Control Panel can help fix the problem.

Open Control Panel > switch to Large Icons view and click Troubleshooting .

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On the Troubleshooting screen, click the Run Maintenance Tasks option  .

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Follow the instructions to complete the process. Once the process is complete, try using File Exporer again.

6. Repair system files using SFC

In rare cases, the problem could be due to corrupted or corrupted System Files.

Type Command Prompt in the Search bar > right-click App Command Prompt in the Search results and select the Run As Adiministrator option .

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On the Command Prompt window , type  sfc /scannow  and press the  Enter  key on your computer keyboard.

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Note:  There should be a space after sfc .

Patiently wait for Windows to scan your computer for System File Errors and fix them.

If Windows cannot fix the error, it will display the message 'Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them'.

If this happens, you can try to fix the problem using the DISM Tool as provided below.

7. Repair system files using DISM

Type Command Prompt in the Search bar > right-click App Command Prompt in the Search results and select the Run As Adiministrator option .

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On the command prompt screen, type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and press the Enter key .

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Note: There should be a space after DISM, Online and Cleanup-Image.

Wait for the DISM tool to check your computer for errors and fix them.

After the DISM command finishes running, restart the computer and run the SFC command again to replace the remaining damaged files (if any) with the correct files.

Jessica Tanner

Update 04 October 2023