Windows Explorer (Microsoft renamed Windows Explorer to File Explorer in Windows 10 and 8.1) is an important part of Windows, helping us navigate our files, folders, and other data on our computer. It is one of the backbones of the operating system that drives not only file navigation and operations but also the taskbar and start menu. Sometimes Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 users may face several common issues related to it, but the most common one is windows explorer not responding on right click, windows explorer stopped working, windows explorer Windows is unresponsive, keeps rebooting and crashes over and over again.
Since it is one of the undeniable parts, Windows will try to start it automatically. After starting, it may crash again. As a result, users will see it continually crashing and restarting. These users cannot work on your system. If you are also suffering with this problem Windows Explorer Stopped Working, Windows Explorer Not Responding on Right Click Keeps RestartingDon”t Worry Here this post we have some tips to fix this.
Reasons behind Windows Explorer stopped working
There are several things that can cause this problem. Users who do not update windows regularly are the main victim of it. Some other things are outdated windows, damaged system files, malware, and other virus infections, incompatible third party programs, etc.
Fix windows explorer stopped working
Here Fallow below Troubleshooting steps to fix this Windows Explorer keeps restarting and crashing issue for Windows 10, Window8.1, , Windows 7.
Find and disable problematic startup programs or services
Due to incompatibility of startup items, you might experience explorer.exe crash issue. Therefore, you need to disable recently added or updated startup programs and services for Windows to run smoothly. Below are the steps to disable problematic startup programs or services.
To disable startup programs
- For Windows 10, 8, and 8.1, right-click the taskbar and choose Task Manager.
- Click the Startup tab, and then disable the programs on the list.
- Older Windows users can press Win + R. Then type msconfigand press Enter.
- Then click Start and click Open Task Manager.
- Here you will find Startup programs, right click and select disable to disable startup programs.
To disable startup services:
Press Win + R to open RUN, type msconfig and hit enter. Here click on the services tab. Now Check to Hide all Microsoft services.
Now disable recently added services. Click Apply and OK to save your changes. After doing the following things, Restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed.
Start Windows in safe mode
Safe mode is a built-in troubleshooting feature that disables unnecessary programs and during the boot process. windows 10 safe mode loads the operating system with a minimal set of system device drivers just enough to boot windows os and in safe mode startup programs, add-ons etc do not run. If due to this problem you are unable to perform the troubleshooting steps, booting in safe mode can help you a lot.
Check out this video to know more about the safe mode boot option in Windows .
Follow the steps below to boot Windows in safe mode. Click on Start – select Update and Security – Select the recovery way from the left side – Now click on Restart from below to Advanced Start.
This will restart windows in advanced options Here select troubleshooting in the next Select startup settings. Now press F4 to simply enable safe mode. This will start Windows in safe mode where we can easily fix the Explorer problem without any error.
Completely uninstall the recently installed program
If you are facing this issue (Explorer keeps restarting) after installing a third-party application or program, then this application may not be compatible with Windows or may contain a virus, thus causing this error, uninstall the application can fix the problem. Here How To Uninstall Any Recently Installed Application.First Open Control Panel Here Select View By Category And Click Uninstall A Program.
Now, when the uninstall and change program screen opens, select the recently installed application Click on it and select uninstall to completely remove the program from your system.
Update graphics card driver
Sometimes problems with your graphics card can make Windows Explorer unresponsive or problematic. The video card issue may be creating the explorer.exe reboot loop. So, try updating your graphics card and see if it fixes the problem. To update the graphics driver on your system, right-click on This PC and select Manage, which will open the Computer Management window, select Device Manager on the left side.
This will install the best available driver for your windows. if this doesn’t work for you then just uninstall the driver and get the latest driver from the manufacturer’s website
To obtain an updated version of the drivers for your graphics card, visit your graphics card manufacturer’s website. Search by card model and download the appropriate drivers compatible with your operating system and system type (x64 or x86). To find them, hold down the Windows key and press R, type msinfo32 and press Enter.
Most of the time windows explorer stops working is fixed after update, driver rollback or reinstall graphic driver.
Run an SFC utility to repair the damaged files
System File Check is a command prompt syntax for checking system file corruption, it scans the integrity of all protected operating system files and replaces the wrong, corrupted, changed or damaged versions with the correct versions whenever possible . Since SFC scans protected operating system files, you will need administrator rights to run this command. Click on the Start menu and type CMD and right-click on Run as administrator.
Now type the command ” Sfc /scannow ” and enter to run it. This will start scanning your windows for errors.
Sfc /scannow will inspect all important Windows files on your computer, including Windows DLL files. If System File Checker finds a problem with any of these protected files, it will replace it.
Wait until the scanning process is complete after 100% completion Reboot your system.
Copy Explorer.exe to the System 32 folder
Sometimes copying the Explorer.exe to the System 32 folder can fix this problem. Here how to do first open this PC – Windows installed Drive C – Windows – and find the explorer folder click on it and select copy. Now find the System 32 folder in the same directory, open the folder and paste the copied Explorer folder here. That is all.
Check for viruses and malware
On virus-infected PCs, Explorer.exe issue occurs more frequently. Otherwise, you may also experience this problem only when you go to open any specific folder or file browser. In that case, a full scan with a good antivirus program can help. It will detect malicious programs and viruses and remove them. As well as you can fix Windows explorer restart problem.
Now perform a full system scan. After scanning complete process, just restart windows and check that Windows is running smoothly. Also, run third-party system optimization tool like Ccleaner to clean system junk files and remove corrupted registry files.
Delete corrupted explorer.exe from the Registry
Open Registry Editor: Press the Windows button and type “regedit”. Click on it to open it. Click YES on the User Account Control window.
Before making any changes, back up the registry just in case.
Registry Editor > File > Export > Provide a file name > save to computer.
Delete the “explorer.exe” key from the Registry First open the registry windows by Win + R and type regedit and click OK, this will open the Windows Registry window.
Vaya a “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options” y elimine la clave “explorer.exe” de la barra lateral izquierda.
And after that just reboot windows, hope after doing this steps your problem will be solved.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, just reach out in the comments section below.
Here are some of the best working solutions to fix windows explorer stopped working, windows explorer not responding, windows explorer has stopped working and keeps restarting and crashing problem for windows 10, 8.1, and windows 7 computers.