File Explorer keeps crashing in Windows
Jul 08, 2025 am 02:32 AMCommon causes of Windows File Explorer crash include third-party software conflicts, graphics card driver issues, thumbnail cache corruption or system file errors. The solutions are as follows: 1. Uninstall recently installed software that may affect Explorer and troubleshoot in safe mode; 2. Update or roll back the graphics card driver to a stable version; 3. Clean the thumbnail cache and reset the Explorer settings; 4. Run the sfc /scannow and DISM commands to check and repair system files, and if it is invalid, consider system restoring or reinstalling the system.
Windows File Explorer keeps crashing, which is really annoying. This situation often affects daily use, such as opening a folder, browsing a file suddenly stuck or restarting the Explorer. The problems may be due to system settings, third-party software conflicts, driver problems, and even system files corruption.

The following common reasons and corresponding solutions can help you troubleshoot and solve problems.

1. Check for recently installed software or extensions
Some third-party programs will add right-click menu items or integrated plug-ins to the Explorer. If there is any problem with these extensions, they may cause the entire Explorer to crash.
You can check this way:

- Open Task Manager (Ctrl Shift Esc), find "Windows Explorer", and right-click to select "Restart".
- If it still crashes after restarting, you can try to enter safe mode, disable all non-essential startup items and services to see if there is still a crash.
- Uninstall recently installed software that may affect the Explorer, such as compression tools, cloud disk clients, cleaning software, etc.
Common examples include tools such as some antivirus software, Dropbox, Google Drive, or Total Commander to replace explorer.
2. Update or rollback the graphics card driver
Graphic driver incompatibility is also one of the common causes of Explorer crashes, especially if you have problems after you have just updated your graphics card driver.
Recommended operations:
- Open Device Manager → Show Adapter → Right-click your graphics card → select "Update Driver".
- If it is already latest, you can try "rollback the driver" to the previous version to see if it is stable.
- Or go to the official website to download the latest stable version and install it manually.
Sometimes there may be bugs in the driver version automatically pushed by Windows, and it will be safer to switch back to the official recommended version at this time.
3. Clean the thumbnail cache and reset the Explorer settings
Explorer crashes may also be due to corrupt thumbnail caches, or personalization conflicts.
You can try the following steps:
- Enter
cleanmgr
in the Run window (Win R), select the system disk, and check "Thumbnail" to clean it. - Run
%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
again to delete the cached files (recommended to backup first). - Open the Explorer option (you can find it in Control Panel), set viewing method to default, and turn off some advanced display effects.
4. Check system file integrity
If none of the previous methods are useful, it may be that the system file is corrupted.
Perform system file scanning:
- Open a command prompt (CMD) as an administrator and enter:
sfc /scannow
- Wait for the scan to complete, if there are any corrupt files, they will be automatically repaired.
- If no exception is found, you can also run:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
These two commands can fix system image and component storage problems, and are also helpful for resource manager crashes.
Basically these common methods of handling it. In most cases, it can be done by starting with software conflicts or drivers. If it doesn't work, you may need to consider system restoring or reinstalling the system.
The above is the detailed content of File Explorer keeps crashing in Windows. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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