How to Fix Windows Explorer not responding in Windows 10 [Steps]

What is ‘Windows Explorer not responding’ issue in Windows 10?

In this post, we are going to discuss on How to fix Windows Explorer not responding in Windows 10. You will be guided with easy steps/methods to resolve the issue. Let’s starts the discussion.

‘Windows Explorer not responding’ issue:

‘Windows Explorer’: Windows Explorer is file manager application that is included with releases of Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. It is also the component of the operating system that presents many user interface items on the screen such as taskbar and desktop. This can be accessed using a shortcut combination ‘Windows + E’ keys on keyboard.

However, several users reported they faced Windows Explorer not responding issue when they tried to access Windows Explorer in Windows 10 computer. There could be several reasons behind the issue including the corrupted/outdated cache of Windows Explorer, File Explorer/ Windows Explorer history is not cleaned, outdated Windows OS, lack of enough storage space on your system drive, corruption in system files or registry, and other issues. Let’s go for the solution.

How to fix Windows Explorer not responding in Windows 10?

Method 1: Fix Windows Explorer not responding with ‘PC Repair Tool’

‘PC Repair Tool’ is easy & quick way to find and fix BSOD errors, DLL errors, EXE errors, problems with programs/applications, malware or viruses infections in computer, system files or registry issues, and other system issues with just few clicks.

Method 2: Restart Windows Explorer

Step 1: Press ‘CTRL + SHIFT + ESC’ keys on keyboard to open ‘Task Manager’ app

Step 2: Find and right-click ‘Windows Explorer’ process under ‘Processes’ tab, and select ‘Restart’ to restart it, and then check if the issue is resolved.

Method 3: Restart Windows Explorer via Command Prompt

Step 1: Type ‘cmd’ in Windows Search Box and press ‘CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER’ keys on keyboard to open ‘Command Prompt as Administrator’

Step 2: Type the following commands and hit ‘Enter’ key after each to execute.

taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

start explorer.exe

Step 3: Once executed, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.

Method 4: Restart Windows Explorer with a batch file

Step 1: Open ‘Notepad’ app in Windows PC via Windows Search Box

Step 2: Type the following text in Notepad window

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe

start explorer.exe

exit

Step 3: Now, click ‘File > Save As’ from menu, select ‘All Files’ as file type, rename the filename to ‘Restart Windows Explorer.bat’ and hit ‘Save’ to save the file.

Step 4: Once done, double-click on created batch file to run it and then check if the issue is resolved.

Method 5: Clear File Explorer history

One possible way to fix the issue is to clear file explorer history in computer.

Step 1: Open ‘Control Panel’ in Windows PC via Windows Search Box, select ‘Large icons’ option from ‘View By’ dropdown, and click ‘File Explorer Options’

Step 2: Click ‘Clear’ button under ‘Privacy’ section and then check if the issue is resolved.

Method 6: Revert your display settings

Step 1: Open ‘Settings’ app in your Windows PC via Windows Search Box and go to ‘System > Display’

Step 2: Under ‘Scale and layout’ section, set the scaling for text, apps, and other items to 100%, and then restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.

Method 7: Run Disk Cleanup tool

You can run Disk Cleanup tool in computer to delete temporary files and other unnecessary files in from drive in order to freeup to some storage.

Step 1: Open ‘Disk Cleanup’ tool in Windows PC via Windows Search Box

Step 2: Select your Windows installation drive like ‘C: drive’, and hit ‘Ok’ button

Step 3: Tick all the checkboxes that you want to perform delete action on, then hit ‘Ok’ and proceed. Once done, check if the issue is resolved.

Method 8: Run SFC Scan

You can run SFC Scan in computer to repair corruption in system files in order to fix the issue.

Step 1: Open ‘Command Prompt as Administrator’ using ‘Method 3’

Step 2: Type ‘sfc /scannow’ command and hit ‘Enter’ key to execute. Once executed, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.

Method 9: Update Windows 10

Updating Windows 10 OS to latest version can resolve the issue.

Step 1: Open ‘Settings’ app in Windows PC and go to ‘Update & Security > Windows Update’ and click ‘Check for updates’ button

Step 2: Download and install all available updates and once updated, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.

Conclusion

I am sure this article helped you on How to fix Windows Explorer not responding in Windows 10 with easy ways. You can read & follow our instructions to do so. That’s all. For any suggestions or queries, please write on comment box below.