Windows Explorer is one of your system’s most essential components. Windows explorer keeps crashing. Users will have trouble accessing files and directories on their computers. Occasional crashes may not be a big deal. However, if Windows Explorer keeps crashing frequently, it’s a problem that has to be looked into.
Unless you know what’s causing the problem, try some of the typical remedies to see if they stop the “windows explorer keeps crashing” error. In addition, there are some measures you may take to try to fix it on your Windows machine.
Methods To Solve File Explorer Keeps Crashing
- Keep Your Windows Up To Date
- Clear File Explorer History
- Run CHKDSK And SFC Scans
- Run Netsh Winsock Reset
- Check Installed Add-ons
- Make Changes To Graphics Card Driver
- Disable Thumbnails
- Launch Folder Windows In Separate Process
- Check Account Permission
- Disable Quick Access And Set Open File Explorer To This PC
Keep Your Windows Up To Date
It’s possible that “File Explorer keeps crashing in Windows 10” is caused by faults in the Windows operating system. Microsoft continues to improve the Operating System by releasing Windows updates. As a result, whenever a new update is available, keep your Windows up to date.
- Go to the “Settings” window by pressing the “Win + I” keys together.
- Select the “Update & Security” option on the screen.
- Look for “Windows Update” in the left panel and click on the “Check for updates” option in the right panel.
- You can download updates if they appear on the screen.
- Restart your desktop after the updates have been downloaded.
Clear File Explorer History
Windows Explorer, like your web browsers and other apps, preserves the history of the activities that have occurred in it. For example, suppose you haven’t deleted the account in a long time and haven’t used Explorer. The files may have been collected significantly, leading to the “file explorer keeps crashing” issue.
It should be fixed if you clear the history in Windows Explorer.
- From the Start menu, type control in the search box.
- From the list of options, select Control Panel.
- In the upper right corner of the Control Panel window, type “file” in the search field.
- From the list of options, select File Explorer Options.
- To clear the history in File Explorer, click Clear. Then click OK.
To open your File Explorer, press the Windows logo key and E simultaneously. Then, verify that it works properly.
Run CHKDSK And SFC Scans
Some utilities may close unexpectedly due to faulty discs or files in your system. If you start looking for corrupt drives and fixing them manually, it will not be the best solution.
There are various built-in methods in Windows that might assist you in resolving the issue of corrupt drives. Use some of the instructions in the command prompt to fix the problem on your machine.
Carry Out A Hard Drive Check
- In the Search window, write cmd, and then right-click Run as administrator from the menu.
- In the prompt, type chkdsk /f /r and then hit Enter.
- Press the Y key to affirm that you want the system to do a hard drive check the next time it begins, and then the Enter key.
- To force Windows to run a hard disc scan, restart your computer. Then see if this fixes the problem with Windows 10 Explorer crashing.
Check The System Files.
- If CHKDSK doesn’t help, you can run a system file check.
- As an administrator, open Command Prompt.
- In the window, type SFC /scannow and then hit Enter.
- Then wait for Windows to detect any damaged system files and, if any are found, Windows will immediately repair them.
- Restart your computer to see if Windows 10 Explorer crashes again; if it does, try one of the options below.
Run Netsh Winsock Reset
The “netsh Winsock reset” is used to recover the computer from any socket issues. Issues may arise when downloading an unfamiliar file or when the machine is infected with a malicious script. Running this command may assist users in resolving the issue “Windows File Explorer keeps crashing.”
- Open the Start and type cmd in the search field. Then right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator from the context menu.
- When the User Account Control prompts you, select Yes.
- To run the command, type it in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.
- netsh Winsock reset
- Restart your Windows 10 computer.
- To open your File Explorer, press the Windows logo key and E simultaneously. Then, verify that it works properly.
Check Installed Add-ons
Installed add-ons may be the source of the Windows 10 Explorer keeps crashing issue. In Windows Explorer, a variety of apps install add-ons. These add-ons are helpful, but they can cause Windows Explorer to slow down or crash.
As a result, check to see whether any add-ons for Windows Explorer have been installed. If you have third-party add-ons installed, you should disable or uninstall them all. If this approach works, you may then re-enable the add-ons one by one to identify the offender.
The third-party application can be used to view detailed information and then disable installed add-ons.
Make Changes To Graphics Card Driver
It’s also possible that an out-of-date graphics card driver is causing File Explorer to crash on Windows 10. You can eliminate this factor by updating your computer’s graphics driver.
- To access Device Manager, press the Win + X keys simultaneously.
- In the newly opened box, expand Display adapters, then right-click your graphics card and select Uninstall device.
- Select Delete this device’s driver program and then click Uninstall.
- When you restart your computer, your graphics card will be reinstalled automatically.
- If Windows does not automatically reinstall your graphics card driver.
- Visit the video card manufacturer’s website to get the most recent driver for your device.
- Reopen Device Manager and select Scan for Hardware Changes from the Action menu at the top.
- Restart your computer after the operation is complete to see if Windows 10 Explorer crashes again.
Disable Thumbnails
Thumbnails could be causing your Windows 10 File Explorer to crash. When a folder contains several photos, this is a common occurrence. Turning off the thumbnails will prevent Explorer from crashing. Take a look at the following instructions:
- In the Search area, write the control panel, and then click Control Panel.
- Now search “File” in the control panel search area.
- Then click File Explorer Options and select View by Large Icons.
- Choose “Always show icons,” never thumbnails from the View tab. Then, to save your changes, click Apply and OK.
- The issue with “windows explorer keeps crashing” should be resolved after removing thumbnails.
Launch Folder Windows In Separate Process
Unless you choose a separate process for each folder window, the Explorer will utilize the same process. As a result, it can sometimes generate conflicts and complications, resulting in the Explorer crashing suddenly.
- From the Start menu, type control in the search box. Then, from the list of options, select Control Panel.
- In the upper right corner of the Control Panel window, type “file” in the search field. Then, from the list of options, select File Explorer Options.
- Access View panel. Select “Launch folder windows in a separate process” Apply and then OK.
- To open your File Explorer, press the Windows logo key and E simultaneously. Then, verify that it works properly.
Check Account Permission
If you observe that Windows 10 Explorer is crashing when you try to enter a specific folder, ensure you have full permission to access it. To do so, follow the guidelines below:
- Right-click the folder. Then pick Properties from the context menu.
- Click the Security tab and select Advanced from the drop-down menu.
- Then at the Top, click Change next to Owner and type administrator (your user account) in the box.
- Add names under section “Enter the object name to select.”
- To double-check that the name is correct, click Check Names. To quit Select User or Group, click OK, then OK to save your changes.
- To alter permissions, navigate to the Security tab in the User Properties window and click Edit.
- Check Allow for Full Control in the Permission for Administrators box, then click OK to save your changes.
- Check if Windows 10 Explorer keeps crashing after you acquire full permission to browse the folder.
Disable Quick Access And Set Open File Explorer To This PC
Quick Access makes it easier to open a folder you use frequently. However, it could cause File Explorer crashes in Windows 10. Set File Explorer to open to This PC instead of Quick Access to eliminate this capability.
- Go to the General tab in the File Explorer Options window (control panel).
- Instead of Quick access, set Open File Explorer to This PC.
- In the privacy section, uncheck both
- “Show recently used files in Quick access.”
- “Show frequently used folders in Quick access.”
- Save changes by selecting Apply and OK.
Conclusion
Many people may find it difficult to recover all of their data files. You’ll be in a lot of trouble if you lose your data. I believe one of the solutions listed above will help you fix your “windows explorer keeps crashing” error.
I recommend generating a system image. Then, quickly restore the backup if Windows 10 Explorer or the entire system crashes.
