If File Explorer keeps restarting on your Windows 11/10 PC, read this guide to know how to fix the issue. Some Windows users have reported that File Explorer keeps restarting randomly on startup. This abrupt behavior can cause the taskbar icons to refresh automatically (the Taskbar goes blank and reloads the icons after a few seconds), which can be annoying. If you’re also experiencing the same issue, we will show you some effective solutions to stop your File Explorer from restarting every few seconds.
File Explorer keeps restarting in Windows 11
File Explorer helps you browse files and folders on a Windows PC. It becomes very inconvenient when it doesn’t function normally. If your File Explorer keeps restarting, use these solutions to fix the issue:
- Kill the explorer.exe process and restart the PC
- Disable Thumbnails
- Disable Preview Pane
- Clear File Explorer history
- Disable suspicious 3rd party shell extensions
- Modify BannerStore Registry Key
- Perform SFC scan
- Troubleshoot in Clean Boot State
Let us see these in detail.
1] Kill the explorer.exe process and restart the PC
For some reason, this workaround has helped many. Kill the explorer.exe process (and other unnecessary background processes) in Windows Task Manager and then restart the computer.
To do this, right-click on the Start button icon and select Task Manager. Switch to the Details tab. Type ‘explorer’ in the Search bar on top. explorer.exe will show up. Right-click on the process and select End Task.
Once the process ends, reboot your PC. Press the Windows logo key + L. Click on the Power icon in the bottom-right corner and select Restart.
Read: Windows Explorer High Power Usage
2] Disable Thumbnails
If the above solution won’t work, disable the thumbnails option in File Explorer. Thumbnails are small pictorial representations of files. If they’re corrupted, File Explorer can’t retrieve them and may crash or restart.
Open File Explorer. Click on the three horizontal dots on the right side of the toolbar in the Explorer window. Select Options.
Switch to the View tab in the Folder Options window. Check the Always show icons, never thumbnails option. Also, uncheck the Display file icons on thumbnails option. Click on the Apply button, then on the OK button. Now restart Explorer and see if it works.
Read: Explorer crashes when you right-click
3] Disable Preview Pane
The Preview Pane allows you to view a preview of the selected file on the right side of the File Explorer window. If the selected file is damaged, Explorer won’t be able to fetch its preview. This may cause the File Explorer to crash and restart. In such a case, turning off the Preview Pane feature can help fix the issue.
Open File Explorer and click on the View menu in the toolbar. Click on Show and deselect the Preview pane option.
Read: File Explorer crashes or freezes when creating New folder
4] Clear File Explorer history
A few users have resolved the issue by clearing File Explorer history, which may contain corrupt file records.
Open File Explorer Options (as explained above). Click on the Clear button next to the Clear File Explorer history option under the General tab.
Read: Explorer crashes or freezes while accessing Mapped Network Drives
5] Disable suspicious 3rd party shell extensions
Shell extensions are COM objects that extend the capabilities of File Explorer. They can be installed automatically by the OS or by third-party software. Third-party shell extensions can sometimes cause issues with File Explorer. You can use the freeware ShellExView or AutoRuns to view and disable suspicious 3rd party extensions on your Windows 11/10 PC.
Read: Explorer crashes after resizing or snapping
6] Modify BannerStore Registry Key
Many users have resolved the issue by renaming or deleting the BannerStore registry key. This key, if gets misconfigured or corrupted, could lead to a temporary buffer overrun, which may cause File Explorer issues in Windows (a buffer is a dedicated RAM space to store temporary data). Modify the BannerStore registry key and see if it fixes the issue.
Note: Create a system restore point before making any changes to the Windows registry.
Press Win+R and type ‘regedit‘ in the Run dialogue box. Press the Enter key and click on the Yes button in the UAC prompt.
Navigate to the following path in the Registry Editor window:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BannerStore
Rename the BannerStore folder to BannerStore_Bak. Reboot Windows; the issue should now be gone.
Read: Explorer.exe High Memory & CPU usage
7] Perform SFC scan
Next, use the System File Checker tool to run the sfc /scannow command. This command scans your Windows system for corrupt system files and repairs them automatically.
Read: File Explorer keeps popping up
8] Troubleshoot in Clean Boot State
If everything else fails, try troubleshooting in a clean boot state to identify and resolve any software conflicts. Clean Boot is a diagnostic mode where you manually disable all non-Microsoft services (services related to third-party software) to see whether the issue disappears. If it does, re-enable the services one by one and reboot until the problem returns. This way, you can identify which background process is interfering with File Explorer.
Also, run a virus scan to rule out any possibility of virus or malware infection on your PC. Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security. Click on Virus & threat protection. Then click on Quick Scan.
I hope these troubleshooting steps help you resolve the File Explorer restart issue on your Windows 11/10 PC.
Constantly have to restart Windows Explorer
If you have to restart File Explorer constantly because it freezes or crashes, check the installed shell extensions, add-ins or Explorer context menu entries and remove any you don’t need.
Also Read: File Explorer not showing files even though they exist on Windows.
Why does my File Explorer keep restarting?
The explorer.exe restart loop could result from corrupted system files, corrupted or misconfigured registry entries, corrupted file thumbnails, corrupted file records in File Explorer history, or conflicting third-party shell extensions. Corrupted or outdated video drivers may also cause the issue.
How do I fix File Explorer crashing on Windows 11?
To stop File Explorer from freezing or crashing on your Windows 11/10 PC, install the latest updates, disable the preview pane and thumbnails view in Explorer, disable suspected third-party shell extensions, temporarily disable the UAC prompt, and update your video drivers. If the issue continues, you can use the System File Checker tool to repair corrupt system files.
Read Next: Explorer.exe High Memory & CPU usage in Windows.
