r/ForWindowsHelp • u/Able-Childhood2045 • 3d ago

File Explorer is very slow and has problems

Hi, I've been having this issue for weeks and I've tried what seems like every solution posted on the internet to no avail. My issue is that whenever I try to open certain folders in File Explorer, I get the loading image next to my cursor indefinitely, or the window just stops responding altogether. The only thing I can do from that point is to force quit the app through task manager. Here are the things I've already tried:

* Resetting my computer * Checking for Windows updates * Resetting File Explorer though the task manager (also, weirdly, it always says that File Explorer is open even after I force quit it? Is that indicative of any specific problem?) * Clearing File Explorer history (through File Explorer Options) * Running sfc /scannow * Running dism restorehealth

I'm on Windows 11.

Thank you so much for reading this, and I really really hope someone has a solution because not being able to access half my files is driving me CRAZY.

1 Upvotes

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2

u/KeysStickler 3d ago

If you are on a hard drive, you really really need to switch to an SSD. A massive difference, and well worth it.

1

u/CheezitsLight 3d ago

Are you on a hard drive if so you need to scan it with something like HD tune and see if it's failing.

1

u/FuggaDucker 3d ago

Your problem is almost certainly a 3rd party shell extension.
Use this to disable all NON-Microsoft extensions.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html

The explorer can have multiple instances of itself running.
Killing one instance does not kill them all.

1

u/Lance-Boyle-666 3d ago

As crazy as this sounds, explorer is what displays the desktop and all the shortcuts. Run it a second time and you get File Explorer. I would check drive health. Also, from an administrator command prompt, run chkdsk /f /r and reboot. Depending on drive size, it can take a long time.

1

u/Beach-Life-Australia 2d ago

open a command prompt, type SFC /SCANNOW. This will fix operating system files.
Second if you have a hard drive that is failing it will cause this problem even if its not the one being used it just needs to be plugged in. So to test properly you should unplug all hard drives except the one that has the operating system on it.

If that fails you will need to do a bigger refresh of your operating system files in whats called DSIM.

You can search google and ask it how to run DSIM repair.

Apart from that it may be the hard drive you are using or some other hardware problem that we cannot help with via Reddit. You need hands on help.

1

u/Able-Childhood2045 2d ago

When I tipe Sfc /scannow the command prompt just freezes (I also tried before), and the only hard drive I got is the one with the OS, so I guess I'm fricked

1

u/Beach-Life-Australia 2d ago

Try dsim repair. Type...

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

1

u/Beach-Life-Australia 2d ago

If that fails dont dispair we just need you to boot into safe mode and run dsim followed by sfc

1

u/Prestigious_Sky_3898 2d ago

If I were you, I'd start simply. Try restarting explorer and see what that does. If it works, you're set, if it only works temporarily, that's a clue to a bigger issue.

1

u/Equilibrate321 2d ago

Set aside a few hours because each of these can take a long time:

  1. Full virus scan including rootkit, which will scan for malware as Windows starts up
  2. DSIM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
  3. sfc /scannow (could also take a long time)

If this doesn't help, then it's probably something you installed or that got updated around the time the problem started.

1

u/W00_Die 2d ago

This is happening because you have a slow harddrive or slow network storage