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[Solved] Restart Windows Explorer.exe to Fix Windows Unresponsive Problem

Problem: How to solve the problem of Windows Explorer (Explorer.exe) has stopped working or unresponsive? There are different methods to restart Windows Explorer by Automatic and Manual.

Content Summary

Solution 1: Restart Windows Explorer via Task Manager
Solution 2: Restart Windows Explorer via Start Menu
Solution 3: Restart Windows Explorer using Batch File

Solution 1: Restart Windows Explorer via Task Manager

Step 1: Press Control + Shift + Escape, or right click Start Menu and click Task Manager.

Step 2: Click Processes tab at the top.

Step 3: Scroll to the bottom, under Windows processes, and click Windows Explorer to highlight.

Step 4: Click Restart.

Solution 2: Restart Windows Explorer via Start Menu

Step 1: Open Start menu.

Step 2: Hold down Control + Shift keys and right-click on blank space in the Start menu.

Step 3: Choose Exit Explorer.

Step 4: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, navigate to File > New Task (Run…), enter explorer and click OK.

Solution 3: Restart Windows Explorer using Batch File

Step 1: Open Notepad or any other text editor.

Step 2: Copy below command and paste it into three separate lines in your blank text document.
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start explorer.exe
exit

Step 3: Save the file with .bat extension.

Step 4: Double click the bat file to execute the command to restart Windows Explorer.

Alex Lim is a certified IT Technical Support Architect with over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting complex IT systems and networks. He has worked for leading IT companies, such as Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, providing technical support and solutions to clients across various industries and sectors. Alex has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and a master’s degree in information security from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also the author of several best-selling books on IT technical support, such as The IT Technical Support Handbook and Troubleshooting IT Systems and Networks. Alex lives in Bandar, Johore, Malaysia with his wife and two chilrdren. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Website | Twitter | Facebook

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