There are times when Windows Explorer gets stuck or even the Start Carte du jour or the task bar is not responding. The best solution is to restart Windows Explorer without restarting the system.

In this article, we will discuss different ways to restart Windows Explorer to fix the issues without restarting the system.

Table of contents

  • What is Windows Explorer/File Explorer
  • How to restart Windows Explorer
    • Restart Windows Explorer using the Task Manager
    • Terminate and start Windows Explorer manually
    • Restart Windows Explorer using control line
    • Restart Windows Explorer using an automatic batch file

What is Windows Explorer/File Explorer

Windows Explorer, besides known equally the File Explorer is the soul of Windows. It is the User Interface through which a user connects to all the applications and the services the Windows is hosting.

The process running behind Windows Explorer is Explorer.exe. It is also the procedure that runs the Desktop, taskbar, notification tray, Starting time Menu, all of the Dialog Boxes and Prompts, and controller Interfaces.

Without the explorer.exe process, Windows would merely not exist operatable under a graphical user interface.

How to restart Windows Explorer

At that place are ways to restart the explorer.exe procedure. Allow's starting time with the basics and work our way upwardly from at that place.

Restart Windows Explorer using the Task Manager

Windows Job Manager is a resource management tool for Windows that can manage processes, tune upwards performance, and manage Windows startup and services.

It is also used to kill applications and processes that have go unresponsive or would not entirely quit and keep running in the background.

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut keys to open up the Chore Manager.
  2. Click on More details at the bottom.
    task manager more details
  3. Under the Processes tab, right-click the Windows Explorer process and then click on Restart.
    task manager restart
  4. This will automatically shut down the explorer.exe procedure and then restart it once again. All applications and folders using the procedure will shut.

Stop and beginning Windows Explorer manually

  1. Under the Processes tab, right-click the Windows Explorer process and then click on Go to details.
    task manager go to details
  2. The Job Manager volition then automatically jump to the Details tab and highlight the explorer.exe process. Now right-click the procedure and select End task.
    task manager end task
  3. A confirmation dialog box will appear. Select End procedure to terminate the process. Notation that this will also close all applications using explorer.exe and volition remain airtight unless the process has been restarted.
  4. Ordinarily it takes a few minutes for Windows 10 to automatically restart the process. If you do not wish to look, click on File in the top-left corner of the Task Manager and then select Run new task.
    task manager run new task
  5. In the Create new task dialog box, enter explorer.exe. You may cheque the checkbox below to run the process with administrative privileges if you want to run Explorer as an administrator only it is not recommended in normal circumstances.
    task manager create new task explorer
  6. Click Ok. This will start Windows Explorer with all the user interface elements.

Note: Steps 1, ii & 3 can as well be accomplished birthday by holding downwards Ctrl + Shift and so right-clicking on an empty infinite on the Taskbar.

Click on Exit explorer to kill the explorer.exe process. Then continue with steps 4, 5 & half dozen to restart the process, by accessing the Task Manager with the shortcut keys Ctrl + Shift + Esc.

If you create a New Task past entering explorer.exe, while it is already running and tin can be seen in the Details tab, it will only open a new Windows Explorer window. This would non be equivalent to restarting the explorer.exe process.

Restart Windows Explorer using control line

The explorer.exe process can be restarted to achieve the same furnishings with the help of two simple commands. These tin be run on both Command Prompt and PowerShell.

Launch Run by pressing the Windows Cardinal + R and enter:

  • cmd for Command Prompt
  • powershell for Windows PowerShell (Or pwsh for PowerShell Cadre)
  1. In the command line, enter the following command to terminate the explorer.exe process:
    taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
  2. Once it successfully runs, enter the following command to restart the process:
    beginning explorer.exe
    cmd commands

Restart Windows Explorer using an automatic batch file

  1. Go to the Desktop and right-click on any blank space to open up the Context Menu. Aggrandize New so select Text Document.
    batch new text document
  2. Open the text document and paste the following script in it:
    taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe<br>beginning explorer.exe<br>exit
  3. Now click on File and then Save as.
  4. Enter the name of the file equally RestartWindowsExplorer.bat, and select Relieve as type as All Files.
    batch save as windows
    Click on Save after browsing to the location of your choice.
  5. Y'all will now notice a new file has been created.
    batch file created icon
    You only need to run this file by double-clicking it each time you wish to restart the explorer.exe procedure. Y'all tin also assign a keyboard shortcut to this file.

It is not wise to restart the explorer.exe process very frequently and only recommended to do and so when facing lag, or feeling that the operating system's functioning is not ideal, or finer enforce some changes which yous have made to the system that requires a system reboot.

Moreover, it is not always necessary that a process reboot is a perfect alternative for a organisation reboot, but in that location is no damage in trying it before going for a complete computer reboot.

Yet, e'er ensure that all the data is saved in applications and programs utilizing the procedure, as they are leap to shut down when restarting the explorer.exe process.

Did you detect this method effective to get rid of everyday lag and system slowness?

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Subhan holds a caste in Electrical Engineering and has completed several systems and network certifications including Huwaei, Cisco and Microsoft certs. He mostly researches and writes virtually the Windows earth.