Windows 11 zipped folders / files immediately crashes File Explorer

Anonymous
2022-01-24T04:24:45+00:00

My Dell laptop was previously Windows 10, now 11. When I right click any zipped folder, it immediately crashes Windows Explorer, but then everything comes back. I can't unzip any zipped file at all - doesn't seem to matter what size it is.

I was trying to use the built-in unzipper utility in Windows, and when that didn't work I tried a couple 3rd party apps, including WinZip. Nothing works; they all crash, and they crash on ANY zipped file I have.

And by the way if I try to ZIP any set of files - even just 3 little word files, it does the same thing. The screen flashes, all my icons go away for a second. Then things come back, but nothing will zip or unzip.

thanks if you have any ideas!

Christine

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-05-23T12:18:35+00:00

    Same problem. And I don't have Carbonite.

    Doesn't matter if it's Windows built in Compressed Folders utility, or WinZip 21.07 (x64). Crashes File Explorer.

    Pretty serious issue to last so long as an open one. Doesn't give much confidence in Windows 11 over its predecessor.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-01-09T19:13:53+00:00

    I had the same problem but resolved it by following steps.

    Open your CMD and type

    ipconfig /flushdns

    hit enter

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-26T02:52:09+00:00

    Here is the fix, as posted by Rollover M.

    1. Launch File Explorer Options from the Windows menu
    2. Go to the View tab
    3. Check the Launch folder windows in a separate process box
    4. Click on Apply

    ![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/d92d872e-a415-4d6f-9a94-cac498618137?platform=QnA

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-02-28T17:10:54+00:00

    I had this exact problem in Windows 11 on a new laptop. In my case, the culprit was Carbonite (which I saw mentioned in another thread somewhere). When I shut down the Carbonite service, the problem goes away. Apparently Carbonite knows about this, so I'm waiting for a fix.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-02-08T21:42:01+00:00

    Hello,

    I'm also having this problem. I just got a new laptop for a friend, installed her software, migrated her files, and the first time we click a zip file in Windows Explorer, it crashed.

    I tried the troubleshooter, DISM (restore health variation), sfc/ scannow, clearing the cache of Explorer, changing the Explorer default from Quick Access to This PC, restarting the computer (in between each troubleshooting step), getting all Windows updates (one was missing and some Office updates were not installed), restarting Windows Explorer using the Task Manager, and using ShellMenuView to disable context menu items selectively for testing. Nothing is working. We're using the 7-zip workaround that Alex Hare shared in this thread. (Thank you!) Here are a few screen captures that might help. In the half-hour or so that I was online with her today, Windows Explorer crashed 46 times. Ugh.

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