File Explorer hangs and closes when opening from taskbar shortcut, not Win + E

Faas, Jason 60 Reputation points
2026-01-28T14:44:37.19+00:00

Hey all. We were having an issue with one user's laptop where whenever they would open file explorer, the computer would hang up and eventually close explorer and reopen it. We went through and cleared the file history and unchecked all of the "show...." boxes in the folder options, ran SFC and DISM cleanups, rebooted, and it still exists. What I find weird is that if you do the keyboard shortcut (Win + E), it opens fine. I removed the shortcut from the taskbar, hit Win + E, and re-pinned it wondering if that would fix, and that did not as well. Any idea why its just the taskbar shortcut that is causing it to lag and close?

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | Performance | Windows desktop and shell experience
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  1. AI answer

    2026-01-28T14:44:49.0133333+00:00

    The issue you're experiencing with File Explorer hanging and closing when opened from the taskbar shortcut, while working fine with the Win + E shortcut, could be related to the taskbar shortcut itself or the way it interacts with the system. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can consider:

    1. Recreate the Taskbar Shortcut: Since you've already tried removing and re-pinning the shortcut, ensure that the original shortcut is not corrupted. You can try creating a new shortcut manually by navigating to the File Explorer executable (usually located in C:\Windows\explorer.exe) and pinning that to the taskbar.
    2. Clear Icon Cache: Sometimes, issues with the taskbar shortcuts can be related to the icon cache. Clearing the icon cache might help resolve the problem. You can follow the steps to clear the icon cache as outlined in troubleshooting guides.
    3. Check for Corrupt User Profile: If the problem persists, it might be worth checking if the user profile is corrupted. You can create a new user account and see if the issue occurs there as well.
    4. Windows Updates: Ensure that the system is fully updated, as updates can fix bugs related to the taskbar and File Explorer.
    5. Event Viewer: Check the Event Viewer for any error messages related to File Explorer that might give more insight into why it's crashing from the taskbar.

    If these steps do not resolve the issue, it may require deeper investigation into system logs or a potential repair of the Windows installation.

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  2. Domic Vo 32,305 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-01-28T15:03:22.6733333+00:00

    Hello Faas, Jason,

    The behavior you’re describing is tied to how Windows handles the pinned File Explorer shortcut on the taskbar. The Win+E shortcut calls explorer.exe directly with the default shell path, whereas the taskbar pin is a shortcut object stored under %AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar. If that shortcut becomes corrupted or points to an invalid CLSID or path, Explorer will attempt to resolve it, hang, and then restart itself. That explains why Win+E works fine but clicking the pinned icon causes the crash.

    The fix is to completely remove the pinned shortcut and rebuild it from a clean state. Delete the File Explorer shortcut from the pinned taskbar list mentioned above, then clear the cache under %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations (this is where Explorer jump list data is stored). After that, reboot and pin File Explorer again from C:\Windows\explorer.exe directly rather than re‑pinning from the existing shortcut. This ensures the taskbar entry points to the correct binary without stale metadata.

    If the issue persists even after recreating the shortcut, it can indicate corruption in the Explorer shell extensions or context handlers. In that case, you would need to disable non‑Microsoft shell extensions using Sysinternals Autoruns (Explorer tab) and test again. A faulty third‑party extension can cause Explorer to hang only when invoked through certain entry points like the pinned shortcut.

    I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

    Domic Vo.

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