Visual Studio versions crashing when opening Windows Explorer

Marcos Varela 0 Reputation points
2026-02-12T11:10:43.1333333+00:00

Hello,

My Visual Studio 2017, 2019 and 2022 will crash whenever I try to open any project, solution or file. The moment the Windows Explorer appears, it stops responding and all my IDE crashes. This has been happening for the last 2 weeks and I can't work normally since then. It only works If I open them from the recent native VS section. I tried reinstalling, reparing, updating my Windows but this keeps happening. The only possibility I manage to think about is that when I installed VS Insiders something got corrupted. Far from this I haven't done anything different. Explorer obviosuly works outside VS.

Thank you very much.

Developer technologies | Visual Studio | Other
Developer technologies | Visual Studio | Other

A family of Microsoft suites of integrated development tools for building applications for Windows, the web, mobile devices and many other platforms. Miscellaneous topics that do not fit into specific categories.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-02-12T11:10:55.0066667+00:00

    It sounds like you're experiencing a frustrating issue with Visual Studio crashing when trying to open projects or files. Here are a few troubleshooting steps that may help resolve the problem:

    1. Reset Visual Studio Settings: You can try resetting Visual Studio to its default settings. Open a Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio and run the command: 
         devenv /resetsettings
    2. Clear the MEF Cache: Sometimes, the MEF cache can become corrupted. Close Visual Studio and delete the following folder: 
         %localappdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\<version>\ComponentModelCache
      Replace <version> with the version number of Visual Studio you are using.
    3. Disable Hardware Acceleration: If you are using hardware acceleration, try disabling it. Go to Tools > Options > Environment > General and uncheck the option for hardware graphics acceleration.
    4. Check for Conflicting Software: Ensure that no other software (like antivirus or other development tools) is conflicting with Visual Studio. Temporarily disable any antivirus or firewall software to see if it resolves the issue.
    5. Reinstall Visual Studio: If the problem persists, consider completely uninstalling Visual Studio and reinstalling it. Make sure to remove all related components during the uninstall process.
    6. Check Windows Updates: Ensure that your Windows operating system is fully updated, as updates can sometimes resolve compatibility issues.

    If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to consider reporting the problem to Microsoft for further assistance, especially since you mentioned that the issue started after installing Visual Studio Insiders.

    References:

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