How to Quickly Restart File Explorer on Windows 11?

If your Windows 11 screen freezes or you need to restart File Explorer quickly to apply a registry tweak, this risewindows article will guide you on some quick methods to restart File Explorer on Windows 11.

To restart File Explorer in Windows 11, use one of the following methods:-

• Task Manager
• Windows PowerShell
• Command Prompt
• Keyboard Shortcut
• Desktop Shortcut

How to Restart File Explorer using Task Manager?

Follow these steps to restart File Explorer in Windows 11 via Task Manager:

Step 1. First of all, open Task Manager.

You can use Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut to do that.

Step 2. When Task Manager appears on your computer, switch to the Users tab.

Step 3. After that, click on the arrow before your current user account to expand the list of running programs.

Step 4. Then select Windows Explorer in the list and right-click on it.

Step 5. Finally, choose the Restart option in the pop-menu to restart File Explorer.

How to Restart File Explorer using Windows PowerShell?

Follow these steps to restart File Explorer with Windows PowerShell:-

Step 1. First of all, open Windows PowerShell as an administrator.

Step 2. To restart the File Explorer, type one of the following commands in the elevated PowerShell window and press the Enter key from the keyboard:-

• stop-process -name explorer -force
• kill -n explorer

How to Restart File Explorer Through Command Prompt?

Follow the below-described steps to restart File Explorer through Command Prompt:-

Step 1. First of all, launch Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2. Then, to restart File Explorer, type the following commands one by one and press the Enter key on the keyboard after each command:-

• taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
• start explorer.exe

How to Restart File Explorer via Keyboard Shortcut?

If you prefer to restart File Explorer with a keyboard shortcut, follow these steps:

To begin, press and hold the Alt + Tab keys together to bring up the Task Switcher. Then, while holding down the Tab key, press F4. That’s all. Windows Explorer will restart itself.

How to Restart File Explorer by Desktop Shortcut?

You first create a desktop shortcut before you can use this method. To do so, right-click on a blank space on your desktop and choose New > Shortcut from the context menu. 

Now, copy and paste the following command into the location box:-

cmd.exe /c "taskkill.exe /f /im explorer.exe && start explorer.exe"

Next, click on the Next button.

In the following screen, give the shortcut a proper name and click the Finish button.

Now that you’ve created a shortcut to restart File Explorer, you can restart it by double-clicking the desktop shortcut you made. 

That’s it!

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