Microsoft fixes File Explorer crash bug in Windows 11

If you’ve been experiencing an annoying bug in Windows 11 where File Explorer keeps crashing for no apparent reason, rest assured that Microsoft says it’s finally fixed.

Spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft’s note says that File Explorer can crash for various reasons, but this particular issue has been fixed and should no longer happen. The note wasn’t delivered in an official support page but by a post in the Feedback Hub for Insider testers.

When users tried to open File Explorer via the taskbar, it stopped responding and crashed. According to Microsoft, this File Explorer issue has been fixed starting with Insider build 22635.4005.

For now, only Insider testers will benefit from this fix, but all Windows 11 users will eventually get the fix. This means that the latest major update for Windows 11, namely KB5041587, doesn’t yet fix this bug.




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Update KB5041587 is no longer just for testers, but is now an optional update that Windows users currently still have to install manually. After installing KB5041587, non-Insider versions of Windows 11 will have build numbers 22621.4112 or 22631.4112.

If you haven’t installed optional update KB5041587 yet, we recommend it. It’s full of helpful system features and improvements along with several other fixes that affect the performance and stability of File Explorer. Notable new features include the ability to share files directly with Android phones, significant performance boosts for AMD’s newest Ryzen CPUs, and improvements to Narrator and Dictation.

Microsoft emphasizes that there can be many different reasons behind File Explorer crashes and that users shouldn’t hesitate to continue reporting such issues to Microsoft.

Further reading: Windows 11’s taskbar hides a secret feature for pros