Windows/File Explorer can also be accessed through the Command prompt, Task Manager, Run dialog box as well as W indows PowerShell. When to Restart Windows/File Explorer app in Windows 11 ...

You can restart Windows Explorer using your computer's Task Manager tool. Restarting Windows Explorer can help solve performance issues, especially if Windows Exporer has crashed.

Fix #3: Restart File Explorer process in Task manager If the File-Explorer-won’t-open issue continues, you can try to see what happens if you restart its process instance in the Task Manager.

Choose "Exit Explorer." Open the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), navigate to File->Run, enter "explorer" and hit OK. Why would you ever want to restart Explorer, you might ask?

Instead, open File Explorer and enter C:WindowsSysWOW64Taskmgr.exe in the address bar. The old task manager starts immediately.

Microsoft's Process Explorer is a powerful utility that makes the built-in Windows Task Manager obsolete. Here's how to use it.