unmap network drive still an issue in Win11

Question

I tried to unmap a drive, and it still shows up in the list, though now it is impossible to remove.

Same issue as here in Win 10: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/unable-to-disconnect-from-mapped-network-drive/3dd9aba1-e9b3-454f-9872-2521112ddede

I am neck-deep in some debug work right now and I don't consider restarting my machine to be an acceptable solution. Un-mapping the drive should un-map it, regardless of whether other programs are still using it. I have no problems with hanging up on those programs (which I suspect is just explorer.exe anyways).

I need to remap the drive letter during my debug process, and I can't restart to do that without interrupting the process, and as far as I can tell, none of my "real" programs are using this drive. Please just un-map it as requested.

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Files, folders, and storage***

Answer 1

Hello

To completely disconnect the network location, you can try the following steps:

1. Open File Explorer and click "This PC" on the left.
2. Right-click the network location you want to disconnect and select Disconnect.
3. Open Command Prompt as an administrator. Type "net use" and press Enter to see a list of all mapped network drives. Find the network location you want to disconnect and note the drive letter assigned to it. Type "net use [drive letter] / delete" and press Enter to disconnect the network location.
4. You can try to modify the registry by typing "regedit" in the search bar and pressing Enter to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Network". Find the key for the network location you want to disconnect and delete it.

Please note that modifying the registry can be risky, so it is important to back up the registry before making any changes.

Best regards

Zunhui

Answer 2

You support rehashing the same statement when years have gone by and it still isn't doing what it should. Please update your script so we can get some real help.

Answer 3

Once it's removed, try this.

Close all open folder windows.

Open Task Manager.

End process of "Explorer.exe".

Start a new process of "Explorer.exe".

That disconnected mapped drive will no longer appear.

Answer 4

Once it's removed, try this.

Close all open Explorer folder windows.

Open Task Manager.

Find the "Windows Explorer" process.

Right click and select "Restart".

This will terminate the Windows Explorer process and

lunch a new process of "Explorer.exe".

My Three "disconnected mapped drives" no longer appear.

02/06/2025

Windows Updates last run on January 27, 2025

Answer 5

Once it's removed, try this.

Close all open Explorer folder windows.

Open Task Manager.

Find the "Windows Explorer" process.

Right click and select "Restart".

This will terminate the Windows Explorer process and

lunch a new process of "Explorer.exe".

My Three "disconnected mapped drives" no longer appear.

02/06/2025

Windows Updates last run on January 27, 2025

I've seen that sometimes the restart won't end an explorer.exe process and instead start a another one (so you have 2 listed) which still has the disconnected drives in it. Thus "ending" the process will force a broken explorer.exe to close and you can open a "working" one.