Windows 11 - File Explorer - Problems with Naming/Renaming Folders

Question

To the Esteemed Engineers of Microsoft,

Permit me to extend my warmest congratulations on the invention of a File Explorer so temperamental, so whimsical, so utterly possessed by the spirit of mischief, that it has turned the simple act of naming a folder into a game of roulette—except the odds are worse and the house always wins.

I sit down to christen a folder with a name of my choosing, a name born of purpose and clarity. I type, and lo! The letters appear—then vanish! Replaced by “New Folder,” or some half-remembered fragment of a keystroke I typed in a previous life. The interface stutters like a drunkard on a cobblestone street, and the name I intended is cast aside like yesterday’s newspaper.

This is not progress. This is not innovation. This is a prank played by the ghost of a bored developer.

Now, I am not the first to suffer this indignity. A post from the year 2022—yes, two thousand and twenty-two, back when we still had hope—describes this very ailment. It sits unanswered, like a letter to Santa from a child who’s been naughty but still believes. Does Microsoft read its own forums? Or do they merely build them as digital oubliettes, where complaints go to die?

Let me be plain: the problem does not vanish because you do not read it. Bugs do not evaporate in the sunlight of neglect. They fester. They multiply. They become folklore.

I implore you, dear sirs and madams of Redmond, to take up your tools and smite this bug with the fury of a thousand updates. Or at the very least, acknowledge its existence, so that we may suffer with dignity.

Yours in folder-naming despair,

A Most Disenchanted User

Answer 1

Dear customer,

The issue you described, where folder names revert to “New Folder” or partially typed text, has been reported by other users and is currently under review by our engineering team. It appears to be linked to timing conflicts in File Explorer’s rename function, particularly in Windows 11 environments with certain UI configurations.

While there is no official fix yet, some users have found temporary relief by waiting a few seconds after creating a folder before renaming it, or by renaming folders from the main pane rather than the navigation pane. We understand these are workarounds, not solutions, and we appreciate your patience as we work toward a more permanent resolution.

Your feedback is valuable, and we’ve shared your report with the appropriate internal teams. We encourage you to submit additional details via the Feedback Hub (Win + F), which helps prioritize fixes based on user impact.

Thank you again for your passion and persistence.

Warm regards,

Domic Vo

Answer 2

Take a second or two between characters, like you are spelling it out for a severely mentally challenged individual. It worked for me.