Windows 11 hangs when entering Downloads folder

Question

Windows 11 hangs when entering Downloads folder

AG 521

Windows 11 hangs when entering Downloads folder and "Working on it..." is displayed.
When trying to close the window I am receiving the message "Windows explorer is not responding"

I have already tried

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

sfc /scannow

Full Disk Cleanup with system files.

Thanks,
AG

Reza-Ameri 17,341 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2021-11-23T16:01:27.937+00:00

Are you facing the same issue with other locations like Downloads?
Are you using SSD or HDD hard drive?
Jules Von Doom 1 Reputation point

2023-01-02T21:20:37.297+00:00

I uninstalled an app that was accessing an incomplete download, it was VLC player. This fixed my problem completely.
Marten uivesteyn 5 Reputation points

2023-09-24T11:40:00.1+00:00

Fixed after a ton of no working solutions... Moved the download folder location to actual desktop then remove download icon from desktop
Alfonso Nava 15 Reputation points

2024-01-11T18:30:31.57+00:00

Experienced similar issue, and came to this document, and partially found an answer. My setup for downloads is on an independent SDD partition, so my Downloads location is not the default one on "C:\users\your name\downloads". When attempting to navigate to Downloads from the quick access element on file explorer, it was stuck, but when navigating from "Z:\downloads" (my SDD location) I had no issue, so I removed the Downloads from quick access and then drag and drop the Downloads folder from the Z: partition. After doing that, I am able to normally open the Downloads from quick access, I did not need to delete all files
Paweł Görlich 10 Reputation points

2024-04-09T20:01:29.7566667+00:00

The solution from Alfonso Nova solved my problem. I unpinned the Downloads folder from the quick access tab and navigated to the folder via explorer. It worked.

Afterwards, I pinned the folder back to the quick access and it worked again.
TEAM_Leader 0 Reputation points

2024-06-02T03:45:47.87+00:00

I only had this problem when trying to open the Downloads folder from Quick Access. It crashed when I tried to copy about 25 pdfs from one subfolder to another inside Downloads. If I navigated to the filepath (C:\Users"me"\Downloads), I could open it without issue. Running sfc /scannow and clearing the cache in File Explorer Options did not help.

I ran DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth. I moved recent downloads that I wanted to keep to another folder then deleted the contents of the Downloads folder. I was then able to pin it to Quick Access again, and everything worked fine. I'm not sure which actually resolved the issue, but I think it was deleting the contents.

Accepted answer

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Your answer

Reza-Ameri 17,341 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2021-11-23T16:01:27.937+00:00

Are you facing the same issue with other locations like Downloads?
Are you using SSD or HDD hard drive?
Jules Von Doom 1 Reputation point

2023-01-02T21:20:37.297+00:00

I uninstalled an app that was accessing an incomplete download, it was VLC player. This fixed my problem completely.
Marten uivesteyn 5 Reputation points

2023-09-24T11:40:00.1+00:00

Fixed after a ton of no working solutions... Moved the download folder location to actual desktop then remove download icon from desktop
Alfonso Nava 15 Reputation points

2024-01-11T18:30:31.57+00:00

Experienced similar issue, and came to this document, and partially found an answer. My setup for downloads is on an independent SDD partition, so my Downloads location is not the default one on "C:\users\your name\downloads". When attempting to navigate to Downloads from the quick access element on file explorer, it was stuck, but when navigating from "Z:\downloads" (my SDD location) I had no issue, so I removed the Downloads from quick access and then drag and drop the Downloads folder from the Z: partition. After doing that, I am able to normally open the Downloads from quick access, I did not need to delete all files
Paweł Görlich 10 Reputation points

2024-04-09T20:01:29.7566667+00:00

The solution from Alfonso Nova solved my problem. I unpinned the Downloads folder from the quick access tab and navigated to the folder via explorer. It worked.

Afterwards, I pinned the folder back to the quick access and it worked again.
TEAM_Leader 0 Reputation points

2024-06-02T03:45:47.87+00:00

I only had this problem when trying to open the Downloads folder from Quick Access. It crashed when I tried to copy about 25 pdfs from one subfolder to another inside Downloads. If I navigated to the filepath (C:\Users"me"\Downloads), I could open it without issue. Running sfc /scannow and clearing the cache in File Explorer Options did not help.

I ran DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth. I moved recent downloads that I wanted to keep to another folder then deleted the contents of the Downloads folder. I was then able to pin it to Quick Access again, and everything worked fine. I'm not sure which actually resolved the issue, but I think it was deleting the contents.

Answer 1

AG 521

Hi,

Clearing file explorer history did not solved the problem for me.
I was forced to delete all files in Downloads folder using CMD.

averycuriousboy 0 Reputation points

2023-05-26T16:59:52.2533333+00:00

basically i received this shenanigans after failed download of star citizen. but im a little bit conflicted since im not sure if its star citizen that caused this or many apps since ive selected many apps to use downloads folder for temporary things. deleting everything sure did fixed it for me. no need to reset pc. thank you very much but sadly google didnt made this into top search and made youtube video as top search
Brandon Wu 0 Reputation points

2024-01-10T14:37:41.1166667+00:00

This was helpful. It seems that downloading files perhaps while update is not there is the problem

Answer 2

Jen A 20

I had this exact problem! I'm not very tech savvy so I really wanted to look for the simplest solution before I started messing with any of the more complex solutions recommended here. Somehow I did manage to do something really simple that let me access the Downloads folder again.

Right Click on Downloads folder and hit Properties
Go into the Location tab
Restore Default

In my case my PC is really new so I haven't messed with many things yet (purposefully), so I figured whatever the Default is can't hurt. And just like that I had access to the Downloads folder and all the files inside again.

Mark L. Goldston 0 Reputation points

2023-10-28T19:36:34.4366667+00:00

Worked perfectly for me on a 4 yr old PC with 371 files in the Download folder.
Christine Nequeta 0 Reputation points

2024-04-06T15:22:24.02+00:00

I am also not so techy so this helped big time. Thank you, sir!
Amrish Mandawkar 0 Reputation points

2024-11-25T05:56:02.23+00:00

I have been facing this issue for long time. This setting solved my problem, Thanks!!
Sailor43 White 0 Reputation points

2025-03-18T17:50:02.2066667+00:00

Thanks, that worked for me!

Answer 3

Buster D 6

Solution #3: Change the Folder Settings worked for me

downloads-folder-not-responding

RandyOnTheRadio 0 Reputation points

2023-02-10T21:03:47.51+00:00
Here's the copy & paste that worked for me, like a charm.

Change the Folder Settings

Workaround to fix the “Downloads folder not responding” issue on Windows 11/10.

Launch the File Explorer. Right-click on the “Downloads” option placed on the left menu pane and select “Properties”.

In the Properties window, switch to the “Customize” tab.

Select the “Optimize this folder” option and choose “General items” from the drop-down menu.

Check on the “Also apply this template to all subfolders” option.

Hit on the OK and Apply buttons to save the recent changes.

Answer 4

Marten uivesteyn 5

I moved the actual download folder ( to my desktop) WINDOWS asked if I wanted to copy all the items from the old download folder to the new one and presto ... hello files ... then to a surprise old location started to work ... go figure

Mary Clark 0 Reputation points

2024-02-24T20:04:41.4666667+00:00

After trying several other solutions unsuccessfully, I moved the folder to my desktop. It moved as a shortcut. Now I can open it from my desktop or from the File Explorer. Makes no sense to me but it worked!
Noor Azmin Bin Samhudi 0 Reputation points

2024-11-19T08:28:25.2433333+00:00

Thanks. this is the best solution

Answer 5

Hi there,

The most effective method to fix Windows Explorer not responding is to clear file explorer history. You can open on Control Panel, set view by large icons and click File Explorer Options from the interface. Then click Clear button and OK to clear Windows Explorer history. Then try opening Windows Explorer again.

If the issue has been occurring for a month or more, it may be better to perform an In-Place Upgrade and restore Windows to the original installation. Performing an In-Place Upgrade will not damage files and applications that are currently installed on your computer.

You can also try the troubleshoots as per this link https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/error-windows-explorer-has-stopped-working-057f3872-6252-67e3-2c5a-88c9c633fe41

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept it as an answer--

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Windows 11 hangs when entering Downloads folder

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