Windows Explorer is the gateway to the Graphical User Interface (GUI) that we use to navigate through the Windows operating system. It is the user shell that allows you to explore the desktop, the file manager, the start menu, the taskbar, and a whole host of other things that are linked to it. In certain situations, it may be necessary to restart it, for example when one or more of its elements start to stutter or when your screen freezes.

With Windows 11, Microsoft has given Windows Explorer a big boost and “centralized” the whole experience. But the ways to restart it are still the same. Here we look at how to restart Windows Explorer and what happens when you do.

Restarting Windows Explorer is just like restarting any other application: it closes the user shell and restarts it. This means that all the processes that depend on it, such as the desktop, taskbar, start menu, and file explorer, will all be reloaded, which will fix any minor issues that may be occurring. If your system is crashing or stuttering, restarting Windows Explorer is often enough to fix the problem.

It’s good to know how to do this, as it’s one of the quickest ways to fix a stuttering desktop experience or an unresponsive taskbar. Windows Explorer will also need to restart when you make changes to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry, which is yet another reason to know how to do it.