Hidden Trick to Close Windows Explorer in Windows 7 or Vista
If you want to test an explorer shell plugin or registry hack without having to log off, more technical users will usually just kill the explorer.exe process in Task Manager. Windows Vista has another way to do the same thing that you might not be aware of.
This tip was sent in by Justin, one of our most active forum members.
Alternate Close Explorer Method
Open the Start menu and then hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys at the same time. Right-click on an empty area of the menu, and you’ll see a new option called “Exit Explorer”
The taskbar should completely disappear, and any open folder windows if you are using default explorer settings.
Classic Close Explorer Method
Pull up Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc and then right-click on explorer.exe in the process list, and choose End Process.
Restart Explorer
Use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to bring up Task Manager, and then go to File \ Run and type in explorer into the run box.
The start menu will re-appear, but you might notice a few tray icons will be missing until you log off and back on. (or restart those applications)
The only real benefit to using the alternate method is that Explorer has a chance to properly shut down, rather than just killing the process which could screw things up. Also, it’s fun to know these hidden tricks =)
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Whoa, I had no idea that was there!
I bet this method would work better if you have lots of plugins for explorer or drive mappings. I wonder if it closes network connections and stuff like that?
To restart Explorer, use WHAT to bring up Task Manager??!!
@Kent
Whoa, serious typo there! I can’t believe that I missed that =)
That’s OK. I was thinking my keyboard might be a little too close to the bathroom.
Somewhere in America, someone is probably saying: “John, can you get the gas mask and some gloves? I need to restart Explorer!”
John: “Again? Wouldn’t it be easier to call your mother?”
Nice tip. Thanks
Not for XP. It’s just for Vista; I got it to work, and it managed to close the Taskbar and toolbars.
If you read the page at http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_ma.....vista.aspx
There is a way to do this in Windows XP. I have no idea why “The Geek” didn’t post that too.
The best benefit to this trick is that is allows Windows Explorer to save it’s settings.
There are things like taskbar placement and toolbar settings that will be lost if one just kills explorer.
@jd2066
Yes, there is a way to do this for XP, which I chose not to write in this article which was titled “for Vista”. I had been planning on putting the XP method into a separate article.
This tip is brilliant – my Firefox sometimes stops firefoxing, and the best way to persuade it to do its thing has been a reboot. I have therefore been seeking a safe way to reboot explorer without shutting down, which achieves the same result. Many thanks.
@jon: What do you mean by “stops firefoxing”? Usually you can just kill Firefox and restart it if there is a crash. It isn’t normal behavior to need to reboot or restart explorer to get Firefox to work in that case.
My Firefox and IE often give the message “can’t find server” or similar. In this situation, only way to reach the site is to reboot, or with this tip, to reboot Windows Explorer. But maybe my computer is due for a reimage (Vista Business) though everything else runs well.
I Have a laptop Model HP Dx 6515 t and windows vista is preloaded with license version and all the updates which is available on the site is downloaded and it is very slow when i start my laptop. Please help me to open my laptop little fast
@Jaspal Singh: You should post that question on the forums. More people will be able to see it and possibly help. Not that many people read the article comments.
haha, this feels like an easter egg
Windows Explorer (the userbar) keeps closing! (VISTA)?
Each time I turn my Vista PC on I see this
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4713/...
When I try to open some kind of window, (ex: My Documents, Backup & Restore Center), explorer (my userbar) just shuts down, and I would have to turn it on again via Task Manager; New Task. How do I fix this?
PLEASE HELP. Thanks you!
PS. For some reason, when I open other programs such as Mozilla, Warcraft, or Photoshop, Explorer (my userbar) doesn’t shut down…
Jawahar
Try stopping the imageshack img from running at startup. You should be able do that via Windows Defender, or a third party program like Startup Manager. If that fails, try a reimage (others may have better ideas).
hi jon..
kind of you..
the above said problem occurs only when i log in as one user but not for other users..
further i cant find ‘imageshack’ in any startup manager programs..
@Jawhar
Please post your question on the forums. The comments are not meant to be a help forum.
http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/
Actuallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy……………………………….
why cant we just use shutdown button.
Dat’s more easy I think…………………. until some geek tels how to make a shutdown SHORTCUT on the desktop
None of this can actually “fix/restart” my windows explorer.
Because when it is not working, the whole start menu freezes, and anything that runs on the windows program ( My documents, the time, and start menu ) will not work properly.
All of the boxes on the bottom just shift a bit but wlil still open.
@Amit: This trick is just to close the Windows Explorer shell to reload shell extensions and load registry changes not shutdown Windows.
If you want a shutdown shortcut there are steps on that at http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....ows-vista/
Isn’t this hidden trick like what Microsoft had in Windows 9x (going back a bit), when you could just restart explorer by ending it in task manager, or whatever it was called back then, and it would restart itself in a few seconds.
Hi I discovered this hidden trick on my own as I have the unfortunate problem of Windows Explorer stopping searches (or the green bar still loads, but nothing happens) or freezing on Vista. So, after having to repeatedly turn the computer on and off, I decided to try the explorer.exe process in the taskbar.
It is just annoying having to do it so many times.
But does anyone know how I can get Explorer to stop freezing??