Windows 10 File Explorer closes immediately after opening. (Not Crashing)

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I will be glad to help you with the issue you have with File Explorer.

Did you make any changes to the computer prior to the issue?

What is the anti-virus program on the computer?

The issue could occur if the system files are corrupted.

I suggest you to follow the below methods to troubleshoot with the issue:

Method 1: Perform a sfc scan on the computer to check if there are any corruptions on the computer. System File Checker is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files. Please follow the below link to perform a sfc scan on the computer.

Method 2: Try to perform a DISM commands on the computer. Windows updates and service packs may fail to install if there are corruption errors. For example, an update might not install if a system file is damaged. The DISM or System Update Readiness tool may help you to fix some Windows corruption errors. Please follow the below link to know how to perform DISM in Windows.

Please reply with the results, we are happy to help you further.

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Looks like my account was suspended for some reason, but anyhow, after some careful observation I noticed that if the default view is set to quick access, the explorer window closes immediately. I’m only guessing as to why, but I’m assuming that the shortcut that quick access is trying to display is somehow invalid in some way and causes explorer to close.

I was able to access explorer without closing by either opening a run prompt or directly typing into the cortana/search box «C:\» and pressing enter. Explorer now opens with it’s focus on the C: drive instead of the quick access listing in the folder tree. Open folder options, and change the «Open File Explorer to:» option to [This PC].

Quick Access is still not working, so if you change your focus to the root folder, explorer will still crash.

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Thank you for getting back to us. The issue could occur if the Quick Access settings have been changed. To identify what causing this issue, we need to investigate further. Kindly provide us the information below.

• What was the result after you perform SFC and DISM steps on the previous post?
• What Windows build is currently installed in you PC?

You can also check and download available updates under Windows Update. This might help us isolate the issue.

Get back to us if you need further assistance.

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You may not be able to sign in to your original account (forum profile; Microsoft account) but it was not suspended => https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/profile/6263a77e-f178-414c-8043-cbd291120a8b#user-profile-tab-activity

Assuming Windows 10 64-bit.

Please answer each of the following [admittedly tedious] diagnostic questions in a correspondingly-numbered list in your very next reply, preferably without quoting this post:

1a. When (approx. date) did you purchase the Win7 computer?

1b. Who manufactured the computer (e.g., Dell; HP; Lenovo; Acer)?

2a. When (exact date, preferably) did you upgrade to Win10?

2b. Was the upgrade to Windows 10 (not Windows 10 Anniversary Update) offered & installed via Windows Update or did you upgrade manually?

3. What is the full name of your currently-installed third-party anti-virus application or security suite — i.e., not Windows Defender! — (if any), and when (approx. date) does your current subscription (if any) expire?

4. What third-party anti-malware applications (i.e., not Windows Defender!) are installed, if any? What third-party firewall, if any?

5. Has a(nother) Norton application or a McAfee application EVER been installed on the computer since you bought it?

6. Have you ever run the Norton Removal Tool and/or the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool?

7. What Windows 10 Version & OS Build is currently installed?

• Press & hold the Windows Key and press the R key. In the RUN dialog, type WINVER and press the Enter key.

8. Is Adobe Flash Player version 25.0.0.127 (or higher) installed? TEST HERE USING INTERNET EXPLORER OR EDGE ONLY! => http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

9. Is Firefox version 52.0.2 (or higher) and/or Google Chrome version 57.0.2987.133 (or higher) or any other alternate browser installed?

10. Are you in the habit of using «Registry cleaners» (e.g., CCleaner’s Registry Cleaner component; Registry Mechanic; System Mechanic; RegCure; RegClean Pro; Advanced SystemCare; Total System Care; Advanced System Optimizer; Comodo System Cleaner; Glary Utilities; Registry Booster; McAfee QuickClean; AVG Quick Clean; AVG PC TuneUp; Norton Registry Cleaner; Norton PC Tuneup; PCTools Optimiser; SpeedUpMyPC; FixMyPC; PC Doctor; TuneUp Utilities; WinMaximizer; WinSweeper; Wise Care 365; Wise Cleaner; etc.)?

Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
Microsoft MVP (Windows Client) since October 2002

Fix Windows 10 App Opens Then Closes

We’ll show you step-by-step

Are some or all of your Windows 10 apps not working properly? Previously, I wrote an article on how to fix the problem of missing Windows Store apps and recently I had a client who bought a Windows 10 machine to me where the Windows apps would appear to open, but then would close immediately.

If you are having this issue where an app fails to load, then it’s probably a permissions issue. There are lots of reasons why Store apps fail to start and one of them is because the permissions for certain Windows folders and registry settings have been changed, either manually or by group policy.

You can fix this problem by checking all the permissions for these folders and registry settings and making sure they are all correct. In this post, I’ll walk you through the steps for doing this so you can get your Store apps running again.

Windows 10 Event Log

You can confirm whether this is the cause of the issue by opening the event log and checking for the Event ID 5961 in the event log. You can open the event log by clicking on Start and typing in event log.

You’re going to have to navigate to the following log file to see if this particular event exists or not:

Once there, you’ll see a whole bunch of events listed there, probably thousands. You can’t really manually go through this, so click on the Find button at the very right and type in 5961. It’ll search through that log and if it finds anything, it will highlight that row. Double-click on the row and you should see some information like below:

If the event exists, you can be pretty certain that it’s a permissions issue for a new group in Windows called All Application Packages. What is All Application Packages? Well, it’s similar to the built-in Administrators or Users groups. All Application Packages includes any store app that is installed in Windows 10. If this group doesn’t have permissions to certain folders and registry settings, it will cause store apps to fail launching.

Fix File System Permissions

First, let’s fix the file system permissions. This is basically checking the permissions on three folders: Program Files, Windows and Users.

Go to Explorer and right-click on C:\Windows and click on the Security tab. Here is what it should look like with the correct permissions.

If that is not what your permissions are showing for the directory, then click on the Advanced button at the bottom right. On the next dialog, click on the Change Permissions button.

You then want to click the Add button. Note that if the Add button is grayed out, it probably means the files are all owned by TrustedInstaller. Read my previous post on how to change permissions so that you can gain full control over the files and folders.

Here you need to click on Select a principal and then type in all application packages into the object name box. Make sure to click the Check Names button also before clicking OK.

Make sure the Type is set to Allow and Applies to is This folder, subfolders and files. Under permissions, make sure you have Read & execute, List folder contents and Read checked. Then click OK.

You’ll be brought back to the main permissions screen. Here you need to make sure to check the Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object.

Once you have done this for the Windows directory, you need to do the same thing for C:\Users and C:\Program Files. For C:\Users, everything is the same except you give the All Application Packages group Full Control. Also, if you’re running 64-bit Windows, you’ll need to do this for C:\Program Files (x86) too.

Fixing Registry Permissions

For registry entries, open regedit by going to Start and typing in regedit. Once you have it opened, you need to check the permissions for HKEY_USERS. Right-click on HKEY_USERS and click on Permissions.

Make sure that All Application Packages has Read permission.

Now do the same thing for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Next expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and do the check for HARDWARE, SAM, SOFTWARE and SYSTEM.

If you haven’t gone crazy by now, then congrats! The main issue that I saw with this whole process is changing the permissions on the system folders because you have to overcome TrustedInstaller in order to make changes to the permissions. Half the time that never works properly and then trying to get everything back to normal is just as risky.

You may be better off just resetting Windows 10, but it’ll require you to install all your third-party apps again. You can reset Windows 10 by going to Settings, click on Update & Security and then clicking on Recovery. If you’re trying to change permissions and running into errors, post a comment and we’ll try to help. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem’s Full Bio

windows 10 apps close after being open only a few seconds.

Replies (3) 

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

Please answer the below questions for the better understanding.

1. Are you using a Local account or a Microsoft Account?

2. From when is the issue persisting?

3. Do you receive any error message related to the issue?

We would like to inform you that the issue that you face might be due to some of the Windows 10 components not working properly. So, please follow the below steps and check if the issue persists.

Step 1: App troubleshooter.

Let’s run the app troubleshooter and check if it helps.

If the issue persists, please follow the below step.

Step 2: Reset the Windows store cache.

Please follow the below steps and check.

1. Press the windows key + R key.

2. In the run dialog box please type Wsreset.

Hence your store cache will be reset.

Please let us know if the issue is resolved or you need any further assistance.

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Thank you for the fast reply. I am using Comcast for email and also have a Hotmail account. The problem I am having is not exclusive to the email accounts. When I open any one of the tiles from the start menu they only stay open for a short period of time. They just close down. I am not getting any error messages. I ran the troubleshooter as suggested and it did not find anything wrong. Resetting did not work either.

My computer is brand new, a Lenovo AIO700 27ISH . I have only just set it up and have not added anything to the system except a printer. I have also checked the Lenovo Forums but could find nothing to help. Thank you.

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