Issue with file explorer and desktop

Recently my Dad bought a new laptop with windows 10, an Acer. Everything has been smooth until recently he has had some issues with opening file explorer.

1) He couldn't open the file explorer in the task bar
2) When he right clicked on the background, the loading sign came up and stayed there.

When I played with it for a bit everything started working again with the file explorer opening up several windows. However when I restarted the computer the same thing happened.

As an experiment, I created a new folder in the background and I was able to access the file explorer that way but not through the task bar.

Any suggestions are appreciated :)

If your folder on the Desktop is opening, but the Taskbar icon is having issues, I'm thinking Quick Access may be the issue. So, a couple of things to test:

1. Open Start & begin typing "Folder", you should be offered File Explorer Options, click that, and set Explorer to open to This PC.
2. OPen the folder on your Desktop & see what happens when you click on Quick Access.

Thanks, I'll give that a go next time I see my dad's laptop.

Before I'd return a brand-new laptop, I'd make sure it had been booted up & given a chance to update (with repeated restarts/check for updates) before returning.