downloads folder inaccessible possibly due to downloads being blocked?

I guess it happens fairly often, judging by the amount of posts both here and on the internet.

The symptoms are that Explorer will hang when trying to access downloads, stuck using the whole of
one core cpu (25% in my case)

It occurred to me that some of the files downloaded have been blocked (I've since used the Powershell
command to unlock them all)

I've a couple of questions: what exactly do I have to do in Defender so this doesn't occur (If there is anything)?
I have smartscreen turned off, I thought this would take care of it.

Secondly, is there a command or other method of searching a folder for all locked files?

thanks for any info -
Dave H

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎9/‎18/‎2022
OS build 19045.3031
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0

EDIT I'm not sure if this problem is related to Defender or not, but it did occur right after downloading
some small media files (mp3's). For now I have set Windows Defender smartscreen (check apps and files)
back to ON to see if it's a factor

EDIT2 I turned on smartscreen, downloaded a similar file as before, the file plays/opens without any warning
(and it's locked as the others were). How is this supposed to work ?

If you have Windows Security (Defender) Smart Screen enabled it blocks downloaded files. You can turn Smart Screen Off and Unblock all Downloaded files. Unblock File in Windows 10
If you can't access your Downloads folder, there is most likely a corrupted file in that location. Or it could be a problem with the shortcut.
Can you browse to C:\Users\[UserName]\Downloads? Try moving any downloads you want to keep to a different folder. (ie) Move downloaded Videos to the Video folder. Move Documents and .PDF's to the Documents folder and Photos to the Pictures folder.

Hello - yes it occurred to me there may something in the folder that Windows doesn't like.
I thought it could have been the presence of blocked files but it's just a guess.

I used the properties/location option to move the downloads to another drive/folder which completed fine.
This folder would open, but in changing the view from details to list, it hung again.

After this, I restore the default location but chose not to copy the files.

I have recently implemented a change to allow paths greater that 260 (recommended after installing Python),
(LongPathsEnabled=1 @ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem)

I have issued the following for whole data drives and my user path:
get-childitem "C:\Users\davex" -recurse | unblock-file
get-childitem "I:\" -recurse | unblock-file

and for now, I have implemented the following policy to stop files from being blocked in the future.
(I'm interested in seeing if the downloads folder will behave now as I use the system and downloads
starts to fil up again)

user config/admin templates/windows components/attachment manager
"do not preserve zone information in file attachemnts" > enabled