File Explorer cannot resize its window

sepposusi · 04 Mar 2017

Hello,
when I open the File Explorer, it opens in full-screen mode.
I can minimize it but not resize the window.
If I click the top-right corner symbol of two squares, the file explorer window gets smaller but the text in it flashes on and off for a while and then disappears completely. Hourglass comes on.
Task Manager shows that it uses 13,6->14.2 % of the CPU.
Clicking the top-right X in the red square results "Windows Explorer is not responding..." Waiting does not help.
"Close program" works, but must be done twice before the window closes.

Help needed, please.

spunk · 05 Mar 2017

Right click the File Explore shortcut on the Taskbar, in the Jump list, right click File Explorer again and choose Properties. In the Run box, take the drop down arrow and choose Normal Window instead of Maximized.

sepposusi · 05 Mar 2017

Spunk, thank you for the reply.
I did what you said (it was Normal window already), I tried Maximized and Minimised, too.
But it did not help

dalchina · 05 Mar 2017

Hi, what happens in Safe Mode- does it behave normally?

sepposusi · 06 Mar 2017

Hello,
I am now in Safe Mode and the File Explorer window behaves normally: full screen, minimized and smaller window.

dalchina · 06 Mar 2017

Ok, at least two possibilities.
1. It's a weird effect of your graphics card/driver. (Your normal driver isn't used in Safe Mode)
2. It's some installed program.
So now you need to determine, by a process of elimination, what installed program is (presumably) having the effect you observe in normal mode.

0. Set a restore point (gives another option to reset everything after changes following)
1. Try a clean boot. Check for any change in explorer's behaviour.
If ok, progressively enable programs, log off, on and try again.
2. If no change, try downloading, installing, running Shellexview (free); hide all MS shell extensions, disable all others - and use the 32 bit option to expose more.
Check for any change in explorer's behaviour.
If ok, progressively enable extensions, & try again. (No need to log off/on).

Note: Shellexview does not seem to detect ALL shell extensions.

sepposusi · 06 Mar 2017

Dear dachina,
you pointed to the right direction.
I started to look which programs I have installed lately and uninstalled one by one.
After uninstalling "Temaviewer12" the problem disappeared.
Thank you so much!

dalchina · 06 Mar 2017

Great- unexpected, but at least logical.

Grover · 30 Apr 2019

I wanted to post here that I had this same issue on a desktop PC that I only use TeamViewer or Remote Desktop to access. There were two solutions to this issue that worked for me that didn't involve having to uninstall TeamViewer.

1. Plugging a mouse into the PC. Doing this allowed me to resize File Explorer normally.
2. Going into Settings -> Ease of Access -> Mouse and enabling the option to use the numeric keypad to move the mouse pointer. Once this was turned on my pointer would change to the resize arrows again and I could change the size of any windows or panes normally.

paulpchou · 15 Sep 2022

hi,
Same issue. No issues in safe mode. I created a new user account but uninstalled software before creating the account and the issue was gone. But the issue came back. Why does clean boot not fixing the issue?