Windows Explorer crashes suddenly when Right-Clicking on a File

Windows Explorer crashes with the message ’Explorer.exe must be closed‘ whenever a file is right clicked.

The desktop restarts and all folder windows that were open earlier are closed. The error started occurring irregularly after the installation of an application that included shell integration. Here is the way to troubleshoot and solve the problem and prevent it from occurring.

A new installation always brings about some changes to the system registry. If the installation involved creation of a command in the context menu,

First uninstall the software.

Reboot and check if the command is till exists in the context menu. If this is the case, then some registry entries were probably left during the un-Installation.

Create a complete system backup and secure the registry as well, using freeware like ERUNT .

Now delete all objects in Explorer that have any relevance to the application.

Search for the program and manufacturer name in the manual mode of the RegCool registry editor.

Delete entries you find here and not anything else.

Finally, check whether there is yet another entry of the software hidden under the registry path "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers". If yes, then delete it.

You can also try uninstalling the software using Revo Uninstaller to completely remove the application and deletes all the traces of it from your computer. This may work in some cases and is a easier method than the above procedure as it involves a simple freeware and nothing else.

After these steps, the problem will be removed completely from the system and will never occur again. If it does, follow the same procedure.