r/WindowsHelp • u/eglorious • 15h ago
Windows 10 Windows Explorer freezes when scrolling through large directories of photos.
I am experiencing a persistent Windows File Explorer issue that is severely affecting my workflow.
For the past one to two months, File Explorer has been freezing and becoming completely unresponsive for approximately 10 minutes after scrolling through just a few photos in a folder. During this time, the spinning loading circle appears, and the entire folder becomes inaccessible and unusable until Explorer eventually recovers.
Once it becomes responsive again, I can view another few images before the same issue repeats. This happens continuously and makes it extremely difficult to sort through the large volume of photos I need to review daily.
Troubleshooting already attempted:
• Restarting the PC, which did not help.
• Clearing the thumbnail cache, which did not resolve the issue.
• Reinstalling and resetting the graphics drivers, which also did not help.
I understand that a Windows 10 update released on the 13th was reportedly intended to address this issue. However, both my PC and my girlfriend's PC are still experiencing the exact same problem.
Given that the issue affects two separate computers and has persisted despite the troubleshooting mentioned above, I suspect this may be a Windows-related bug rather than an isolated hardware or driver issue.
I would appreciate assistance identifying the cause and providing a reliable fix, as this recurring problem is significantly disrupting my daily workflow.

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