Can't open new File Explorer windows by right click on Windows 10

I recently upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7. I have pinned File Explorer to the task bar, and if I right click on it I see a list of pinned folders including anything I have under 'quick access', but if I click on any of these, nothing happens. If I right click a folder in the pop-up and select "Open", nothing happens. The only action that opens a new Explorer window for me is selecting "File Explorer" from the pop-up which opens a default window, which I can then use the quick access list to change locations.

Is this what others are seeing? A bug in Win 10? Something wrong with my configuration?

The workaround of opening a default Explorer, then changing locations is fine, but why is it even showing a list of options if I can't select them?

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4 Answers

I had the same problem, on two computers, which I've been annoyed by for months. The problem instantly disappeared on both when I uninstalled WinCDEmu just now.

Maybe you have that or a similar program installed?

Edit to clarify: WinCDEmu loads up disc images like ISOs as virtual disc drives. Similar programs might include Daemon Tools or PowerISO.

I found this solution here

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I had the same problem and was able to pinpoint the culprit by using the excellent (and free) Shell Extensions Manager by NirSoft. I tried using autoruns from Sysinternals but the latest version as of this writing was very buggy, so I would strongly recommend against using it.

Here are the steps which worked for me, and not tied to a specific program like WinCDEmu (although it should also fix it).

1. Save your work.
2. Launch shexview.exe
3. Run taskmgr.exe (Task Manager) and kill all explorer processes (in the "Details" tab).
4. Disable all extensions in Shell Extensions Manager (select them and choose "Disable selected items").
5. Run explorer.exe from Task Manager > File > Run new task.
6. Check if the behavior is fixed. If it is, then continue, otherwise, reenable all extensions previously disabled and continue looking for an alternative solution as this one will not help you.
7. Enable some extensions starting with those you think are unlikely to cause an issue (in my case it was a "Context menu" extension from Boxifier), and repeat steps 3-6 until you have found the culprit.
8. When the culprit is found, just leave it disabled and the issue should be solved! You can report the bug to the developer of the responsible app so that they can fix it.

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This happened to me a few times in Windows 8.1. I fixed it each time by unpinning File Explorer and then re-pinning it from within the C:\Windows folder.

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Many thanks to Erwin. I found the solution. I followed his troubleshooting steps using Shell Extensions Manager by NirSoft and found that my problem was a context menu item added from mov avi video converter appearing as "SimpleShlExt Class". As soon as I disabled It everything works fine with files explorer jumplist pinned on taskbar. Many thanks again to Erwin!!!!!

old answer: "I have the same proplem. Right click on files explorers (on task bar) pinned shortcuts does not work. This happend a week ago. I have upgraded from windows 7 pro to 10 pro about 2 weeks ago.

In another computer I upgrated form windows 8.1 with bing to winodows 10 home. The problem on this computer does not exist. Right click on pinned links work just fine.

If you pin libraries rather than any other folder (i.e. "Libraries\Documents" instead of "this PC\Documents") works on my pc. I hope this can help a little."

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