The Windows program, called "Explorer", is the most common file manager, although it has quite interesting features that few people know or suspect. In principle, the question of how to launch Explorer has an answer that the vast majority of users approximately imagine. But for some reason, many use the most primitive methods for this, which often look very awkward.
How to launch Explorer in a standard way on different systems?
Typically, users who are new to Windows will follow standard instructions. In their understanding, the question of how to launch Explorer is reduced to finding the appropriate application in the Start menu.
But this is a lot of extra actions. You need to click on the start button, find the program section in the menu, select standard applications (or another section depending on the OS modification) and only then click on the name of the launched application. Agree, it takes a lot of time.
Alternative launch as a means of simplifying work
Unfortunately, many simply do not realize that when you click on the "Start" button, you can simply change the button from left to right. An additional menu will appear in which the desired program will be immediately visible. But this method, according to many, is quite inconvenient.
The same long method can be called using the Run console, in which the command to call explorer is written. You can also use the search bar of the main menu, in which you need to enter the name of the program (in our case it is “Explorer” without quotes).
But how to launch Explorer in the fastest way? For this, any Windows system provides a special key combination Win + E (in the Russian layout - the letter "U"). In this case, the program is called regardless of which language or which keyboard layout is currently used in the system. This method can be called the most convenient, and even for those cases when the application itself failed for some reason.
How to start the "Explorer" in the "Task Manager"?
Another method for starting the program is to use a standard tool for monitoring and managing all processes, called the “Task Manager”. Launching Explorer through the Dispatcher is quite simple.
For this, in systems below the tenth modification, a process menu is used where you need to create a new task, and specify explorer in the program launch line, as was done in the Run console. In Windows 10, you can run the Explorer task directly from the file menu, where you choose to create a new task.
Restarting the program if it "crashed"
Unfortunately, Explorer and its associated Explorer.exe service have the ability to shut down unexpectedly when there are any software failures. The file manager itself and the executable service should not be confused, although they are invoked by the same command.
If the service suddenly crashes, you can use several methods to restart it. In the simplest version, the question of how to start Explorer, and with it the general process of the system, is to use the combination Ctrl + Shift + Esc on the keyboard. It calls the standard "Task Manager", in which you need to repeat the steps described above.
In the same way, you can take advantage of a quick call to the Run console through a combination of Win + R, and then enter the English name of the process.
If you first need to call the main Start menu, press Ctrl + Esc and the right arrow. In the same menu, while holding down the Ctrl + Shift keys, you can use the shutdown item or right-click on the free area of ​​the “Taskbar”, select the exit line from the “Explorer” from the section that appears, and then restart the service through the “Task Manager” or the console Run, as shown above.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above material, you can call the standard Explorer or restart the Explorer system service using a fairly large number of methods. But some of them are not always justified. What can be advised to the average user? It seems that the easiest and fastest method is to use the Win + E keys. The remaining solutions are best left for those cases when the program or service for some reason refuses to function normally and terminates in an emergency.
Which method to use for restarting, everyone decides for himself. But the best options are calling the console "Run" or "Task Manager." The second option looks preferable, since here you can simultaneously manage other processes, as well as forcefully terminate those that freeze or cause errors in the system that are associated with the Explorer.exe service.