explorer.exe processes accumulating

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soul4kills
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:12 am

explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by soul4kills »

When opening folders with the context menu items, "Explore Path" & "Explore", it creates a new explorer process/window. When the window closes. The process does not close. They start to accumulate and never terminate.
image.png
I narrowed the cause of the problem down to being "Explore Path" & "Explore" context menu items with the following default commands.
"Explore"

Code: Select all

$exec("%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe" /n,/e,"%1")
"Explore Path"

Code: Select all

$exec("%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe" /n,/e,/select,"%1")
Another behavior worth mentioning is that when opening the same path, it opens a brand new window/process, rather than bringing the one already open forward. Maybe that's intended behavior.

I fixed the problem by replacing the command with $openpath("%1") as it behaves more of how I expect it to behave.
"Launch explorer as a seperate process" is disabled in my windows settings.

Troubleshooting Information.

Code: Select all

Everything 1.5.0.1396a (x64)
OS:	Windows NT 10.0 26100 (x64)
Admin:	0
Service:	4 (connected / not installed)
Command line:	-startup
Binary:	C:\Users\soul4\OneDrive\Software\Apps\Everything\Everything64.exe
Profile:	C:\Users\soul4\AppData\Roaming\Everything\Everything.ini
Database:	C:\Users\soul4\AppData\Local\Everything\Everything.GAME.soul4.db
Instance:	

Config:
index_as_admin=1
thumbnail_fill=1
shell_max_path=0
open_searches_in_tabs=1
open_new_windows_in_tabs=1
check_for_updates_on_startup=1
hide_empty_search_results=1
clear_selection_on_search=0
toggle_window_key=1363
statusbar_selected_item_format=$o items   |   Size: $s   |   Created: $c   |   Modified: $m  |   Path: $p
statusbar_selection_format=<text:$result-count:,#,###> items   |   Size: $z   |   <text:$selection-count:,#,###> items selected
statusbar_view_thumbnail_size=176
explore_path_command2=$openpath("%1")
window_title_format=$s?{$s - }$v
alpha_instance=0
session_store_restore_on_first_new_window=1
closed_window_restore_on_first_new_window=1
auto_include_removable_volumes=1
auto_include_fixed_refs_volumes=1
auto_include_removable_refs_volumes=1
auto_remove_offline_refs_volumes=1
auto_include_fixed_fat_volumes=1
auto_include_removable_fat_volumes=1
auto_remove_offline_fat_volumes=1
auto_include_remote_volumes=1
auto_remove_offline_remote_volumes=1
thumbnail_min_margin_wide=4
thumbnail_min_margin_high=4
thumbnail_padding_left=0
thumbnail_padding_top=0
thumbnail_padding_right=0
thumbnail_padding_bottom=0
focus_on_hover=1
filelist_preview=0
filelist_context_menu=0
open_many_files_warning_threshold=5
home_match_case=1
home_match_whole_word=1
home_match_path=1
home_match_diacritics=1
home_match_prefix=1
home_match_suffix=1
home_ignore_punctuation=1
home_ignore_whitespace=1
home_regex=1
home_filter=1
home_columns=1
home_sort=1
home_view=1
home_omit_results=2
single_click_tray=1
path_hit_text_only=1
auto_scroll_view=1
search_edit_drag_accept_files=0
focus_search_on_activate=1
wrap_focus=2
request_extra_fileinfo_start=1000
request_extra_fileinfo_end=1000
pane_title=0
tabs_always_show=1
tabs_margin_top=0
tabs_high=20
tabs_close_button=0
tabs_load_in_background=0
tabs_double_click_action=1
tabs_close_window_with_last_tab=0
full_row_select=0
paste_new_line_op=0
menu=0
window_border=0
search_delay=500
exclude_files=regex:^[^.]+$
db_multi_user_filename=1
index_date_created=1
fast_date_created_sort=1
index_date_accessed=1
fast_date_accessed_sort=1
index_attributes=1
fast_attributes_sort=1
fast_extension_sort=1
index_recent_changes=1
secondary_sort_folders_first=2
show_copy_full_name=0
show_open_path=0
show_explore=1
show_explore_path=1
context_menu_parent_folder=1
context_menu_copy_column_value=1
context_menu_set_run_count=0
filter=EVERYTHING
filter_everything_name=Everything
omit_results=1
temp_omit_results=1
preview_fill=1
always_keep_sort=1
findbar_highlight_all=0
search_history_keep_forever=0
run_history_keep_forever=0
search_history_always_suggest=1
plugins=0
columns=[{"name":"Name","width":329},{"name":"Size","width":91},{"name":"Date Modified","width":118},{"name":"Path","width":381}]
ntfs_volumes=[{"path":"C:","volume_name":"\\\\?\\Volume{0cc7b4b4-8149-41b9-8f99-21a23bd51802}","load_recent_changes":1},{"path":"D:","volume_name":"\\\\?\\Volume{9838a082-15d5-4f5e-9cde-2fbbad706e47}","load_recent_changes":1},{"path":"E:","volume_name":"\\\\?\\Volume{7a4b110c-9734-4af7-bc15-941e4797dafd}","load_recent_changes":1}]
properties=[{"name":"Length","include_only_folders":"D:\\;E:\\","include_only_files":"*.flac;*.mp3;*.wav;*.ogg;*.mkv;*.mp4;*.avi;*.flv;*.webm;*.m4a","exclude_recall_on_data_access":1,"fast_sort":1}]
exclude_folders="E:\\Symlinks\\Local\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\Profiles\\gwt1yx0u.Default-Release\\cache2"

Policy:

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void
Developer
Posts: 19899
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:31 pm

Re: explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by void »

The processes should eventually close.

Are they still around after 10 minutes?

To me this is an issue with Explorer, not Everything.
I see the same behavior launching explorer.exe from Windows Explorer.


I fixed the problem by replacing the command with $openpath("%1") as it behaves more of how I expect it to behave.
$openpath("%1") should be the default command.
soul4kills
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:12 am

Re: explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by soul4kills »

Yes, it sticks around indefinitely.

image.png

I'll use the "Open Path" context menu item instead as it does not leave lingering explorer processes.
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therube
Posts: 5727
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm

Re: explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by therube »

(With 'Explore Path', $exec("%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe" /n,/e,/select,"%1"),
Explorer.exe processes did automatically close, in ~43 seconds of closing the associated Explorer window.
Win7.
[timer cmd /c set /p x =timer:])
soul4kills
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:12 am

Re: explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by soul4kills »

I'm on Windows 11 pro 24H2 26100.4770. Is this just a problem for the newest windows version?
tuska
Posts: 1385
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:14 am

Re: explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by tuska »

soul4kills wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 3:51 pm I'm on Windows 11 pro 24H2 26100.4770. Is this just a problem for the newest windows version?
No, not in my opinion.

After executing the context menu entries in Everything' 1.5.0.1396a (x64)

Explore
$exec("%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe" /n,/e,"%1")


Explore Path
$exec("%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe" /n,/e,/select,"%1")


... were displayed in Windows 11 Pro (x64) version 24H2 (OS build 26100.4770) - Latest revision date: 2025-07-22
in the Task Manager under Processes > Apps ...
created entries from Windows Explorer - explorer.exe
and removed again after closing the Windows Explorer tasks.
____________________________________________________
Everything 1.5.0.1396a (x64) - "Portable on system drive C:"
soul4kills
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:12 am

Re: explorer.exe processes accumulating

Post by soul4kills »

I appreciate the feedback, now I know it's just my system. Not sure how I can figure out why so.