File Explorer - Drives and Folders Will Not Open

The issue:
File Explorer will not open folders or drives when they are double-clicked inside the main viewbox of the File Explorer Window. The window "pulses" like it attempts to open the directory but nothing else happens.

Details:

• Folders and drives will open/expand when clicked on in the left-hand vertical folder list inside the same File Explorer window. Files/folders can be accessed this way but it is more cumbersome.
• Deeper folders can be accessed by typing in the file path at the top of the File Explorer window. Again, a workaround but not ideal.
• Right clicking a folder/drive and selecting "Open" does not open it.
• File Explorer does not open when clicking the icon in the Start menu/App menu.
• Individual files/applications can be opened in the main viewbox (unlike folders/drives).
• No software download or OS update can be correlated to the time that the issue began happening.
• The issue persists when booting in safe mode.

Troubleshooting steps taken:

• Use task manager to restart File Explorer.
• Use task manager to "end task" on File Explorer then run "explorer.exe" as a new task.
• Toggled settings in "File Explorer Options" menu:
  • Tried switching to "single-click to open an item" instead of double click - no change.
  • Tried switching to "open each folder in its own window" instead of same window - new windows do not open, no change.
• Cleared File Explorer history in File Explorer Options
• Checked double click "values" in the registry editor (suggestion found online, values are set to 4 as instructed).
• Ran Malwarebytes which quarantined 18 items but no change in behavior.
• Restarted PC multiple times between various troubleshooting steps.

I have read through the various troubleshooting guides that populate the front page of Google when searching "File Explorer won't open folders" and nothing has made any difference. Any help would be much appreciated!

@jakejbd, Go to Registry > HKEY CURRENT USER > Control Panel > Mouse. Find and open the "Double Click Height key" & "Double Click Width key". Then change the value to 4. Make sure it is set to 4 ....... Restart the computer now.

Hi and welcome to the forum. If the previous suggestion doesn't help, it were me I would start with opening a cmd prompt as admin and typing sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair. If it found corruption it could not fix followup with this command (note the spaces)
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Restart computer

If the problem still exists I would do a repair install
Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial