Win 11 File Explorer strange behavior when editing files or scrolling left pane

d4005 · Mar 25, 2022

I notice that if I have a folder being viewed (in the right pane) and in the left pane I scroll down to find another folder, every 10 seconds or so it'll snap back to make sure that the folder currently opened is in view. It means that if you're trying to navigate your way down a long list of folders in the left pane, if you don't reach the folder you're looking for within 10 seconds, it'll auto-scroll back to the open folder and you have to scroll again. It's very annoying.

Same deal with renaming a file via F2 or long-click or right-click-rename. As you're making your changes to the filename every 10 seconds it'll throw away your current changes and go back to the original name while staying in edit-name mode. You really have to get the changes done within 10 seconds or you have to start again. I find myself having to rename things in 10 second chunks. For example, if I want to delete the last 40 characters and then type a new 20 characters - I have to first delete the last 40 then save, then edit a second time and type 10 of the characters then save, then type the last 10 and save. Trying to do it all in one go doesn't work.

The filename editing situation only happens when the drive involved is a remote network mapped drive.

The left pane scroll situation happens regardless of whether it's network mapped or drive C even.

glasskuter · Mar 25, 2022

My PC does not exhibit either of those issues. I am on release build 220000.556 which seems really stable to me..
Are you in the insider ring? If so, weird stuff is to be expected at times.
Do you per chance have any third-party apps added that affect the GUI?

Berton · Mar 25, 2022

I have a NAS drive connected to my Router via Ethernet cable and don't see the issue but would wonder if the "remote" part may indicate other users are using the same drive and it needs to keep re-indexing.

imanlien2020 · Mar 25, 2022

d4005 said:
I notice that if I have a folder being viewed (in the right pane) and in the left pane I scroll down to find another folder, every 10 seconds or so it'll snap back to make sure that the folder currently opened is in view. It means that if you're trying to navigate your way down a long list of folders in the left pane, if you don't reach the folder you're looking for within 10 seconds, it'll auto-scroll back to the open folder and you have to scroll again. It's very annoying.

Same deal with renaming a file via F2 or long-click or right-click-rename. As you're making your changes to the filename every 10 seconds it'll throw away your current changes and go back to the original name while staying in edit-name mode. You really have to get the changes done within 10 seconds or you have to start again. I find myself having to rename things in 10 second chunks. For example, if I want to delete the last 40 characters and then type a new 20 characters - I have to first delete the last 40 then save, then edit a second time and type 10 of the characters then save, then type the last 10 and save. Trying to do it all in one go doesn't work.

The filename editing situation only happens when the drive involved is a remote network mapped drive.

The left pane scroll situation happens regardless of whether it's network mapped or drive C even.

I have experienced the list thingy on the left navigation pane. It still does it right now. But I have not had issues renaming.

d4005 · Mar 26, 2022

glasskuter said:
My PC does not exhibit either of those issues. I am on release build 220000.556 which seems really stable to me..
Are you in the insider ring? If so, weird stuff is to be expected at times.
Do you per chance have any third-party apps added that affect the GUI?

Not on "the insider ring" (I assume that's some kind of beta early release program).
I don't have any of those explorer tweak UI apps (I've tried them before on earlier machines, but not on this one).

d4005 · Mar 26, 2022

Berton said:
I have a NAS drive connected to my Router via Ethernet cable and don't see the issue but would wonder if the "remote" part may indicate other users are using the same drive and it needs to keep re-indexing.

Mine's a USB drive that's plugged into my (Fritzbox 7490) router and shared in NAS-mode. The Win11 machine is the only one accessing that drive. I've noticed the re-indexing happening on this machine, the previous two Win10 machines, and the Win7 machine before that. Maybe it's my router that's more active with it than it should be, resulting in more re-indexing than there should be. With the renaming issue, I've changed my behavior with it to work around that. The scrolling issue on the other hand, that's far more annoying.

d4005 · Mar 26, 2022

imanlien2020 said:
I have experienced the list thingy on the left navigation pane. It still does it right now. But I have not had issues renaming.

Yaaay, I'm not alone. Sorry you also have it. This issue I never had on any other machine, it's new for Win11.

imanlien2020 · Mar 26, 2022

d4005 said:
Yaaay, I'm not alone. Sorry you also have it. This issue I never had on any other machine, it's new for Win11.

So yeah, I personally love One Commander..you can download it here..best modern looking and functionally customizable in everyway but I dont like the way renaming say a folder works...other then that maybe you would like it..best alternative and 100 percent free, always updated yaddi ya..lol. anyway its here if you wanna give it a whirl til Windows gets their shizz straight.

One Commander Download

d4005 · Mar 27, 2022

imanlien2020 said:
So yeah, I personally love One Commander..you can download it here..best modern looking and functionally customizable in everyway but I dont like the way renaming say a folder works...other then that maybe you would like it..best alternative and 100 percent free, always updated yaddi ya..lol. anyway its here if you wanna give it a whirl til Windows gets their shizz straight.

One Commander Download

Thanks for the suggestion, I haven't used a commander for many years. I downloaded it and I'm trying it out. It's so much better than regular Explorer. If there's something you don't want to see, right-click and remove it - you won't see it anymore.

imanlien2020 · Mar 28, 2022

d4005 said:
Thanks for the suggestion, I haven't used a commander for many years. I downloaded it and I'm trying it out. It's so much better than regular Explorer. If there's something you don't want to see, right-click and remove it - you won't see it anymore.

and what I really like about One Commander is the developer is on point. Ive emailed him numerous times with issues and he messaged back within a day and the fact he is hyper developing his app, meaning hes putting new things in and fixing issues and making it better continuously. So lots of updates. Whereas if Windows file explorer takes a rubbish it, how long before its fixed?...exactly..lol.

Win 11 File Explorer strange behavior when editing files or scrolling left pane

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