{"id":80535,"date":"2026-03-21T12:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T07:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/?p=80535"},"modified":"2026-03-21T13:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T07:30:54","slug":"explorer-exe-error-open-file-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/explorer-exe-error-open-file-location\/","title":{"rendered":"Explorer.exe error when selecting Open File Location"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you right-click on a shortcut on the desktop or Start menu and choose <strong>Open file location<\/strong>, the following error may occur:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"err\">Explorer.EXE\r\n\r\nThis file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Apps Settings page.<\/pre>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/explorer-exe-error-open-file-location.png\" alt=\"explorer.exe open file location\" width=\"623\" height=\"205\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-80536\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Cause<\/h2>\n<p>The above error occurs if the folder association settings in the following branch are incorrect.<\/p>\n<pre class=\"registry\">\r\nHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Folder\r\n<\/pre>\n<h2>Resolution<\/h2>\n<p>To resolve the Explorer.exe error when clicking Open file location, please apply the folder association registry fix below.<\/p>\n<p>Please download the following REG file.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/fileasso\/folder_fix_windows_10.reg\">folder_fix_windows_10.reg<\/a>\u00a0 (for Windows 10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/fileasso\/folder_fix_windows_11.reg\">folder_fix_windows_11.reg<\/a>\u00a0 (for Windows 11)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Double-click the file to run it. Click Yes to confirm.<\/p>\n<p>Log off and log in again to your user account.<\/p>\n<p>That should resolve the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you right-click on a shortcut on the desktop or Start menu and choose Open file location, the following error may occur: Explorer.EXE This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Apps Settings &#8230; <a title=\"Explorer.exe error when selecting Open File Location\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/explorer-exe-error-open-file-location\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Explorer.exe error when selecting Open File Location\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,869],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10","category-windows-11"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1078,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-file-association-error-explorer-in-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":80535,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Explorer.exe Error &#8220;This file does not have an app associated&#8221;","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"When you click the Windows Explorer or File Explorer shortcut Pinned to the Taskbar, or when running explorer.exe directly, the following error message may be displayed: This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"file explorer shortcut association error","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/explorer-error-app-association-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/explorer-error-app-association-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/explorer-error-app-association-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1284,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/explorer-exe-error-yellow-exclamation-startup-windows-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":80535,"position":1},"title":"Fix Explorer.exe Error with Yellow Exclamation at Startup","author":"Ramesh","date":"December 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"When you log on to your user account in Windows 8 or 10, Explorer.exe error message with yellow exclamation may appear, containing no message text. This may occur mainly in the aftermath of removing malware from the system. Fix: Explorer.exe Error with Yellow Exclamation To fix the Explorer.exe error at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived2\/w8-explorer-excl-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1097,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/backup-pinned-taskbar-shortcuts-restore\/","url_meta":{"origin":80535,"position":2},"title":"How to Backup and Restore Pinned Taskbar Shortcuts in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"When you install Windows on a new computer, customizing Windows takes a lot of time and effort. One such thing is the taskbar. You may have to redo the procedure of pinning the applications which you frequently use. If you're planning to move to a new Windows PC or a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"taskband registry key","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4254,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/show-process-id-file-explorer-title-bar-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":80535,"position":3},"title":"Show Process ID in File Explorer Title Bar in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a hidden registry setting in Windows 10, which when enabled shows the explorer.exe Process ID (PID) in File Explorer title bar, and tells if a folder window is running under the shell process, or as a separate process.Show Process ID in File ExplorerStart Regedit.exe and go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\ExplorerCreate a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"show process id explorer title bar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/explorer-show-processid-title-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/how-to-rebuild-the-icon-cache-in-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":80535,"position":4},"title":"How to Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 10 or 11","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We may face the icon cache corruption issue sometimes in Windows 10\/11 and earlier OS. The icon cache corruption causes the wrong icons to show up for certain programs or in certain areas of the Windows shell, or no icons at all. For example, your pinned taskbar shortcuts may show\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"clear and rebuild icon cache completely","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/cleariconcache-utility.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3178,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/winkey-e-shortcut-target-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":80535,"position":5},"title":"How to Change Win + E Shortcut Target in Windows 10\/11","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The WinKey + E keystroke, as well as the File Explorer shortcut on the taskbar, open Quick access view by default. You can change the default folder to This PC using Folder Options General tab, or make it open to the Downloads\u00a0folder using a registry method. But, how to make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"File Explorer shortcut","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/winkey-e-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}