Windows 11 File Explorer keeps auto-refreshing

[Pawnless Endgame]

This is a nuisance for me because when a refresh happens, the file selection zips back to the top left. It happens about once per minute and quite suddenly, so I sometimes open the wrong file or move the wrong file. If it's a folder with 250 files and I'm halfway down, I'll lose my place because the file selection has gone back to the top left again. If I'm comparing 2 files, then again I'll lose my place. It affects every folder - local, external and network drives.

I have a keystroke / mouse utility that logs keystrokes and mouse movements in real time. When the refresh happens, no keystrokes or mouse movements are being outputted, so I know it's not a faulty keyboard, sticky keys or a loose scroll wheel. It can't be hardware related.

Searches on Google gave me 2 potential software solutions:

1. go to personalise > colours > accent colour > disable this. This solution wasn't relevant to me because I use high contrast mode and so all of the colour options are greyed out for me. Plus, I have been using high contrast for about 10 years across Windows 8, 10 and 11, so can't see why this is relevant. The problem started just a few days ago.

2. go to personalise > background > change background/wallpaper from "slideshow" to "picture". For me, it was already on picture, so nothing to change here.

I have restarted Explorer.exe in Task Manager but to no avail.

Any ideas?

I have just the basic Windows Defender as my AV. Should I be using something else for potential virus activity? I don't use porn sites or sites for illegal programs as they don't interest me and I don't open EXE attachments or e.g. files ending with -.jpg.exe.

 

[Gman]

i've noticed my works laptop does the same thing, but it only does it when I'm opening the contents with something that's got admin permissions.

e.g. open Explorer, scroll down, right click a file and open in VS Code (I've got VS code set to open as admin)

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Thanks for the feedback @Gman

I don't think it's admin rights in my case, but glad to know the problem isn't isolated.

A few more reports online suggested running SFC /scannow on the command prompt, but this didn't work for me or for anyone else who had the Explorer refresh problem.

I installed and ran Malware Bytes. The scan came out completely clean.

Over the last couple of days however, Google Drive (for desktop) was reportedly no longer connecting and couldn't map the G:\ drive any more. I unlinked my Google account, uninstalled / reinstalled Google Drive and re-linked the account. After it thought about it for 5 minutes, the G:\ drive reappeared in File Explorer and the files were synced ok.

Then I realised that my original problem has gone away! This was yesterday, and I thought I'd give it 24 hours to make sure of this, then report back here. So I wonder if it was a cloud issue in the end? Could be worth checking Google Drive if you have it yourself. I also have Dropbox but didn't have to do anything with that.