Refreshing the Explorer Window

by Barry Dysert
(last updated March 2, 2015)

When using Windows Explorer (Windows 7) or File Explorer (Windows 8), there may be times when the display becomes "stale." This may happen if another application is manipulating files or folders in what's being displayed by Explorer. Whenever you want to be certain that what you're seeing in Explorer accurately reflects the underlying data you can refresh the Explorer window.

There are a few ways to refresh the Explorer window. Perhaps the easiest way is to make the window active and then press the F5 key. Another way is to click the View | Refresh menu option. A third way to refresh the window is to right-click an empty area of the Explorer window and select Refresh from the resulting Context menu.

Regardless of the method you choose, the window is refreshed and you can rest assured that what you're seeing is an accurate representation of the underlying data.

 This tip (12388) applies to Windows 7 and 8.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 30 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer.  He is currently a senior software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. ...

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