Annoying flicker when creating or renaming a folder in Windows Explorer's folder tree

Question 1

I have a really annoying problem with Windows Explorer. When I create a new folder or rename an existing one in the folder tree (navigation pane) there is heavy flickering and I'm unable to type the desired name correctly (the focus is lost eventually and only part of the name will be there). This does not happen when I do the creation or renaming in the main pane.

I uploaded a video which shows my problem.

first I show that in the main pane there is no problem
then I create a folder in the folder tree (navigation pane), where I can't manage to name the folder correctly because of the flickering (I'm constantly typing the same name I entered in the first step)
I try to rename the created folder which again is not possible to do correctly
I also try to show, that the mouse cursor is flickering as well (changing rapidly between text cursor and normal cursor if placed over the folder name) but unfortunately that is not clearly recognizable in the video

Any clue what the problem could be? The computer is quite "clean" (no registry hacks, as few installed software as possible) and not that old yet - and as far as I know I had this problem from day 1 when I set up everything. I already did a lot of googling, but only found similar questions and answers regarding Windows XP (some registry hacking) which did not work for me.

Question 2

Have you tried to use the "Restore Defaults" option from Tools/Folder options?

Question 3

This is a rather broad question, so I have a few things you can check and would like to know what you find. 1) Are you using the latest BIOS version. 2) Are all Windows Updates installed? 3) Are you using the latest video drivers? 4) Does this happen in Safe Mode?

Question 4

Thanks for your hints! I restored all the defaults in the tabs of the Folder Options dialog, including "Reset Folders". Then I did the following: 1) Updated to the latest BIOS version. 2) Ensured Windows is up to date - except Silverlight stuff and one optional update which always fails with error 80070103 ("Intel Graphics Adapter WDDM1.1 - 1.3" - maybe relevant?!). 3) Clicked "Update driver software" on "Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000" in device manager (I have no dedicated GPU). 4) In Safe Mode (I tried "Minimal" and "Network" with msconfig) the problem does not appear! But still in normal mode..

Question 5

@CharlieRB: I have now searched manually for the latest video driver and found one from Sep 2014. So the "Update driver software" button in the device manager seems not reliable. After installing it I got two Intel context menu items if I right click on the desktop. I don't like that but at least Windows does not show the non-working optional update anymore (so I'm now "officially" up to date). While my problem is still there, I think it's better to have a more apropriate/recent driver for my graphics anyway (even though it's not discrete graphics). I may try another monitor next week..

Question 6

FYI: I got rid of this problem after upgrading to Windows 10.

Question 7

I have the same problem, and it is caused by Dropbox. When I exit Dropbox the problem goes away immediately. Since Dropbox has options in the context menu in Windows file explorer, I assume this is due to a shell extension by Dropbox, however they provide no options to disable this shell extension so I can't be 100% sure.

Question 8

Yeap you've found the culprit, it was sync.com (Win 10) for me but the idea is that the usual suspect is cloud storage desktop integrations.

Question 9

If you have WinRAR installed, disable the shell extension via WinRAR Options > Settings > Integration > Integrate WinRAR into shell and then click OK (a reboot is not required). The flickering should stop instantly. If you don't have WinRAR installed or disabling the shell extension doesn't help, there may be other extensions contributing to the problem. If so, a process of elimination should identify the culprit(s).

Question 10

Thanks for this hint. I cannot verify/test because upgrading to Windows 10 made the problem disappear. But if anyone else has the same Problem your answer might be helpful.

Question 11

For me the solution was to close OneDrive. It was causing this problem for me.

GeoBarry 212 bronze badges · Answer 1 · 2019-11-18 07:48:11Z

I have the same problem, and it is caused by Dropbox. When I exit Dropbox the problem goes away immediately. Since Dropbox has options in the context menu in Windows file explorer, I assume this is due to a shell extension by Dropbox, however they provide no options to disable this shell extension so I can't be 100% sure.

Yeap you've found the culprit, it was sync.com (Win 10) for me but the idea is that the usual suspect is cloud storage desktop integrations.

Peter Forrest 111 bronze badge · Answer 2 · 2016-12-02 20:29:08Z

If you have WinRAR installed, disable the shell extension via WinRAR Options > Settings > Integration > Integrate WinRAR into shell and then click OK (a reboot is not required). The flickering should stop instantly. If you don't have WinRAR installed or disabling the shell extension doesn't help, there may be other extensions contributing to the problem. If so, a process of elimination should identify the culprit(s).

Thanks for this hint. I cannot verify/test because upgrading to Windows 10 made the problem disappear. But if anyone else has the same Problem your answer might be helpful.