Zoom crashes when Windows Explorer opens while downloading files from Team Chat | Community
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川
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川島 帆洋
January 29, 2026
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Zoom crashes when Windows Explorer opens while downloading files from Team Chat

  • January 29, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 669 views

Hi,

I’m experiencing a reproducible crash of the Zoom desktop app on Windows.

Issue

When I try to download a file that was sent via Zoom Team Chat, Zoom crashes as soon as the Windows Explorer file dialog opens.

Detailed behavior

  • Click Download on a file in Zoom Team Chat
  • Windows Explorer opens to select / confirm the download location
  • The Explorer window shows an empty or partially rendered UI (left navigation pane does not appear)
  • Immediately after that, Zoom crashes/force closes

Important notes

  • This happens only when Explorer is invoked
  • Other Zoom features work normally
  • The issue also occurs when trying to change the download location for cloud recordings, because Explorer is opened
  • Windows Explorer itself shows abnormal behavior (left navigation pane missing)

Environment

  • OS: Windows 10 / Windows 11
  • Zoom Desktop App (latest version at the time)
  • Microsoft 365 Apps installed

Has anyone encountered a similar issue or found a permanent fix?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

      Best answer by alicemia

      I have seen a few similar cases discussed on the Zoom Community where Zoom crashes are triggered by specific Windows UI interactions rather than Zoom features themselves.

      This thread might be relevant, even though it’s not file-download specific:
      https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Meetings/Zoom-keeps-crashing-when-someone-shares-their-screen/m-p/88576

      In that case, the root cause was related to how Zoom interacts with Windows components, and the accepted solution involved adjusting settings like hardware acceleration and doing a clean reinstall.

      Given that your issue happens specifically when Windows Explorer opens (and Explorer itself shows abnormal behavior, like the missing navigation pane), it may be worth checking Explorer-related corruption as well for example testing with hardware acceleration disabled in Zoom, running sfc /scannow, or testing with a new Windows user profile.

      It feels more like a Windows/Explorer interaction problem that Zoom is hitting, rather than a pure Zoom Team Chat bug.

      4 replies

      alicemia
      Newcomer
      alicemiaAnswer
      Newcomer
      January 29, 2026

      I have seen a few similar cases discussed on the Zoom Community where Zoom crashes are triggered by specific Windows UI interactions rather than Zoom features themselves.

      This thread might be relevant, even though it’s not file-download specific:
      https://community.zoom.com/t5/Zoom-Meetings/Zoom-keeps-crashing-when-someone-shares-their-screen/m-p/88576

      In that case, the root cause was related to how Zoom interacts with Windows components, and the accepted solution involved adjusting settings like hardware acceleration and doing a clean reinstall.

      Given that your issue happens specifically when Windows Explorer opens (and Explorer itself shows abnormal behavior, like the missing navigation pane), it may be worth checking Explorer-related corruption as well for example testing with hardware acceleration disabled in Zoom, running sfc /scannow, or testing with a new Windows user profile.

      It feels more like a Windows/Explorer interaction problem that Zoom is hitting, rather than a pure Zoom Team Chat bug.

        川
        Newcomer
        川島 帆洋Author
        February 2, 2026

        Thank you for your response! My issue has been resolved. As you pointed out, the problem seemed to be related to corrupted system files in Explorer. Thanks for giving me the hint!

          Q
          Newcomer
          Quinn Neal
          Newcomer
          January 30, 2026

          I’ve made a similar post over the same issue…

          https://community.zoom.com/team-chat-3/zoom-desktop-app-crashes-when-windows-explorer-opens-for-file-downloads-78565

          Any suggestions from Zoom would be appreciated. 

            川
            Newcomer
            川島 帆洋Author
            February 2, 2026

            Thanks for the response! I checked your post, and it looks like we were having the exact same issue.

            My problem is resolved now. What fixed it for me was repairing system files using an elevated (admin) Command Prompt. I ran the following commands:

            sfc /scannow
            DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
            DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

            Hope this helps, and fingers crossed it fixes your machine too 🤞

            川
            Newcomer
            川島 帆洋Author
            February 2, 2026

            Additional note: Windows Explorer works normally in everyday use. The issue only occurs when Explorer is invoked by the Zoom desktop app.

            川
            Newcomer
            川島 帆洋Author
            February 13, 2026

            We realized that some of the information we previously shared was incomplete, so we would like to provide additional details here.

            We initially thought the issue had been resolved, but the same problem has now reappeared on other PCs within our company. This time, the methods that previously worked do not fix the issue, and five more devices are now affected.

            The issue occurs when users try to download a file from Zoom. The moment the File Explorer (save dialog) opens to choose the download location, Zoom immediately crashes.

            We had already tried general troubleshooting steps such as Windows Update before reporting this. After further investigation, we found the following:

            • Every PC experiencing this Zoom crash is running Windows 11 Pro version 25H2 with KB5074109 installed.
            • On the other hand, two PCs where the issue was successfully resolved are running Windows 11 Pro 25H2 with KB5074105 installed.

            However, since the issue is still occurring on other devices running 25H2, it does not seem that the Windows version alone is the determining factor. We also came across some reports mentioning issues related to KB5074105, so this information should be considered reference only—not a definitive conclusion.

            ✔ Steps performed on the PCs where the issue was resolved

            • PC restart
            • Full shutdown
            • System file repair (SFC / DISM)
            • Uninstalling and reinstalling the OneDrive app
            • Uninstalling and reinstalling the Zoom app
            • Clearing the Zoom cache
            • Windows Update
            • Dell SupportAssist scans and updates
              (All our company PCs are Dell devices.)

            (We apologize if anything is missing.)

            ✔ About the five PCs that are still unresolved

            These PCs are heavily used in daily operations, so we cannot allocate enough downtime to test all the steps listed above. For now, users are using the Zoom web client to download files as a temporary workaround.

            We will continue to share updates as soon as we discover more information.

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