Very weird minor bug that doesnt let me change my start button look for whatever reason

[waterhulk09]

Describe the bug

I have no idea if this issue was present prior to me finding it, as I haven't bothered to change it, but as you can see here, the explorer window takes forever to load and doesn't even respond. / won't even open where the picture is located
View video of what happened:https://youtu.be/HI1grgR231E

Area of issue

Windows Explorer

To reproduce

Open the option to add a custom image for the start button.

Expected behavior

should open the explorer location of where the original file was at (d drive in a folder) and should load something

Open-Shell version

4.4.196

Windows version

Windows 11 24H2

Additional context

like I said above bug could been old but I have no idea.

[Rollback-Jockey]

There's a similar issue by description for the save /load configuration file

[peterjay733]

I am having the same issue. WIndows 11 Pro. Very weird. First time I've seen it with any Windows OS.

Update: Leaving my posts below in-place; the issue is between Open Shell and the latest release(s) of W11. Relatively simple workaround (read below) but perhaps Open Shell can be adjusted to compensate.

[waterhulk09]

I am having the same issue. WIndows 11 Pro. Very weird. First time I've seen it with any Windows OS

Yeah I never seen this issue before is there anyway around it you have found or have you just rolled back to an old version to circumvent this Or done nothing at all?

[peterjay733]

See the bottom of my next post for a quicker workaround (Export XML file after backing up, import the file and restart Open Shell)

---

Yes after some fussing and waiting, I believe I have a workaround for this. At least it worked for me.

Click on Pick Image and wait. When the dialog box finally shows up, don't try to use Explorer to find the file.

Go to the File Name field at the bottom of the window and begin typing the path to the image file you want. You can even paste the full path+file name there. This worked perfectly for me. Still SMH about why it's occurring on -this- computer, and so far, no others I've seen.

Good bet that I'll now see it again though.

BTW tried prior version of Open Shell. Same issue.

[peterjay733]

Follow-up: This "feature" in Open Shell now seems to be an "artifact" due to the latest version of Windows 11. Just checked it on a computer I'd installed Open Shell on months ago, with latest W11 updates, and the problem is now there as well.

My "fix" above did work, however. I had to wait quite some time before the prompt came up, But it worked.

I'm a hardware jockey, however, and not a programmer for many years now, So if someone wants to tackle this new bug (thanks, Microsoft!), it would be appreciated by many.

MUCH Quicker workaround: Simply use the "Backup" button (bottom of main Settings window) to save the Open Shell config to an XML file,

Edit the file as needed and re-import. Link to file with pertinent settings to add/edit in XML file:

Start Button Image Config XML Code.txt

[spapakons]

Hello guys, I just opened another bug report with the same issue. Windows 11 25H2, but it seems you have it in 24H2. Probably some of the last build versions cause that. My workaround it to save the custom start button (.png image) in an easy to type path, such as c:\data\start_button.png, and then manually type the patch in the box instead of browsing for the file.

[peterjay733]

Once you have the path set to the custom image, it's a good bet that you can just change the button image by giving it the same name as the "old" one and replacing it in the same path. Then quit and restart Open Shell.

Seems to me that the bug was introduced by updates to W11 and not to Open Shell, but the problem is there either way.

Follow-up 10-8-2025: Just tried what I said in 1st sentence and it works fine. So there ya go.

[MarGeb1]

If explorer windows does not respond, move the pointer over the start button. Repeat that on every further hang.

Markus

[RogerYao-Dev]

Open-Shell Backup solution
OpenShellExt_web