Warning
ExplorerPatcher has a history of being falsely detected as malware by antiviruses (including Defender). This is likely due to its behavior, such as placing binaries in C:\Windows and performing in-memory patches on system components (notably explorer.exe and twinui.pcshell.dll) which is similar to how some game cheats operate.
- Currently, Defender does not flag this release, but it is likely that future updates may being flagged by Defender's machine learning-based detection systems within a few days of release.
- If Defender or another antivirus detects any part of EP as malware, it may prevent proper installation/uninstallation or cause
explorer.exeto fail to start, leaving your computer with a non-working shell.. - Issues related to antivirus detections will be closed immediately. Discuss this in #3670 or #3228.
We strongly recommend excluding EP's binaries from antivirus scans. Expand the section below for which paths to exclude and more information:
Please include the following files and folders in your antivirus' exclusion list to prevent issues due to antivirus detections:
For Defender, you can run the following script in PowerShell as an administrator:
C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher
%APPDATA%\ExplorerPatcher
C:\Windows\dxgi.dll
⚠️ IMPORTANT: explorer.exe will not start if this file exists but is blocked from being loaded.
C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy
C:\Windows\SystemApps\ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher"
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "$env:APPDATA\ExplorerPatcher"
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Windows\dxgi.dll"
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy"
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Windows\SystemApps\ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy"
#
Caution
We DO NOT recommend using the Windows 10 (ExplorerPatcher) taskbar on work and mission-critical machines. Microsoft's monthly cumulative and "security" updates (which also bring new features and under the hood changes) can cause Explorer to be unstable or fail to start at all if EP has not been updated accordingly. More info here.
We typically release a new version with the fix within a day after such a breaking change, but we cannot control whether users install the update promptly.
Tested on OS builds 26100.4946, 26100.5074, and 26200.5751.
1
- ep_weather: Fixed "Unable to load weather information" due to changes in Google's side. Thanks @davids5 for the fix! (#1334, #4351) (c3c83ff)
- Start11: Fixed hiding of Recommended Section on recent builds of 24H2. Thanks @m-wigley for the fix! (#4476) (9106226)
- GUI: File Explorer > Title bar is now available again on >= 22H2. Thanks @SandTechStuff! (583fa53)
- Reduced the occurrences of the Windows 11 bug in Explorer windows where
WM_SETTINGCHANGEwould scroll the folder items list to the top. (fa19402) - Changed hooking library to SlimDetours. (ff30457)
- On ARM64, fixes incompatibilities with certain Windhawk mods that hook
CreateWindowExWsuch as Taskbar Volume Control. - On ARM64, fixes a very slim chance bug where hooked functions would cause a crash when called until a reboot.
- On ARM64, fixes incompatibilities with certain Windhawk mods that hook
- ep_taskbar: Now statically links to private functions it uses. (ab99f26)
- Taskbar10: Fixed folder toolbar menus and Toolbars > New toolbar not working on builds with
TrayThreadBSTA(54481602) feature flag turned on, such as 26100.5074+. (#4542) (1bbe207) - GUI: Windows 8 Network flyout is now no longer an option on builds >= 25346 as van.dll was removed. Thanks @m-wigley for the fix! (#4478) (72c6983)
- On Windows 11 22H2+, Windows 10 (ExplorerPatcher) taskbar a.k.a. ep_taskbar is now used by default. (ad2fa72)
Known issues we will address in the short term:
- Due to Google changing weather icons, for now the icons do not appear in the weather button. (#4545)
- Shrink address bar height results in unexpected dimensions on recent 24H2 builds.
- When the new Windows 11 Start menu feature flag is enabled, Windows 10 Start menu will refuse to open due to an internal change.
✉️ A little message from @Amrsatrio: My PayPal account is currently having problems receiving funds, so if you want to support my work of keeping ExplorerPatcher working, please do so through my GitHub sponsors page. Thank you very much for the support!
Please consult the README for more details.
A detailed change log is available here.
An archive containing all the files generated during the build process (including dxgi.dll and symbol files) is available here.
This release has been published automatically from commits up to and including 1b977ad in branch master.