Windows Explorer is sluggish, bringing apps down with it

Solution 1:

If you have checked for malware and checked you hardware and the problem remains, then it is probably a shell context extension issue with Windows File Explorer.

You have run DISM / SFC without success. These two tools do not fix context issues.

It is possible that there is an issue with the Windows User Profile. Make a new, test, Windows User Profile (Account). Log into the new Account and test.

Otherwise, there are so many contexts that the most practical way to solve the issue is with a Windows 10 Repair Install.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Windows 10 is running, so click on the Download button (not Upgrade Button) and select Run. This will launch the Repair and proceed normally. Use the option to Keep Everything to begin with. The repair takes about an hour after download.

If Keep Everything does not work, Keep Data, and Keep Nothing (effectively Windows re-installation) are more aggressive steps.

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Follow up:

When all the testing is done, it is faster in my experience to reinstall Windows than to pull out the needed bits of a damaged profile and recreate a clean profile.

Your comment indicates a profile problem. So either create a new profile (much time) or reinstall Windows (faster).

Your other comment suggests you will upgrade to Windows 11 and make Windows 10 work truly properly first is the best approach.