Windows 11 24H2’s latest bug turns a simple file move into a total nightmare, and you could be its next victim

It’s been months since Microsoft released the Windows 11 24H2 update to general users. However, just like in many previous Windows releases, users encountered several bugs even after the launch of the latest version of Windows. The bug that recently caught everybody’s attention was reportedly caused by Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday update, KB5051987. That issue is still not fixed, and on top of that, Windows 11 users have encountered yet another even nastier bug.

A mysterious Windows 11 bug can freeze your PCs while moving files

Reddit user u/Life_Garlic-2082 first pointed out that moving a program file (like a .exe or .msi) out of .ZIP to another application using drag and drop freezes the File Explorer. The program file is stuck between two apps, not allowing you to move the file to its desired location. I also tried to reproduce the issue with Microsoft Edge and File Explorer open side by side. Upon moving a .msi file out of a .ZIP, the file got stuck between two windows, leaving my desktop unresponsive.

Luckily, the taskbar was working. I right-clicked the taskbar and opened Task Manager to restart File Explorer and close the Microsoft Edge web browser to escape the frozen state. Even after all this, the File Explorer app crashed each time I opened it. Thankfully, a system restart got things back to normal. It’s important to note that the issue isn’t limited to scenarios when you have a web browser and File Explorer open side by side. I tried to move the same file to Slack and chat apps like WhatsApp and encountered the same issue.

However, drag and drop within the File Explorer works as you’d expect. I also moved it from File Explorer to my desktop with no issue. The bug seems to get triggered when you try to move those files between two different app windows. Also, as noted by the Reddit user, it triggers when you move a program file that you downloaded and then packed into a .ZIP file.

Microsoft doesn’t seem to know about it

There is no official response from Microsoft yet about this issue, so there is no information regarding whether the recently released Patch Tuesday update is causing it. So, for now, the only way to avoid it is by not trying to move those files out of .ZIP to another app using drag-and-drop until Microsoft issues a fix.

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