Windows File Explorer not Closing with Ctrl +W periodically?

[bruucee]

For some reason I am having an issue where this button combination stopping working. It is system wide. It is affecting my browsers as well. The only fix is a reboot. Any ideas of the root cause?

[_I_]

set explorer to run in its own process

Open Folder Options.
Click/tap on the View tab.
Check (enable) or uncheck (disable - default) Launch folder windows in a separate process for what you want.
Click/tap on OK.

explorer is also used for desktop, start menu and other things not just the file explorer part