Windows 11 file explorer is slow, lagging, hangs!

Anonymous
2022-11-06T07:07:24+00:00

Hi,

I have a very strong PC with Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe, Intel i7-9700K, 32GB Memory and ASUS ROG Strix Z390-H Gaming.
When my PC was on Windows 10 there was no problem with File Explorer but after upgrading to Windows 11 I am facing a problem with file explorer slow, lagging, hangs even when just renaming a file.
Only full PC restart is solving the problem for a short time.

How to solve this problem on windows 11 please?

Thanks,
AG

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2022-11-28T14:17:19+00:00

I also experienced Lags with the Explorer:

  1. On Windows 10, i could solve them by removing external file-drives (SMB) from Quick-Access. I created a folder with Links to the drives instead and explorer was fast again. Probably the explorer tried to connect to these drives and for some reason failed, even though the connection was up and working.
  2. On Windows 11 on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active:
    Image The problems came with the "Home"-Button, which was added at some point. Also the "Please sign in" only shows when selecting the "Home"-Button.

This might also be related to an account i am unable to remove:
Image
Clicking on 'Manage' opens the login-page for the first account and i can not find the old account in the first account to remove it.

Can your problem also be associated with one of the issues above?

Does anyone know how to solve the second issue by e.g. disabling the "Home" button, changing the account in the explorer or removing a no longer existing old account?

Updated Info / what i use:

  1. Don't use mapped Drives oder External Folders in Quick-Access. Keep all pinned-directories pointing to local files / folders. Instead, save them as files / links:

Image

  1. Disable OneDrive.exe in StartUp-Apps. If this still does not help, completely disable or remove onedrive: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0 
  2. 'Home' as startup-folder seems to also be slow, change it: https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-set-start-location-file-explorer-windows-10/
    Image

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-11-07T18:00:00+00:00

    Hello Kapil,

    Thanks for your reply but it does not worked for me also my settings already set like so.

    Kind Regards,

    AG

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-12-01T15:09:09+00:00

    Hi AG,

    Were you ever able to find a solution to this issue? I am having the same issue occur for several users. It seems this started to occur when the file explorer introduced Tabs.

    Thanks

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-12-14T17:16:15+00:00

    Sam,

    Thank you for your suggestion. I removed a Quick Access shortcut to a folder on a NAS drive, and my problem has disappeared. Instead of taking 10-15 minutes to populate the Home display in Explorer it now takes seconds.

    As others have noted, this issue originated with the recent introduction of the new Tabbed Explorer. It has never been a problem prior to this. Definitely something Microsoft should be looking into.

    Thanks again

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  4. Kapil Arya 38,446 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-11-06T09:01:16+00:00

    Hello, 

    Try resetting File Explorer (explorer.exe) process: 

    1. Press Windows Key + R and type SYSDM.CPL in Run. Click OK or press Enter key. 
    2. In System Properties window, switch to Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance. 
    3. Next, in Performance Options, under Processor scheduling, make sure that Adjust for best performance of: is set to Programs. 
    4. Then in the same window, under Virtual memory, click Settings button. 
    5. On Virtual Memory page, make sure Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives option is checked. Click OK, then Apply, OK on rest of windows. 
    6. Reboot the machine and see if issue is resolved now. 

    Let us know if this helps!

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