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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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
    2023-03-15T13:36:15+00:00

    are there any real fixes to this issue, these solutions although helpfull do not excuse a slow running explorer, I did not see this in windows 10.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-22T06:04:55+00:00

    This detailed steps worked like magic! Thank you so much! I just followed every single step in the ascending order and now my file explorer are buttery smooth like how it used to be when I first bought my laptop.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-02-03T01:21:58+00:00

    Hey,

    I've been facing similar problems since i did a clean install of Win11. I couldn't find a solution anywhere, so I tried a few things. I don't know, what types of files or folders you're experiencing this problems with, but for me it was a problem with missing media-codecs, when opening, reloading or changing folders containing image and/or video files or the files themselves.

    In addition to downloading those codecs, there's always the option to run a quick system repair with:

    DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth (in elevated cmd)

    or

    sfc /scannow

    Maybe this can help or maybe it can't... but I just wanted to post this somewhere incase someone is having similar problems and happens to stumple upon this thread.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-04T07:21:12+00:00

    Thanks for the hint. Removed connected network drive from the quick access and at the first test, the explorer was there instantly.

    I will have an eye on it to check if it stays this way.

    If this really is the reason, it should be fixed as it was not a problem in older Windows versions. I think it came together with the file explorer tabs for me

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