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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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
    2023-05-02T10:23:43+00:00

    I work at an office where they use 10/11, we build alot of files (picturse/videos/sounds). All of the computers using win 10 and especially 11, all have the same issues.

    Sorting by date often hangs or makes the window unresponsive.

    Entering/leaving folders have like 0.4 secs lag before it shows up

    Opening or show folder from google chrome often takes up 10 seconds before showing up the explorer

    Searching for a file in your start menu and wanting to show the containing folder? just wait 10-50 seconds before it shows up. and often you click it multiple times, so windows explorer will show up 20 times in your screen.

    There is one pc machine, a very trusted little beast. A geforce 980 GTX, i7 2600k, 24 gb ram. This friend still uses windows 7, has billions of files, and does NOT show these annoying little problems. folder click boom open, sort date, boom sorted date. doesnt matter hwo many files there are in a folder.

    All these windows 10/11 machines takes up so many extra time, it actually costs me more man hours.

    Now you are saying: Oh sorry to hear, please do these things and perhaps now it works?! A.K.A. here, waste more time. Congratiolations on your 10 years MVP award, I guess giving away useless awards is more important then actually making a fast system, like you used to have when win xp/7 was around.

    This post will help nothing, i think windows will be still slow and **** in the next 20 years, and the reason is generation Z developers having no actual clue. What a mess.

    Microsoft: Here, enjoy wasting more time!

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  2. Les Ferch 10,361 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-05-01T18:29:59+00:00

    So I purchased the latest i9 13900k CPU with the fastest 128GB RAM I could find, the fastest motherboard, the fastest GPU, fastest SSD. This is the fastest Desktop PC you can buy today. I install Windows Pro fresh.

    Internet Explorer is Slow to load (10 seconds).

    This thread is about File Explorer, so I assume you meant to say "File Explorer" and not "Internet Explorer". Is that correct?

    It should be obvious that these sorts of delays (especially with such a fast machine) are not happening to everyone. There are a lot of variables involved, as is evident from the plethora of potential solutions posted. More details may be helpful in narrowing down the source of the issue on your machine. For example, is there always a 10 second delay or is that only with certain folders?

    Please do look over the various solutions posted here. One or more of them may be applicable to your situation.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-05-01T17:54:23+00:00

    So I purchased the latest i9 13900k CPU with the fastest 128GB RAM I could find, the fastest motherboard, the fastest GPU, fastest SSD. This is the fastest Desktop PC you can buy today. I install Windows Pro fresh.

    Internet Explorer is Slow to load (10 seconds). Its like buying a brand new Mercedes S class for $170,000 and they tell you its normal that the roof leaks, you should just try and re-seat the gaskets. This is basic stuff. Cars roofs should not leak, especially from someone who has been making them for decades. Explorer should not be slow, regardless of settings. Its the most basic function of WIndows. If it is, your software team failed.

    Does the software know what computer its running on: Yes

    Does the software know how long it takes to load: Yes

    Can the software loading be optimized not to perform auxilliary functions: Yes

    Does the software development team care: No

    Your team failed!

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-04-26T10:37:04+00:00

    Removing network folders from Quick access worked for me!

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