Windows 11 file explorer is slow, lagging, hangs!

Anonymous

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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

I also experienced Lags with the Explorer:

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.
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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active:
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:

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:

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:

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
'Home' as startup-folder seems to also be slow, change it: https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-set-start-location-file-explorer-windows-10/

0 comments

276 additional answers

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.
Was this answer helpful?

4 people found this answer helpful.

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2023-02-17T19:41:48+00:00

Fantastic! That worked for me. Well done.
Was this answer helpful?

3 people found this answer helpful.

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2023-02-17T11:34:07+00:00

My File Explorer is also laggy here in general (renaming file/folder, selecting file and folder, navigating), although my PC is quite recent (i7-11700K, Samsung 980 Pro).

Opening a new 'File Explorer' window is slow (0.5 to 1 second), even when the target folder is empty.

When the 'Expand to open folder' option is UNticked though, any new Explorer window get loaded slightly faster :

File Explorer Options > View > Advanced settings: > Navigation pane > Expand to open folder
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2023-02-14T09:09:51+00:00

Confirm having the same problem with very slow File Explorer (caused mainly by Home aka Quick Access)
Had only one link in Quick Access to a network folder that these days is more often unavailable.

Once deleted the Quick Access link, all good !
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments