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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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
    2023-05-03T17:13:49+00:00

    Yes, removing all mapped network drives from quick access did the main improvement for me too.

    Before that, File Explorer apparently tried to connect to each network drive anew every time I opened a new file explorer window AND even when using an open or save as dialog from within another application! This would take up to a minute each time (when working from a location with slower internet connection and VPN network drives)!

    I also changed the starting page of File Explorer, which took some additional seconds to load.
    File Explorer > Click "Options" > (General tab) > "Open File Explorer to" > Change to "This PC"

    IIRC Windows 10 also tried to connect to these network drives, but it only did that once every reboot!

    ...

    It's ridiculous! Windows 11 was released more then 1,5 years ago and still has such basic problems!

    I feel like Windows 7, 8, 10 all were improvements on the same, solid design. And now the Windows 11 designers and programmers threw everything away without having the slightest clue on:

    1. What made Windows work and why it was designed like that (did they even read the UI guidelines?!)
      and
    2. How to design, create and test something new in the first place.

    Windows 11 is all about some fancy look (which is a matter of taste anyway) and is so much worse in terms of functionality and productivity. Most people use Windows for working. It's not a mobile phone where people just use chat apps or look at instagram or youtube. What were they thinking?!

    I've been a satisfied Windows user since Windows 95 and now I'm seriously considering switching to Linux.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-05-04T11:25:25+00:00

    For me, everything worked fine before April 2023. I never had any network drives and it's still laggy as hell now. Even memory card reader speeds dropped down to 15MB/s, which is ridiculously slow. The Windows Explorer has turned into a freaking malware. I'm very disappointed. I'm working with photos and videos on my machine, and a simple left click on files freezes it for 5-10 seconds ... on a 12-gen Intel workstation with NVMe SSD! So annoying! I've tried a few tricks (mentioned here before) to fix it and something did work for 2 weeks (I think removing the OneDrive helped). But then the problem was back again and nothing helps anymore. It's a nightmare. The worst part is that "the support" is trying to fix me (while trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong), instead of fixing their own mess. And it's almost impossible to find any potential solutions among all the insulting ones suggesting that I must be an idiot using slow HHDs, not enough RAM or having whatever usual "grandpa's computer" issues.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-05-13T01:37:23+00:00

    i'm using windows from XP , 7 , no vista , 8, 8.1 , 10 , and 11 . . .

    one thing i notice that windows 11 explorer is uncomplete, too much click needed (bad UX) and unstable.

    with all this UI mumbo jumbo happens in windows 11, it feels like they forced the UI over UX (which a bad thing in UI UX dicipline)

    i hope this terrible reign ends, faster than vista did back then.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-18T20:28:01+00:00

    Here is what I found.

    It seems to happen because it's opening to "Home". ..... not sure why "Home" is an issue.

    I clicked on the 3 dots in the top ribbon.... selected "Options".

    In the Folder options window.... General tab.

    Change "Open File Explorer to:" .... select "This PC".

    For me it opens to my drives first.....from there I can go anywhere..... no frustrating lag.

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