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

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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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

Was this answer helpful?

80+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

276 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Les Ferch 10,361 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-11-17T17:26:32+00:00

    It has nothing to do with your hardware. Its Windows update 23H2. Microsoft redesign Explorer from the ground up. It’s slow and sometimes doesn’t load at all. You’ll need to downgrade to 22H2 to solve the issue at this time.

    Note that this thread precedes 23H2 by a long time. Performance issues in Explorer are not new to 23H2. There are many factors involved, as can be seen by the myriad of solutions posted. Sometimes the big delays are related to metadata scanning, sometimes they're related to recent files links (especially links that point to network files that no longer exist), OneDrive syncing, automatic folder type discovery (which tends to run amuck in Windows 11), and so on. Similar delays can occur in Windows 10, but there does appear to be a bigger issue in Windows 11. Whether it's gotten worse with 23H2 is not clear. It's possible, but some people have reported the opposite.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-11-17T17:44:47+00:00

    I have had this issue on a work laptop since upgrading to Windows 11. I have now gotten a new laptop from work, which is a brand new install from scratch.

    Explorer was working slightly better, not great, but slightly better.

    Then I added network drives (required for my job) and we are back to the original issue. I cannot work around adding network drives.

    This issue has gotten so much attention, and yet there doesn't seem to be any attention from Microsoft.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-11-17T17:55:38+00:00

    I would downgrade. I work within Explorer a lot so I know the frustration. In my case after doing some tinkering I just downgraded to 22H2 and the problem is solved. I can live without all the new features of 23H2 until performance issues are resolved.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Les Ferch 10,361 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-11-17T17:59:05+00:00

    I have had this issue on a work laptop since upgrading to Windows 11. I have now gotten a new laptop from work, which is a brand new install from scratch.

    Explorer was working slightly better, not great, but slightly better.

    Then I added network drives (required for my job) and we are back to the original issue. I cannot work around adding network drives.

    This issue has gotten so much attention, and yet there doesn't seem to be any attention from Microsoft.

    Have you tried disabling the tracking of recent files and folders and clearing out the existing cache of those items, as per recommendations from several people in this thread? If you can't find the references in the earlier replies, let me know and I'll repost.

    And, yes, I understand I'm suggesting a workaround and Microsoft needs to address the underlying issues.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments