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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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
    2023-06-12T13:38:53+00:00

    Thank you! This worked for me. Has been very frustrating with slow loading folders.

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  2. 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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  3. Anonymous
    2023-04-20T08:32:42+00:00

    For me this works, please feel free to change this list, so that others can follow:

    My Explorer looks like this:
    Image

    1. I dont use any mapped Network-Drives / Shares and removed them all. Instead I use Shortcuts like '01_the network drive'. Somehow it seems, that Windows Explorer on startup tries to connect to all mapped Network-Drives, if some are not available (Network problems, VPN not connected) it hangs.
    2. I use pinned directories, like 'docs'. I try to keep all pinned directories pointing to local, meaning 'C:'. To go to my Network-Drives I click '01_shortcuts' which will lead me to the shortcuts stored locally on C:\somewhere
    3. I would love to disable 'Home' and try to not use it at all: Image
    4. I disabled OneDrive.exe in the Startup apps: Image
      Notice the upper right corner in my Explorer: there is no OneDrive-Sign. I can still use OneDrive, but I like to start it manually whenever i really need it. I try to work with my Network-Shares and other Cloud-Providers and am only using OneDrive where needed

    This seems to work pretty fine. Probably 4 times in a month the pinned-section (see picture above: Desktop, Downloads, Documents etc.) loads slowly probably 5 Seconds. And only 'This PC -> Local Disk (C:)' is showing. Therefore i also try to move my pinned directories to C:, so that i will find them easily if they are not loaded. Also 'Downloads' and 'Documents' sometimes has problems, i probably should replace even these pinned Directories with some links ;-).

    It really is crazy how Microsoft is developing stuff like Cortana but the Windows Explorer in Windows 95 (20 years ago!) seems to have been better and faster than today! I would love Microsoft to make a minimalistic Explorer showing only C:\ but working reliably. If I need 'Music, Pictures, OneDrive' and whatever, I can configure them myself.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-02-17T19:41:48+00:00

    Fantastic! That worked for me. Well done.

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