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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-06-18T23:59:50+00:00

    My file explorer is now fixed and very fast. Latest updates did it for me.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-06-11T15:03:42+00:00

    Please simplify your life with a very good alternative to File Explorer. After days of bad work experience and frustration with the slow Windows 11 file explorer, I finally decided to move on with installing another lightning-fast alternative. You can download it here: https://freecommander.com/en/downloads/

    Unfortunately, the freecommander seems to be just as slow and laggy as the Windows File Explorer.

    It's almost like it's downloading (from somewhere else) every freaking file I click on, or asking for permission, before showing me the details or preview. If it is only 50MB (like a RAW image file), it can take a second or two. But if it is 50GB (4K/8K video files), it can take a minute of "not responding" and annoying. And I don't even need the RAW file preview on thumbnails, I need them for JPEGs only, but it simply doesn't have the turn off button. The only RAW file preview I want to see is in the side bar with metadata, like it used to be in the good old win7. And I don't want to see the damn folder loading before I can see its content. I mean, really!? Folders show loading bars now? Ridiculous! My 2012 win7 machine doesn't do that and it feels 100 times faster. WTH? How is it even possible? Oh, and the latest update brings a new "feature" .. now if I want to play a game, I click to launch it, but it takes a minute or two for it just to begin loading the game. So maybe it's not just the File Explorer?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-06-11T09:17:11+00:00

    @Kapil Arya

    Please be careful about what you describe as workaround because once microsoft sees it, the team will simply celebrate that there is a workaround and forget the issue. That is why you still find Windows 7 known issues on Windows 8, 10 and 11.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-06-08T06:47:58+00:00

    I noticed everyone was reporting that the slowness is happening because of Explorer trying to load the Home area. I noticed the same issue on my side and haven't tried the clearing of recently used files fix yet. I did find that if I set Explorer to default to "This PC" that it doesn't slow down when I initially open it. As you may have guessed, it is because explorer loads the Home section only when its selected and not on startup. I know its not a true fix for those that want to use the Home area but its something to check out. Here is a screenshot of where the setting is in Folder Options

    Image

    It doesn't work for me, no effect.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments