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on a new computer i have again troubles with the explorer, this time i think it is due to a wrong/old account which is no longer active: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
    2023-05-01T17:54:23+00:00

    So I purchased the latest i9 13900k CPU with the fastest 128GB RAM I could find, the fastest motherboard, the fastest GPU, fastest SSD. This is the fastest Desktop PC you can buy today. I install Windows Pro fresh.

    Internet Explorer is Slow to load (10 seconds). Its like buying a brand new Mercedes S class for $170,000 and they tell you its normal that the roof leaks, you should just try and re-seat the gaskets. This is basic stuff. Cars roofs should not leak, especially from someone who has been making them for decades. Explorer should not be slow, regardless of settings. Its the most basic function of WIndows. If it is, your software team failed.

    Does the software know what computer its running on: Yes

    Does the software know how long it takes to load: Yes

    Can the software loading be optimized not to perform auxilliary functions: Yes

    Does the software development team care: No

    Your team failed!

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-03-21T10:16:15+00:00

    I finally solved this in my case.

    The solution is:

    Control Panel > Change 'View By' to 'Large Icons' > File Explorer Options > Change 'Open File Explorer to:' from, 'Home' to 'This PC'

    Hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-04-13T09:39:37+00:00

    I can't believe this issue is still going on six months later.

    None of the solutions above worked for me.

    I have seelcted "This PC" as the starting point.

    I have reset index.

    I have unchecked "show files from Outlook.com"

    I don't have any login issue on the "Home" page.

    This issue is also present when saving a file from a browser and it preloads in a file, so not linked to just the "This PC", "Home", or "Qucik Access" items

    One thing I did was disconnect Network Drives that were failing to connect. This reduced the open time from 45-85 seconds, down to 5-10 seconds. But this is still not acceptable. It worked perfectly fine in every other version of Windows. Explorer should be able to load first, and then try to connect. Not hold you hostage every time. I should be allowed to have network drives that are only accessable if connected to a VPN be setup regardless of if I am always connected to them or not.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-03T13:40:38+00:00

    Hello all,

    I had the same problem, my explorer was taking a long time to load.

    I removed from my quick Access all the folder linking to folders on a slower network and now it's back to display fast.
    It would be good if windows would show the folder right away no matter what, and then after doing whatever checking process in the back while letting the user continue their actions.

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