Windows 11 File Explorer EXTREMELY Slow Unless Restarted Every Few Minutes

Anonymous
2023-01-30T20:51:39+00:00

Hello all. I have been researching this issue for a while, but none of the suggested fixes I have found and tried have had any effect. I've tried numerous setting change suggestions with indexing, File Explorer options, etc, but nothing has improved this issue even slightly. Even a complete clean install when I recently upgraded my SSD had no effect.

The issue is that my file explorer starts out normally fast when first opened. For example, opening my downloads folder(located on my desktop) and fully populating all thumbnails, etc, takes about a second the first time you do it. However, within a few seconds that speed is replaced by EXTREMELY slow performance. For example, if I open a subfolder under downloads, then attempt to return to the downloads folder, it will take 45 seconds to 2 minutes to perform the same action is just did in less than 2. During this time, CPU load never exceeds 10%, Disk usage never exceeds 1%, and Memory usage never exceeds 25%. The second or third navigation request within Windows Explorer will start the issue every time. It will stay this way until you restart Windows Explorer from the Task Manager, upon which it will be normal speed again for a few seconds, then immediately revert to the exceptionally slow behavior. It is so slow that the fastest way to navigate is to constantly restart the process every time you need to change folders. All other programs and features operate perfectly normally.

This is not a hardware speed issue, as Windows 10 ran perfectly fine on this machine. It's an i7 8700K with 32 Gigs of RAM on a Gigabyte Z390 with a Samsung Evo 980 M.2 SSD. This should be lightning quick at such tasks.

I could really use a hand here, this is a completely unacceptable situation.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-04-07T23:37:19+00:00

    I am also experiencing exactly the same issues. None of the methods I've tried so far have worked (which even includes clean OS installation).

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-04-08T08:37:21+00:00

    Slight correction, James. Microsoft MVP giving us a long list of possible fixes, NONE OF WHICH ACTUALLY WORK. None of the many possible fixes I have tried over the past few months has even put a dent in the issue. The only thing that makes it slightly faster is not using thumbnails at all, but I really need them for my use case. This issue is obviously endemic to Windows 11.

    It's possible that there is a problem with third party drivers or something that contributes to the problem, but nothing I am using is at all rare or unusual, and the problem resurfaces immediately after clean windows reinstallation, so it would have to be one of the basic system drivers that get loaded up right after you clean install. The most exotic thing I had loaded by the time it came back was Chrome. LOL!

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-04-08T18:12:46+00:00

    I have tried a couple of replacement apps without much luck. Must be something integral to W11.

    If anyone has had success with 3rd party apps let us know!

    Roger

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-17T06:52:20+00:00

    hi all

    Windows 11's file explorer is an smoking hot pile of garbage. I tried everything to try and make it faster. The lag and beyond slow response time when navigating my OneDrive renders this OS version utterly useless.

    I love the new look of Windows 11 but honestly the feel of the software is worse than Windows 10 on an HDD. I have quite a powerful little laptop, being an HP Probook 450 G8 i3 11th Gen, running 16GB ram and an m.2 NVME SSD. I wont even mention the incredible performance throttling on battery while using the laptop. I was lucky enough to be able to revert back to Windows 10. Yes it's look is a bit old now but the performance is lightening quick. None of the performance problems or lagging noted in Windows 10. Runs like a dream, both on and off charge.

    Also worth a note, I've tried all the fixes that the Microsoft assistants offered to me.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-05-17T08:47:23+00:00

    Also the Windows 11 Taskbar icons which disappeared early in the year after an update have not been resurrected and Microsoft appear to have no fix. It seems to be a problem with Defender ASR rules. It's been a known major problem since Feb 13th. I've tried the workarounds that have been suggested on various forums but none work. Even Microsoft app icons have disappeared (like Notepad). https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/13/happy_friday_13th_microsoft_defender/

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