Windows 11's updated File Explorer remains painfully slow despite using twice as much RAM

[DragonSlayer101]

Facepalm: Users have long criticized Windows 11 File Explorer as inferior to its Windows 10 predecessor. The essential tool suffers from slow launches, sluggish file searches, and delayed right-click menus. Microsoft recently rolled out a fix to improve responsiveness, but early reports suggest it introduces new problems without addressing the original issues.

Microsoft's solution for the sluggish Windows 11 File Explorer is more of a workaround than a proper fix. To boost response times, the OS now preloads the app into system memory at every startup. The update rolled out last week as part of Windows 11 Preview Build 26220.7271 (KB5070307).

However, the update has reportedly failed to resolve the underlying issue, with File Explorer still considerably slower than its Windows 10 counterpart. Tests by Windows Latest show that preloading the app doubles RAM usage without noticeably improving performance.

The report notes that the supposed fix raises File Explorer's memory usage from 35MB to 67MB, yet the performance gain is barely noticeable in real-world use. Folder navigation and right-click context menus remain just as sluggish as before, and the increased RAM consumption could impact overall system performance, particularly on lower-end devices.

The updated File Explorer's modern WinUI/XAML elements appear to be the primary cause of its sluggishness. While these changes enabled features like tabs, they also significantly hampered performance, leaving the app substantially slower than its Windows 10 predecessor.

Microsoft is understandably facing flak for the extra RAM usage following the update. It should not pose a significant issue on most modern machines with at least 16GB of memory, but budget laptops with lower system memory will be affected the most. The added overhead could reduce resources for other applications, slowing the device and hampering productivity.

Either way, the revelation will undoubtedly upset many Windows users, who have been pleading with Microsoft to fix the outstanding Windows 11 bugs instead of adding unwanted features. Just last month, the company reaffirmed its plan to make Windows an agentic OS, sparking a firestorm of debate over the future of the world's most popular desktop operating system.

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Windows 11's updated File Explorer remains painfully slow despite using twice as much RAM

 

[Theinsanegamer]

They should just open source all of windows at this point and let the community control it.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

The fix is; roll back to Windows 10.

Done. Fixed.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The fix is; roll back to Windows 10.

Done. Fixed.

Win 10 explorer sucks too. Explorer has been slow trash since windows 7. Third party apps do a far better job of managing file access.

 

[DrSuess]

There are 3rd Party File Explorers. I am bored, I may just write one myself that works across multiple platforms

 

[GeoffreyA]

Win 10 explorer sucks too. Explorer has been slow trash since windows 7. Third party apps do a far better job of managing file access.

It has been slower since Vista; I don't think it was due to .NET code but rather architecturally and graphically, I would guess. Today, horror of horrors, we have C# and .NET going straight into Explorer by the looks of it.

 

[m4a4]

Well, it's a good thing that RAM is super cheap right now. Just add some more and ignore it.

 

[Dreadcthulhu]

They should just open source all of windows at this point and let the community control it.

Honestly, yeah. MS makes all its money on Azure, MS365, and Office stuff these days, Windows licensing revenue is a pittance in comparison. For that matter, MS could make the source code available but still maintain the right to charge license fees to any corporate customers that matter, with the right license terms.

 

[axiomatic13]

Windows 10 might be deprecated, but the bloat of all those ancient systems still sits in core DLLs in Windows 11 that could be removed and drop the size of the Windows ISO by half. Windows 11 is bloated trash right now.

 

[Skjorn]

Win 10 explorer sucks too. Explorer has been slow trash since windows 7. Third party apps do a far better job of managing file access.

Honestly, yeah. MS makes all its money on Azure, MS365, and Office stuff these days, Windows licensing revenue is a pittance in comparison. For that matter, MS could make the source code available but still maintain the right to charge license fees to any corporate customers that matter, with the right license terms.

My file explorer is pretty much instant on Win10.

And Vista.. lol just stop

 

[ZedRM]

The report notes that the supposed fix raises File Explorer's memory usage from 35MB to 67MB

Are people seriously going to whine and complain over 32MB? And where is this "painfully slow" claim coming from?

It should not pose a significant issue on most modern machines with at least 16GB of memory, but budget laptops with lower system memory will be affected the most.

So 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB? Yes, 0.032GB is going to be a HUGE burden on such a "budget" system..
/rolls_eyes\

While I am no fan of Microsoft currently, this article is taking a purely minor problem and intentional blowing it out of proportion.

 

[daffy duck]

The fix is; roll back to Windows 10.

Done. Fixed.

The fix, don't use file explorer like many built-in apps with Windows of any version. It's just as big a turd as notepad.

 

[p51d007]

I just use Total Commander

 

[scoffer]

Honestly, yeah. MS makes all its money on Azure, MS365, and Office stuff these days, Windows licensing revenue is a pittance in comparison. For that matter, MS could make the source code available but still maintain the right to charge license fees to any corporate customers that matter, with the right license terms.

They're not interested in the licencing revenue - they want the data from you,your family, and anybody else in the general vicinity.

 

[OortCloud]

Using WinUI and XAML for File Explorer - sigh. This shows what a bunch of hopeless kids the modern MS dev team are. Something as critical and close to the Kernel as the File Explorer should be written as close to the metal as possible - I.e. C/C++ and Assembler. This always used to be the case. WinUI and XAML are for pretties, apps and *optional* presentation layer effects etc and not for basically the most important UI->Backend elements especially File Explorer, but I'd include other core components in this such as options and Task Manager etc. Basically the OS should be useable and present a desktop etc without any need to execute any horribly inefficient XAML-based UI.
Just my opinion but for me XAML is cool for writing apps and giving them nice transitions etc but it shouldn't come anywhere near the core operation of the OS.

Edit: Just had a rummage in 2 of the most popular alternatives ClassicShell and OpenShell. They are both written in C++... If they can manage why can't MS?

Edit 2: This is a symptom of a real malaise in development where modern power CPU's hide really poor development technologies and practices. You can almost get away with using WinUI to write File Explorer so f**k it. What next, will the MS-script-kiddies start rewriting the kernel in Python?

 

[OortCloud]

Are people seriously going to whine and complain over 32MB? And where is this "painfully slow" claim coming from?

It's a symptom of a much wider problem throughout the OS that cause it to be a massive resource hog and hugely inefficient. As an example, recent benchmarking showed that most games running on SteamOS, Bazzite etc are running either as quickly or quicker than they run natively on Windows 11. This is remarkable given that these games are all running through a huge emulation layer to translate all the WinAPI/.NET/DirectX etc calls. It's pretty damning evidence of the state of the OS isn't it?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Are people seriously going to whine and complain over 32MB? And where is this "painfully slow" claim coming from?


So 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB? Yes, 0.032GB is going to be a HUGE burden on such a "budget" system..
/rolls_eyes\

While I am no fan of Microsoft currently, this article is taking a purely minor problem and intentional blowing it out of proportion.

32MB here, 14MB there, is how you end up with windows idling at 8GB of RAM doing absolutely nothing.

It's terrible practice in the coding world, and third party apps have demonstrated far more efficient designs that work better, so, yeah, this is a terrible way to "fix" the problem.

My file explorer is pretty much instant on Win10.

And Vista.. lol just stop

You know, its usually elementary school age where we learn "I dont have a problem so the problem doesnt exist" isnt valid criticism.

But some people are a little slow on the uptake. Don't worry, you'll get there.

 

[poohbear]

Are people seriously going to whine and complain over 32MB? And where is this "painfully slow" claim coming from?


So 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB? Yes, 0.032GB is going to be a HUGE burden on such a "budget" system..
/rolls_eyes\

While I am no fan of Microsoft currently, this article is taking a purely minor problem and intentional blowing it out of proportion.

Lol thats what I was thinking. A 2tb SSD has 2gb of RAM & they're complaining about 32mb?!

 

[Skjorn]

You know, its usually elementary school age where we learn "I dont have a problem so the problem doesnt exist" isnt valid criticism.

But some people are a little slow on the uptake. Don't worry, you'll get there.

I think it's more of a configuration or installation problem. Your statement could go either way, just because some experience it doesn't mean everyone does.

 

[abactuon]

I don't understand. File Explorer takes up about a hundred megabytes of RAM. Maybe I changed something in the settings.
However, everything runs very quickly on an Intel Core i5 and 32 GB of RAM (6400, CL32).
I won't be using it.

 

[ZedRM]

32MB here, 14MB there, is how you end up with windows idling at 8GB of RAM doing absolutely nothing.

While you make a good point, the reality of the situation is that even if we tack on 10 binaries running an extra 32MB, that is 320MB out of 8192MB. It's ultimately inconsequential. Naturally, that isn't what's happening. This is a one-off.

Then again with all of the crap going on with Windows lately, you might be right, it could become a problem.

 

[ZedRM]

The fix, don't use file explorer like many built-in apps with Windows of any version.

That's not a solution. 32MB extra is not something you are going to notice.

It's just as big a turd as notepad.

Notepad is just fine as well.

 

[jeffbert]

I remember when 4 MB was a dream; & only DOOM could use all of it.