This Weird Trick Makes File Explorer on Windows 11 Blazingly Fast

An X user (formerly Twitter) who goes by the name ofVivyVCCS(tweet) recently discovered a strange bug in Windows 11 that drastically improves the performance of File Explorer. It shows that the native File Explorer can perform very fast, like blazing fast, but it’s impeded by new changes and resource-intensive frameworks. Here are all the details that we know so far.

A Bug Makes File Explorer Perform Much Better

According to the X user, turning on the full-screen mode in File Explorer bypressing the “F11” keyand exiting from full-screen mode instantly makes File Explorer perform much faster. Keep in mind that if you are on Insider builds, it might break the navigation bar, which suggests that the performance deterioration could be linked to the new XAML-based navigation bar.

That said, I used the same F11 trick on my stable Windows 11 build, and it didn’t break anything. Instead, it improved the performance of File Explorer manyfold. What a godsend!Did you know you can speedup explorer by use of bugs?Turns out switching in and out of full screen mode (F11) noticeably improves load times!Wish this was the performance we get out of box.(Yes navbar breaks.. tho navbar shouldn’t cause such a huge snappiness regression..)pic.twitter.com/GObybf1C8q— Vivy (@VivyVCCS)September 3, 2023

Did you know you can speedup explorer by use of bugs?Turns out switching in and out of full screen mode (F11) noticeably improves load times!Wish this was the performance we get out of box.(Yes navbar breaks.. tho navbar shouldn’t cause such a huge snappiness regression..)pic.twitter.com/GObybf1C8q— Vivy (@VivyVCCS)September 3, 2023

According to Albacore (tweet), this trickimproves directory loading, and you would rarely see the “Working on it…” screen while navigating high-volume directories. The Twitter user slammed Microsoft for putting little effort into cleaning old code and assets. While the XAML framework may look like the culprit on the surface, he pointed out that it might be due to the UDK-based shell which is suitable for design, but bad for performance.There’s probably more than meets the eye at play considering the workaround has significant effect on production Windows 11 which isn’t as XAMLified as Insider builds, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this yet again comes down to bad UDK perf.Undocking in production is a nightmare— Albacore (@thebookisclosed)September 3, 2023

There’s probably more than meets the eye at play considering the workaround has significant effect on production Windows 11 which isn’t as XAMLified as Insider builds, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this yet again comes down to bad UDK perf.Undocking in production is a nightmare— Albacore (@thebookisclosed)September 3, 2023

We hope Microsoft fixes the bug and improves the performance of File Explorer on Windows 11 before theWindows 11 23H2 release, which is set to go live in September or October. The company will likely announce the release date for Windows 11 Moment 4 update at itsSurface hardware eventlater in September.

Arjun Sha

Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.

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