Explorer lags in video folders in Content view


mschumacher69

Member
Local time
5:28 PM
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OS
Windows 11
When I open a folder that contains videos and the View is Content view, file explorer lags when I scroll and when I try to jump to files by typing on the keyboard.

I would need to scroll all the way down to the bottom and let it "load" all videos for it to stop lagging. If I exit the folder and re-open it again, it lags all over again until I scroll all the way to the button to let it "load" all videos again.

I have tried disabling thumbnails and updated video drivers but nothing seems to work. The issue doesn't seem to be with thumbnails but I can't figure out what it is.

This only happens in Content view, it doesn't happen in any other view.

Any ideas what might be causing this? Is anyone else having this issue? Could it be a bug in W11 or is it just me?
 
Windows Build/Version
Version 21H2 OS Build 22000.434

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v6 @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K1200
    Hard Drives
    WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD
    Browser
    Google Chrome
Not that it helps you, but there have been numerous reports on the feedback hub of windows explorer lagging in various circumstances. MS has responded that they are monitoring the issue but no official fix was posted. So they know about it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
Great, thanks for letting me know, I just wanted to know if it's a known issue affecting everyone or it is an issue with my PC which I need to troubleshoot and fix.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v6 @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K1200
    Hard Drives
    WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD
    Browser
    Google Chrome
or it is an issue with my PC
That I cannot say for certain since the complaints I've read are all over the place about explorer lagging. I can say those I read in the feedback hub (and I didn't read them all) didn't specifically address your particular situation regarding videos. From your description, it sounds to me like it could be some sort of indexing issue. Try running the search/indexing troubleshooter. Settings-System-Troubleshoot-Other Troubleshooters. Scroll down to 'search and indexing' click RUN.

I do not have any saved videos or I would attempt to duplicate the problem. Maybe someone else who does will jump in here and test it out on their system.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
Thanks, I've already try rebuilding my index and I even tried clearing the thumbnail cache.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v6 @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K1200
    Hard Drives
    WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD
    Browser
    Google Chrome
In content view doesn't File Explorer have to read all the file info for the videos? If you have a lot of videos, it will take time to read all the info.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
It does, but I would assume that it would read them the first time and then cache them, but this happens every time I open a video folder no matter how many videos it has. This also never happened in W7 using the same data and folders.

I also tried switching to Details view and added all the fields that are displayed in Content view such as frame height and width and it doesn't lag in Details view.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v6 @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K1200
    Hard Drives
    WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD
    Browser
    Google Chrome
I don't have a folder with a lot of videos so I can't test to see how long it takes to list the videos.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Was running into the same thing when I switched to VLC as default video player. Switching back to the "Movies and TV" app fixes the issue when opening folder for the second time. Meaning thumbnails are getting cached. When I revert back to VLC though it rebuilds thumbs every time. Takes a good 12 seconds for 12 large videos and can't even do anything while it's loading each thumb. Not even go back :(
Hope it gets a patch in the future.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
I realize I'm a bit late to this issue... but I believe I have a working solution.

When you open a folder in details view you can see the system filling in the details even after the directory listing finishes. This is multi-threading to load the info. This works well enough for the most part.

What is not apparent is that Content and Tiles view are simply different visual presentations of the Detail view.
Content view lags and sputters because you are asking for information that was not loaded for details view.... Now to get this information it has to open and read each file once for each field to be added. And on large files that's going to take a very long time.

So here's the simple fix ... Add the extra columns to Details view...

For example:
Movies are huge files and very slow to scan... In Content view you have 3 fields "Length", "Frame Height" and "Frame Width" that are not loaded in Detail view ... so add them to the details view.

To do this and make it stick ... (continuing the Movie example)
Starting from outside the folder ... right click on it, select Properties then Customize... set the folder for Movies and apply it to all sub folders.

Now enter the folder and create your columns in Details view. Right click on the column header bar, in the list that pops up check mark" Length", "Frame Width" and "Frame Height" then hit OK.

Refresh the view a couple of times and you will see it back-filling the data.

Now select content view. Refresh the list. It should scroll normally, back filling the data as it goes.

Finally, while still inside the folder, in the top left corner of explorer select "Files" then "Change Folder and search options" ... click over to the View setting tab ... and click on the button to apply this view to all folders of the current type.

In other views such as Music and Photos... do the same thing, make sure the Detail view is loading all the needed fields and then use Content view.

This should fix your problem ... at least it did for me.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink
    CPU
    AMD

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