File explorer very slow to open

stevem5000 · May 21, 2026

Win 11 Pro....25H2...
13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700K (3.40 GHz)
32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8 GB)

Rebuilt about 3 months ago....
Since the rebuild file explorer sometimes takes as long as 1 1/2 minutes to open....
At beginning opened pretty much normal time....then gradually got longer and longer...

Did not do this before the rebuild....opened normal time...

I think I remember reading some online post that there was a regedit to fix this issue....
But I could be very wrong....

Any fixes for this issue...???

Thanks
Steve

dacrone · May 21, 2026

try this

Slow File Explorer Fixed (I hope)

If explorer became slow and it takes long time to open folders - your indexing file is corrupt. Quick solution: go to "Indexing Options" (type it in Search to quick access it), click "Advanced" and click "Rebuild" Enjoy :)

www.elevenforum.com

DarkShadowMD · May 22, 2026

Maybe this could help... not exactly same symptoms, but maybe...

Strange behavior in File Explorer: Libraries present issues if they are customized.

Hey peeps! I'll describe this the best I can: Since the April 30th Preview Update, I'm having an issue where Libraries exhibit two issues: Two of them are slow to open in a window, when they used to open just normally. For the ones that are customized with locations I added to have easier...

www.elevenforum.com

dalchina · May 22, 2026

Consider the many options given here:

Files explorer extremely slow to load.. - Microsoft Q&A

The files explorer in my brand new Windows Surface laptop is extremely slow to load. Each time I click on the files explorer icon in the task bar at the bottom, it takes several seconds and on occasions up to a minute to load. This is not a…

learn.microsoft.com

Unfortunately there's no one specific 'fix'.

Missing:
- any screenshot- where file explorer is set to open i.e. in which situations it is slow - your full build number e.g. 26200.8457

Do you seem the same slowness if you boot to Safe Mode?

Try

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/clear-and-reset-quick-access-folders-in-windows-11.4693

stevem5000 · May 24, 2026

Dacron....i did the indexing thing....took about an hour.....rebooted.....
Opened file explorer very quickly.......did it again.....slower......did it a 3ed time and took about 45 seconds.....
I would say it didn't work.....

But thanks for the tip...

DarkShadowMD · May 24, 2026

It looks like your problem is Windows Search. Unless you absolutely need indexing of your files, I'd suggest disabling the service fully and trying again. You can always leave it as it was if it doesn't fix it.

dalchina · May 24, 2026

Await response to my updated post.

I see no reason to think this is associated with indexing or search.

Is indexing complete?
If it is, search is not going to do anything (well it shouldn't) until you ... search for something.

Want to find out what's really happening as file explorer launches - to the nth degree? Get procmon (free) from MS. That logs everything happening.. so it's hard to take the log apart.

DarkShadowMD · May 24, 2026

dalchina said:
Await response to my updated post.

I see no reason to think this is associated with indexing or search.

Is indexing complete?
If it is, search is not going to do anything (well it shouldn't) until you ... search for something.

Want to find out what's really happening as file explorer launches - to the nth degree? Get procmon (free) from MS. That logs everything happening.. so it's hard to take the log apart.

I'm not saying is the same case, but for me rebuilding or having the indexing done made no difference, libraries were acting strangely until I just disabled the service temporarily and re-enabled it. Doesn't hurt to try. If it doesn't work, there's also the thread you mention. As long as he resolves his problem, everything goes lol

HeavyHemi · May 24, 2026

stevem5000 said:
Win 11 Pro....25H2...
13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700K (3.40 GHz)
32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8 GB)

Rebuilt about 3 months ago....
Since the rebuild file explorer sometimes takes as long as 1 1/2 minutes to open....
At beginning opened pretty much normal time....then gradually got longer and longer...

Did not do this before the rebuild....opened normal time...

I think I remember reading some online post that there was a regedit to fix this issue....
But I could be very wrong....

Any fixes for this issue...???

Thanks
Steve

Is this a new OS install with the rebuild/hardware or is it an old OS install on new hardware?

stevem5000 · May 25, 2026

Opened Windows Exploreer from the right click on the start button......51 seconds......not acceptable....

This is a new install on old PC with previous win 11 and win 10 about 2 yr before that........Using Rufus to install win 11......I have 3 other computers...win 11... with old builds....1 yr plus....where file / windows explorer open right away......it is only this one computer.....

dalchina · May 25, 2026

No response to or polite acknowledgement of my post.. so I'm out.
Old PC? Which- is it one in your specs or sthg else?
No pic of task manager.. no info on free space on C: .. nothing to go on.

Goodbye.

stevem5000 · May 25, 2026

Dalchina....no disrespect......I just had not gotten to you yet.....
2 attachments...screenshot 1 and screenshot 2....that gives you full view.....
The computer i am referring is the one in my original post....

My C:\ drive is Samsung SSD 860 1 tb....I have about 800 gb free.....screen shot enclosed...

I'm not sure what else I can provide you.....BUT right now my file explorer is opening in about 1 second like it should.....

Appreciate y ou sticking in there....
Steve

DarkShadowMD · May 25, 2026

You got a lot of network / remote locations and synced stuff... And probably external devices. If there is too much, it could take a real lot to open and display the contents of a folder.
Try a new user account without customizations and see if explorer opens consistently slow there. If it does, probably a factory reset or in-place upgrade, but if it doesn't... will be matter of checking what of all of that is causing the issue, if not all lol

joeandmarg0 · May 27, 2026

Disable all non-Microsoft programmes from auto starting---Task Manager>Startups.
Then shutdown the computer,power off,for about a minute.
Restart and see if the problem persists.
if not,then in Terminal[admin],type in ---dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth and run it.
follow up with ---sfc /scannow ---and run it.
Re enable the programmes one at a time to see if a particular programme or an accumulation is the cause.

stevem5000 · May 27, 2026

I got it...!!!....the NAS drive was going bad.....need to figure out what happened there....
But when I unplugged the NAS......file explorer opened up normally.....

There were a LOT of folks who replied with various suggestions.....Thank you all.....
I think DarkShadowMD had the best suggestion.....I had not unconnected anything until his post.....
Thank you....

stevem5000 · May 27, 2026

Dalchina......I had not considered posting screen shots until you suggested it.......I wish I had read your comment sooner.....
Thank you for your input......

File explorer very slow to open

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