These two tricks can significantly speed up File Explorer in Windows 11

There are two relatively simple tricks one can use to speed up File Explorer on Windows 11. The app is know to be slow, especially when you browse a folder like Downloads. Typically it contains plenty of files of different types, including archives, media files, executable files and installers, PDS, and more. File Explorer is sluggish when browsing folders like that. But here are the workarounds.

File Explorer in Windows 11 is an application that allows users to browse and manage files and folders on their computer. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing and organizing files, as well as performing common file management tasks such as copying, moving, and deleting files.

Although the overall functionality of File Explorer in Windows 11 remains largely the same as in Windows 10, there are some notable differences in terms of the design and user interface. In Windows 11, File Explorer features a new design with rounded corners, updated icons, and a simplified layout that aims to be more modern and visually appealing. Additionally, File Explorer in Windows 11 includes new context menus, improved accessibility features, and enhanced integration with other Windows 11 features such as Snap Layouts and virtual desktops.

But something has changed under the hood as well. The app is notable slow on folders with a huge number of files. But as the X user timonsku spotted (via Pago), it is caused mostly by the folder type auto-discovery. It reads all the files in a folder and tries to guess what folder type (document/image/video) is most suitable for its content.

There was already a trick in the registry to apply the same folder type for all folders. But this trick has another advantage that has now come to light again. If you set the mixed content mode for all folders, Windows 11 will not parse the containing files, so the contents of the folders are displayed more quickly, even if there are many files there. Here is how to use this trick.

How to Speed up File Explorer

To make File Explorer open folders faster, do the following.

1. Press Win + R and type regedit.exe in the Run box.
2. Navigate to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell.
3. On the right pane, look for the value called FolderType. If it is present, go to the Step #5.
4. If FolderType is missing, right-click the Shell key on the left, and select New > String value. Name it FolderType.
5. Double-click it to edit and set its value data to NotSpecified.
6. Restart File Explorer.

Done! From now on, File Explorer will load folders much faster. You will immediately notice the change.

Download Registry files

Traditionally, you can download a REG file to apply the reviewed change without diving deep in the Registry. Download this ZIP file and extract it to any folder of your choice.

One file,  Enable mixed content for all folders.reg, enables the tweak.

The other file, Restore defaults.reg, is the undo tweak.

Using Winaero Tweaker

You can use Winaero Tweaker to disable folder type auto discovery with a couple of clicks.

The option is under the File Explorer section. All you need to do is to enable the checkbox on the right.

You can download Winaero Tweaker from here.

Finally, there is a less convenient but much simpler method. You can significantly improve the browsing speed in File Explorer by simply going full-screen!

Make Explorer Faster by Going Full-screen

To make File Explorer much faster, press F11 (it will go full-screen).

Now, press F11 one more time (to leave the full-screen view). Voila, File Explorer is now browsing folders at a greater speed.

When you try to open a folder with a lot of content, the File Explorer app starts to freeze or is slow. Then pressing F11 twice causes the content in the folders to load almost instantly and create thumbnail previews of the files. Also, the search option in Explorer works much faster.

The above tip is also came from X/Twitter and was discovered by Vivy. This simple trick can significantly speed up the work of Explorer when opening a folder with tens of thousands of files and several hundred subfolders.

Interestingly, this trick of pressing F11 twice to speed up File Explorer works in all builds of Windows 11, including 23H2.