Review: Windows 11 File Explorer Performance – Slower than Windows 10 and Higher RAM Usage

Microsoft is currently evaluating a new feature for Windows 11’s File Explorer, aimed at enhancing its launch performance. This initiative involves preloading File Explorer in the background, but just how effective is this ‘improvement’?

This development follows persistent user feedback regarding the sluggish nature of File Explorer, particularly in comparison to the more responsive version found in the now-defunct Windows 10. Many users express skepticism online, questioning whether Microsoft’s approach to preload rather than overhaul the underlying code constitutes a true solution.

Windows Latest undertook a series of tests to examine whether this preloading feature is indeed a meaningful enhancement, yielding some intriguing results.

Understanding File Explorer Background Preloading

Microsoft has confirmed its exploration into background preloading of File Explorer, a technique designed to facilitate quicker launches by pre-caching the application.

What is Preloading?

Preloading is not a novel concept for Microsoft. This technique has been employed since the Office 95 era, notably through the Office Startup Assistant. More recent examples include features like Startup Boost for Edge. However, the challenge with preloading File Explorer lies in the fact that its sluggishness extends beyond just launch times, as evidenced by our findings.

Evaluating File Explorer: A Before-and-After Comparison

In order to assess the impact of preloading, I utilized a virtual machine equipped with 4GB of RAM. I monitored the memory usage as File Explorer preloaded each time I operated my PC.

Initially, I consulted the Task Manager post-reboot to gauge File Explorer’s RAM consumption prior to the activation of preloading. The results indicated a usage of approximately 32.4MB of RAM.

Upon enabling the preloading feature and restarting my PC, I again checked the RAM usage. Repeating this process multiple times confirmed that preloading consumes around 35MB of RAM, culminating in a total of 67.4MB while File Explorer preloads in the background.

While 35MB might seem negligible and unlikely to hinder system performance, the real question is how preloading affects the launch speed of File Explorer.

To investigate this, I restarted my PC, opened Edge and Microsoft Store, and continued usage for two minutes before launching File Explorer. I sporadically opened Edge and Store during this time.

Here’s the performance without preloading enabled:

Conversely, here’s how it performed with preloading enabled:

Initially, there seems to be no significant difference in speed, but once the footage is slowed to 0.25x, the accelerated launch of the preloaded File Explorer is unmistakable.

Here, the preloaded version has sufficient time to close and reopen while the non-preloaded version struggles to close.

However, one might argue that these results are skewed since no other applications were active during testing. Let’s explore the scenario when the system is under heavy load. I opened 16 Edge tabs, all featuring content from windowslatest.com, and replicated the process with preloading enabled and disabled.

Viewing File Explorer under full load without preloading:Observing File Explorer under full load with preloading:

The difference is apparent, highlighting that preloading does indeed accelerate File Explorer’s performance even when the system is heavily loaded. Hence, the minor 35MB increase in RAM usage does seem justified in this context.

The Limitations of File Explorer Preloading

Despite the enhancements in launch speed through preloading, the File Explorer still fails to deliver the seamless experience users desire. Importantly, the context menu remains sluggish, which detracts from the overall user experience.

When under full load, the context menu continues to exhibit a frustratingly slow load time. Moreover, many of its features, such as Ask Copilot and integration with apps like Clipchamp and Paint, add to this delay, further frustrating users who expect quicker response times.

This issue is particularly disheartening for users transitioning from Windows 10, which boasts a notably faster File Explorer experience compared to its Windows 11 counterpart.

Comparative Performance: Windows 10 vs. Windows 11 File Explorer

Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 share the same foundational architecture (Win32/COM shell).However, Microsoft has layered modern WinUI/XAML elements over the classic Win32 interface in Windows 11, which can contribute to the perceived sluggishness of File Explorer.

Initially, Windows 11 operated with private XAML Islands hosting WinUI 2 controls. As of 2023, the transition to WinUI 3 has begun through the Windows App SDK (WASDK).This shift aims to improve rendering of toolbars, menus, and various panes using the advanced WinUI framework instead of traditional Win32 components.

This combination of legacy and modern UI elements adds complexity, making Windows 11’s File Explorer feel slower in comparison to its predecessor.

Ultimate optimizations are needed for File Explorer, and it remains an achievable task for Microsoft moving forward.

For those interested in exploring the preloading feature, it is currently available in the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7271 (KB5070307) on both the Dev and Beta channels. Users should expect this feature to roll out by early 2026, although there remains uncertainty regarding broader performance improvements for File Explorer.

To disable preloading, navigate to File Explorer, click on the three dots menu, select Options, then go to View, and toggle off “Enable window preloading for faster launch times.”