Windows Explorer Is SLOW To Search For Folders

Dear ADM,

Thank you for your question on our forum.

There are several ways you can try to address your issue.

1. Turn off Windows Search Service.

Windows Services (services.msc) are in charge of managing several system settings and resources as well as running any accessible programs, and can be changed for security, debugging, and performance-related reasons.

For files, emails, and other material, Windows Search Service offers content indexing, property caching, and search results. Pressing Windows (Win) key + R on the keyboard or right-clicking Start and choosing “Run” from the contextual menu will stop the Windows Search service. Type msconfig in the Run dialog box and press “OK”/“Enter”. Find the Services tab in the System Configuration window and click it. In the services list, locate the Windows Search service and uncheck it.

To save changes, click “Apply.” If you are still experiencing issues with File Explorer, restart the computer.

2. Turn off Quick Access.

Quick Access is one of File Explorer’s components that allows you to view recently visited files and folders, access to your files and directories faster (Favorites), but might make File Explorer sluggish.

Click “File” in File Explorer, choose “Change folder and search options”.

Change “Open File Explorer to:” to “This PC” in the Folder Options window’s General tab.

Remove the checkmarks next to “Show often used folders in Quick access” and “Show recently used files in Quick access,” then click “Apply” to preserve your changes and “OK” to finish.

Check to see whether a restart will enhance File Explorer’s functionality.

3. Modify the settings for folder optimization.

Your folder is optimized in the background by Windows 10. Although useful, this function can be the cause of File Explorer’s lackluster performance. Change the folder optimization if File Explorer is giving you trouble accessing a certain folder.

In the contextual menu that appears when you right-click a folder, choose “Properties” to see its features.

Make sure that “Optimize this folder for:” is set to “General items” in the “Customize” tab of the folder’s settings box.

To save the changes, tick the “Also apply this template to all subfolders” checkbox and click “Apply.”

Apply the same adjustments to the other folders if more than one folder is slowing down File Explorer.

4. Resume Indexing Service.

Windows Search indexer (or Indexing service) is designed to enhance search functionality on Windows-based systems. In cases when File Explorer stops functioning correctly or entirely, restoring this service should resolve the issue.

Go to Control Panel and look for “Indexing Options” to restart the Windows Search indexer. Make sure the Control Panel view is set to “Small icons” if it’s still not displayed.

Select the “Advanced” radio option in the Indexing Options box.

Locate the Rebuild button under “Troubleshooting” on the Index Settings tab and hit it. This will cause a warning to appear, informing that it could take some time for the index to rebuild and that some views and search results might be lacking until rebuilding is complete.

The system’s processing speed will determine how long it takes to complete this task. It can take a lot longer to finish if your machine is older or slower. To begin rebuilding the index, click “OK.”

5. Execute SFC Scan to check and restore corrupted system files.

Open Cmd Prompt by entering “command prompt” into the search bar, then right-click on “Command Prompt” to launch it. Run Command Prompt with administrator rights by choosing “Run as administrator” from the drop-down menu.

To execute an SFC scan, you must use an elevated Command Prompt.

To run this command, type sfc /scannow in the Command Prompt window and hit Enter on the keyboard. The scan for System File Checker will begin and take some time to finish.

Restart the computer when the scanning procedure is finished.

Conduct a Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) scan first, then try running the SFC scan again if the SFC scan did not resolve the File Explorer issue or if you were unable to run the SFC scan for any other reason.

Open Command Prompt as administrator and enter the command DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to perform a DISM scan. To execute it, hit Enter on the keyboard.

6. Launch File Explorer again.

This one may just be a short-term fix, but it’s still worth a shot. Use Task Manager to restart File Explorer.

To access it, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc, or right-click the Start menu and choose Task Manager from the contextual menu.

Select “Windows Explorer” from the Processes tab in Task Manager. Then locate and click the Restart button in the bottom-right corner. After restarting, File Explorer should function properly.

7. Folder Windows should be launched in a separate process.

Each folder’s ability to be accessed as a separate Explorer task is controlled by this parameter. Other windows that have already been opened should not be impacted and continue to function. The system will use more resources to maintain each open folder if this parameter is enabled.

Select “File Explorer Options” under Control Panel to go to this setting.

Choose the View tab in the File Explorer Options panel, then look for the “Launch folder windows in a different process” setting under “Advanced settings,” and click the checkbox next to it to make it active. To save the modifications and close this window, click “Apply” and “OK.”

Check to see whether changing this setting fixes the issue and ensures that File Explorer operates as intended.

8. Delete History from File Explorer.

According to some users, deleting File Explorer’s history (list of the files and folders you’ve recently accessed or often use) enhances its speed.

Go to Control Panel and select “File Explorer Options” to remove the history of File Explorer. Find the “Clear” button and click it in the File Explorer Options box. The history of File Explorer will be erased. Check whether this resolves the issue.

9. Utilize Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

Enter mdsched (or memory diagnostic in Search) and choose “Windows Memory Diagnostic” to start the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

You will need to restart the computer in order to perform diagnostics. You will be prompted to restart the computer right away or wait until the next time you turn it on.

The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool will launch immediately when you restart the machine.

10. New File Explorer Shortcut Creation.

The performance of File Explorer could be enhanced by adding a new shortcut. Right-click the blank area of the desktop backdrop, choose “New,” then “Shortcut,” to create a new File Explorer shortcut.

Enter the item’s location, which will be “C:\Windows\explorer.exe” or copy it from this instruction. To proceed, click “Next.”

Enter a name for this shortcut now (it can be any name), select “Finish.” Access File Explorer by using this recently built shortcut. Check to see if this fixes the issue.

11. Remove Daemon Tools.

File Explorer issues are reportedly caused by the DTShellHlp.exe process, according to certain users. A virtual drive, an optical disc writing program, and the image software Daemon Tools are all connected to this operation. Whether you use Daemon Tools, try uninstalling it from Windows to see if the File Explorer issue is resolved.

Change to a different software that performs the same function if File Explorer continues to function as intended after this removal.

These recommendations should help you resolve the issue. If you continue having problems, please let us know. We will be happy to assist.