How To Fix Slow Folders In Windows Explorer

Sometimes you may experience lags when you open a folder in Windows Explorer. Chance is, it is always the same folder that takes a darn long time to display its contents. Question is: How can you fix a folder that is opening slowly in Windows?

Analyzing the underlying issue is not as easy as it sounds, as there are multiple possibilities why a folder is not displaying its file contents instantly. Among the possibilities are hardware issues like hard drive read errors and software issues like the wrong folder optimization under Windows 7.

Hardware wise, the best thing that you can do is to run check disk on the hard drive containing the folder that is causing the slow downs. You can do that by right-clicking on the drive in Windows Explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. Switch to the Tools tab and locate Error-checking there. Click the Check now button. Depending on your setup, you may not be able to scan the disk while Windows is running. Accept the suggestion to run scan disk on the next startup instead. Reboot your computer afterwards.

If scan disk found errors and was able to correct them, you may want to try again accessing the folder. If that resolved the issue congratulations, if not read on.

You can also try and defragment the hard drive to speed things up a bit. This only works if you have a conventional platter based hard drive and not a Solid State Drive. You should also make sure that the drive is not filled to the brim. Experts suggest to keep between 10% and 20% of space unoccupied on SSDs, for hard drives most aim at the 10% mark as well.

You also want to make sure that your system is not running at its capacities right now. Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc to bring up the Windows Task Manager and switch to the performance tab. If you see cpu usage or memory at the maximum you should investigate that issue first. Maybe you have to many programs open at the same time, or run a program like a video editing tool that needs all the resources it can get, leaving little for the remaining system.

The same is true for the hard drive in question. If you have lots of read and write operations on the drive, it may slow down the opening of folders, even more so if the drive is not the fastest hard drive.

Fixing Slow Folders

Before you make any changes, restart the computer and try accessing the folder right after the new start of the system. Is it opening faster or as slow as before?

Windows Explorer Slow - News


How To Fix Slow Folders In Windows Explorer

Hardware wise, the best thing that you can do is to run check disk on the hard drive containing the folder that is causing the slow downs. You can do that by right-clicking on the drive in Windows Explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu



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How To Fix Slow Folders In Windows Explorer

Sometimes you may experience lags when you open a folder in Windows Explorer. Chance is, it is always the same folder that takes a darn long time to display its contents. Question is: How can you fix a folder that is opening slowly in Windows?

Analyzing the underlying issue is not as easy as it sounds, as there are multiple possibilities why a folder is not displaying its file contents instantly. Among the possibilities are hardware issues like hard drive read errors and software issues like the wrong folder optimization under Windows 7.

Hardware wise, the best thing that you can do is to run check disk on the hard drive containing the folder that is causing the slow downs. You can do that by right-clicking on the drive in Windows Explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. Switch to the Tools tab and locate Error-checking there. Click the Check now button. Depending on your setup, you may not be able to scan the disk while Windows is running. Accept the suggestion to run scan disk on the next startup instead. Reboot your computer afterwards.

If scan disk found errors and was able to correct them, you may want to try again accessing the folder. If that resolved the issue congratulations, if not read on.

You can also try and defragment the hard drive to speed things up a bit. This only works if you have a conventional platter based hard drive and not a Solid State Drive. You should also make sure that the drive is not filled to the brim. Experts suggest to keep between 10% and 20% of space unoccupied on SSDs, for hard drives most aim at the 10% mark as well.

You also want to make sure that your system is not running at its capacities right now. Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc to bring up the Windows Task Manager and switch to the performance tab. If you see cpu usage or memory at the maximum you should investigate that issue first. Maybe you have to many programs open at the same time, or run a program like a video editing tool that needs all the resources it can get, leaving little for the remaining system.

The same is true for the hard drive in question. If you have lots of read and write operations on the drive, it may slow down the opening of folders, even more so if the drive is not the fastest hard drive.

Fixing Slow Folders

Before you make any changes, restart the computer and try accessing the folder right after the new start of the system. Is it opening faster or as slow as before?


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Anna Ranz “@DStanTheMc: I updated to windows internet explorer 9....funny how updating can slow down your computer.” That is a PC for you :-P


David Stanley I updated to windows internet explorer 9....funny how updating can slow down your computer.


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