Windows Explorer Slow Folder Loading Problems FIX

Windows Explorer Slow Folder Loading Problems FIX
An old Windows fix for an equally ancient Windows issue. This Windows Explorer "bug" goes back to the days of Windows Vista, yet unfortunately remains a glaring annoyance in Windows.
This unresponsive/slowdown behavior is typically seen when browsing the "Downloads" folder, so it's very likely it's happened to you as well. Windows tries to be smart about the files you store in your folders and thus optimizes the view and sorting options for pictures or videos. On either of those settings it will try to generate thumbnails for all your files (even when they are not pictures or videos) and take away precious seconds of your time, every - single - time.
There is a curious phenomenon many of you have likely come across: even with a fast computer, there are some folders Windows loads with agonizing slowness. Fortunately the fix is simple and the results are immediate.
Why Your Folders Load So Slowly
There is a long standing Windows Explorer feature that dates all the way back to Windows Vista wherein you can tell Windows Explorer what kind of content is in specific folders, in order to optimize how that content is displayed.
For example: you can tell Windows Explorer that a particular folder is where you store your music files, and it will present those files in a way most useful for browsing music (e.g. in detailed list format with column options like file playtime automatically enabled). Even if you never tell Windows Explorer what to do, it automatically defaults some folders to various settings (the “Music” library folder is, naturally, defaulted to music-type file display) and then uses a feature called Automatic Folder Type Discovery on the rest. The automatic discovery system is a best-guess as to what is in the folder based on the number of files of various types, last files added, and so on.
Issues addressed in this tutorial:
slow folder loading windows 10
slow folder loading windows 7
slow folder opening windows 10
folder opening very slow
new folder slow windows 10
windows explorer slow folder loading problems
fix windows slow folder loading problems
folder loading slow windows 7
slow open folder windows 10
folder loading slow windows 10
After upgrading from an older version of Windows to Windows 10, quite a few users started experiencing an issue with File Explorer where File Explorer would either simply not load anything or load data at an incredibly slow pace, often resulting in only a small part of the data being loaded. This was an issue that plagued quite a lot of Windows users who upgraded to Windows 10 from older versions of the Operating System.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of a couple of the Windows 10 users who were affected by this problem in the past, the culprit was found to be the Windows Search service that would start automatically every time affected users’ computers booted up and they logged into them. That being the case, the simple solution to this problem is to disable the Windows Search service. However, disabling the Windows Search service can have a couple of pretty serious consequences - even though the Search feature in File Explorer works perfectly fine following the disabling of the disabling of the Windows Search service, the Search bar in the Taskbar no longer works, along with a few Cortana features.
File Explorer (formerly known as Windows Explorer) is a component of Microsoft Windows that was first introduced with Windows 95. File Explorer is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) component, a file manager that allows Windows operating system users to edit and manage data, files, and other content stored on their computers. It is essentially the same as Windows Explorer but with added features and functionality.
File Explorer is one of the most used applications in Windows 10 and earlier versions. It is used to copy, move, and edit files. With the current version of File Explorer, you can copy/move files and within a single window. In addition, you can pause, stop, cancel and then resume the copying process. File Explorer plays a big part in the Windows operating systems, however, it is possible to use your computer without this feature. Command Prompt can be used to type commands manually and perform certain actions, but it requires advanced knowledge, which is why File Explorer makes computing easier.
This tutorial will apply for computers, laptops, desktops,and tablets running the Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7 operating systems.Works for all major computer manufactures (Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung).

[@MDTechVideos]

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[@BR14Nx]

Would have been nice if you would've explained why you delete THESE certain registries, to know what we are deleting there.

[@christopherlaskoski189]

SECOND.

[@andifink4185]

Google is your friend...

[@kevinantonowvideo]

ABSOLUTE LEGEND. I HAD THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS and never knew what is was. I thought my HDDs were broken. I questioned if I should RMA my M.2 NVME drive. I even started blaming Windows10/11 filesystems for it. I noticed how in "Notepad" the "Open" function was blazingly fast, while the Explorer was SLOW as hell. So I digged a bit into it and found this video. After I deleted the registry it was like I ran a new computer. The loading times are now completly gone.

[@giorgosgalanos9888]

A tip from me... when you open a folder tree, and you are looking for a specific folder name, click on the first folder an hit the button on your keyboard that corresponds to the first letter of the name of the folder. For example... if you are looking for "local settings" hit "L", or even better... "lo". It makes search a lot easier.

[@PredatorKingdom]

Thank you it worked, finally fixed this problem, I was so annoyed the last couple of years having to wait for file explorer to open my files and folders every single time. I remember figuring it out a few years ago but when I had to reformat my computer I forgot what I did to keep it from lagging like that but thankfully your video saved me.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad I could help

[@charlieross-BRM]

Here it is July 2022 and I can say this is the only advice that immediately corrected the problem on my Win10 PC. The first step recommended (Indexing) had no benefit but the second recommendation - remove those two "Bag" sections of the Registry did the job after a restart. One folder browse gave me a start when I saw that damn green bar crawling across the window but it suddenly snapped to completion in about 5 seconds and from then on every folder just popped up and the JPG files were popping up as thumbnails very quickly and that was that. Anyway I figure even after 3 years it would be right to acknowledge this remedy. I'm bookmarking this and took a screen shot of the registry section if it ever returns. "BAGS" is a good name for those two sections to delete, and is easy to remember with a certain connotation, LOL. I want to add that I am also really disappointed in the free advice I've come across since 1989 that gives instructions on this and that to delete or to disable but never tells you the ramifications of what they are telling you to do. There's always a consequence of every action but they ignore that and people much later discover one of their favourite functions doesn't exist anymore and can't relate it back to something they did a month or more in the past.

[@charlieross-BRM]

1 month later and still functioning smoothly. Any other remedy I tried before this only lasted a day or two before it was back to a crawl.

[@MrMaxim]

@@charlieross-BRM Thanks for your comment. That's reassuring.

[@MrMaxim]

Applied the registry fix of deleting those two folders and it fixed my issue. My folder loads the content inside instantly now. Thank you!

[@quesion5165]

You are a legend! This actually worked so fast. Tried opening some folders and clicked on them about 10 times like 30 mins ago and they still hadn't loaded. As soon as I deleted those keys they all opened up right away! I've tried just about everything and this is the only one that actually fixed the problem. Thank you thank you

[@quesion5165]

And back to square one everything is slow again a week later unfortunately

[@ZKrow382]

@@quesion5165 did you ever figure it out or is it still slow?

[@lgmmy5612]

@@quesion5165 create a commend combination as a startup process, and automatically launch the sequence after boot up.

[@giorgosgalanos9888]

The PC I had before the one I have now it was... Windows 7 Pro, Intel Duo 2.66 GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM and a Blue Western Digital HDD and the explorer used to load the contents of the folders instantly like lightning. I now have Windows 10 Pro, Intel i5 9400 2.90 GHz CPU, 32GB DDR4 RAM, and an NVMe m.2 SSD and explorer says... "working on it" and takes at least 1 second to load the files of the folders. Technology evolution... Thanks Microsoft!!

[@neko6803]

i normally want to know what certain Regkeys do before changing or even more importantly deleting them. What does deleting these Regkeys in HKEY-CURRENT-USER change in the way Windows interacts with Files? does it simply prevent the creation of previews for photos etc and what else does it do if there is anything?

[@christopherlaskoski189]

I second the question. I don't mind doing my own research on ANYTHING including v @ x x p o i s o n and false flags and you name it, but I admit that it's a huge help when people can explain to me what those things being deleted are doing to slow the PC down or what they were doing there in the first place, if that makes any kind of sense.

[@DJK1RA]

copy and paste here: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

[@DarrenLoveland]

This actually worked. I'm not sure what happened to my computer but a few weeks ago randomly the windows explorer folders starting opening very slow (10 seconds or so). I followed the steps to delete the "Bag" registry or whatever those are and now everything opens just fine. Thank you!!

[@marcelodiasdeoliveira3171]

At 3:44 it went wrong for me, for there was no "Shell" subfolder under "Windows", just "Current Version". What can I do?

[@darkforest_9470]

I love it when a video actually fixes a problem for me- 1st tip worked.

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@axleguinto3602]

Can you help me please? My windows.old/user folder wont open. Its just stuck in the end of loading. Nothing happens. I need to recover my files pls help huhuhu

[@mistressrydia3057]

What are those registry entries? what do they do? what does deleting them do? thx

[@nuno115]

You can delete the Registry keys according to Microsoft to reset the settings for all folders: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

[@georgianbiologist3156]

certain files are opening slowly, is this because of virus? or ransomware?

[@JustinMurray170fin]

So what exactly is one deleting in Reg editor - in lay terms And is this still applicable in 2021? Thank you.

[@TheMagicStatic]

Thank you so much! The second method worked for me. I've had this issue for a long time. Any folder with mp3s would refresh and slowly reload, now they just open the way they are supposed to.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped!

[@Connor_Dempsey]

It stopped shortly after hitting rebuild and said "Indexing is paused". Did the delete registry too. This did not help.

[@blueribb99]

I am running Windows 10 on a Dell Desktop. A few months ago, I noticed Windows File Explorer did not refresh when deleting, adding or renaming files. I had to press the F5 key to refresh. I tried every fix I could find using Google and a couple worked, but only for a very short time before the problem came back. I tried the fix in this video and thought it worked but the next day or so, it's back.

[@WilmerEscovar]

Thank you! Worked perfectly. Every time I selected files or dragged to select them on the explorer it would take a small second to load. Not now though, it's as fluid as ever.

[@RMKry]

Indexing in Windows is only for search, not for faster loadnig file and folder.

[@user-nt2fe6iq4r]

it works out. my drive loading back normal. a little tips after opening regedit just use function find : bagMRU. it open automatically that shell folder without have to open manually 1 by 1. delete both bag and bagmru. restart.

[@user-nt2fe6iq4r]

btw thank you for making this video.

[@walshjones7119]

I appreciate what you do MDTech, thanks for helping us daily. (:

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@darshanb]

Hello, I am Facing another kind of bug with file explorer in windows 11 that it Stucks at end of page when we scroll with trackpad like it lags for half second when we reach end of the folder and then loads the final row , is there any solution to this problem?? pls reply fast.

[@dantecarimat9296]

It worked for me. The 2nd solution with the Regedit did the job. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! What a great help!

[@Sheikah_Architect]

Mine keeps pausing the index after only a few seconds, do you know what could be done about that?

[@SuperJ213]

Neither tip helped me. I don't know why you only have 566 items indexed, but that does get me wondering if the amount of items matters. I indexed (rebuilt this morning) and have over 150,000 items. I just put together a new system (ASUS Tuf Gaming Z790) running on Win 10 Pro, i7 14700 CPU, 2TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD, and 64GB of RAM, so I am beyond frustrated that I have this insanely slow response when saving files (usually downloaded files). In case this helps someone else one day, I have solved my particular issue! After building my new system, I had to get a VPN re-setup for some remote work I have been doing for a client. I did not have this issue previously with the VPN, so I don't know what changed, BUT, my issue was solved after I removed my client's network location from my Quick access list. No more waiting a minute just to save a file!!! Anyway, see if something in your Quick access could be causing problems for you.

[@perryyKousek]

Your tips worked well. Until I connected external disk. Do you have any suggestion how to solve it?

[@valorantandosuplays1625]

can someone help when i select something on file explorer my cursor loads and cannot press anything

[@CRMTSharkBait]

U as well, that's why I'm here did u ever find a fix?

[@wonwisi4834]

Also @Mdtech I have this issue of my pc pausing and playing videos itself, be it on vlc, Windows media player, even on KZbin anything that's a video at all keeps pausing and playing on its own, I have formatted my system 3ce still the same issues, any help would be appreciated

[@aurelginting1432]

help me when i open a folder the files in there suddenly disappear one by one but after that they all showed up normally

[@imranbasha1367]

Taskbar icons are not loading fastly when I turn on the laptop it takes a time to load all taskbar icons This problem occurs on every startup.. What can I do Sir

[@MDTechVideos]

If you can kindly elaborate, I will do my best to assist.

[@dimasadityo_]

thanks it works! i thought my pc got infected by malware or something, turns out it just a 'bug' from the OS itself

[@Danielagostinho21]

Thanks! The Regedit solution worked but a few weeks later the problem appears again. Any suggestions?

[@totallyaperson6857]

Ok when i scroll down to see the files and it drop a high lag what do i do?

[@SomeOne-dx1gl]

Shortly after indexing starts, it shows that "indexing is paused" instead of "indexing is complete", anyone can help?

[@GR..877]

helpful . brand new HP HQ and still get the " working on it" thing in explorer. seems to be faster now

[@saky970]

Thank you ! I tried everything. Literally every fking solution on the internet. You were the only one who suggested this and this totally worked ! I had problems with my mapped network driver . It was loading sooo slowly. You are literally an angel !

[@j_nerner2746]

Just had this problem and found your video, it worked! Liked the video, thanks for the guide

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help!

[@simont6439]

Deleted only the BagMRU folder. That fixed extremely sluggish folder loading in Windows 10 Pro build 19044.

[@OmegaIsHere]

Thank you lots! The second option worked like a charm!

[@J33rr]

someone help: when i right click a folder the menu takes so long to load, like about an hour or so

[@beanstalks8]

thank u so much!! i was struggling after a games screenshot folder was reaallyy slow and loading old images first after i moved the game to my local drive, deleting the registry worked instantly!! :D

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@JC5455]

MD, There is no Shell after I click Windows ca you help me please kindly reply

[@kopele578]

Just reindexing worked for me. Thanks!

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@Thyceon]

Deleting the registry entries solved it for me. Great video!

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@giorgosgalanos9888]

Another tip... on videos like that you should write the path in the description or in a comment because it's not visible if we pause. Another option would be to scale the layout of your screen.

[@giorgosgalanos9888]

@Mark Seymour When I had written this comment I had a smaller screen. I can now see it too.

[@nkferg9435]

Second option worked for me. Thanks.

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@bookplate]

First tip fixed everything. I love you.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad I could help!

[@Arterexius]

I'm hoping this works, as it's been driving me nuts, but the indexing does indeed take quite a bit of time lol. I have close to 300.000 indexed files, so it sure does take some time 😂

[@trevor4370]

Excellent - this was doing me head in. Now subscribed 🙂

[@MDTechVideos]

Welcome aboard!

[@RedRosemary]

it says my indexing is paused for some reason

[@as17ns22]

This solved my issues after trying many other things. Thanks.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@isntitrich000]

Thanks man. Was thinking of getting a new one but ha. It’s just a simple problem

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad I could help

[@parolix4721]

Nice Tutorial, only needed about 5 minutes for the problem.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped

[@norilskmanindo8111]

Thanks for helping that is help so much for me, keep doing great thing

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped! Stick around, new content daily.

[@jimvid5183]

This worked! Thank you so much, this was driving me crazy!

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@miucraft7559]

thank you very much, it's also worked for win 7, thank you again, my problem is over🔥💪❤

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@Zscheigwai]

i dotn have the shell folder

[@borislavpetrovic9101]

Thank you so much, step 2 worked for me!

[@2jam]

thanks, it working, in step 2, step 1 work too

[@superleo28]

The only video currently working

[@flankerchan]

Straight to the point. Thank you :D

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped

[@natej8130]

1st tip worked for me, thanks!

[@markdevelop7770]

You are so great! Thanks for this video. It helps

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@nicholashoi3155]

Well, it did work for me but it's still a bit slower, but I take that as a win Thanks

[@prashantnegi007]

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell here it is

[@DJH4521]

Bro used the SML Theme 💀💀(video was helpful)

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad you liked it

[@coffee_lover101]

Hey bro, you save my life. Thank you so much.

[@MDTechVideos]

Happy to help

[@filipurbanek3797]

Thank you, the respond of file explorer is much more rapid. Thanks one more time, this is not the first time you saved me :D

[@biomedizintechnik]

I gotta put the vid on 0.5X speed, this's the hardest accent I've ever heard. Thanks tho it works

[@barryjive1104]

Opposite for me. I put it at 2X because I like my tutorial videos to progress at a quick clip.

[@dustyvancekatzenberger]

Love your videos, man. Thanks.

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@alisozen4685]

Thankk youuu broo. Very well donee with that great solution.

[@MDTechVideos]

Happy to help

[@ottery2242]

Thanks Man the first one really worked for me. :D

[@amrani_art]

Finally a solution that works. Thank you!

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@sialatorah]

Serious quality video. Thanks.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped

[@Soulcalibar41]

It worked! Thank you!

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad to help.

[@mangcrow5738]

Yay now it's just stuck indexing and making no progress

[@zbigniewvolkov7952]

Thanks man! This fixed it for me.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad I could help

[@sotiris13]

Thank you very much!

[@marisamorena8452]

My fix was uninstall LG OnScreen Control

[@cemgulpunk]

worked like magic thank you 👍

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped!

[@JohnsCoolVideos]

this worked perfectly thank you

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@starteras924]

It works great! Thanks a lot!

[@yellenanderson3332]

Thanks a lot ! It's still work

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@zight99user]

Not fixing anything but a good way to fuck up your windows explorer.

[@MDTechVideos]

If you can kindly elaborate, I will do my best to assist.

[@zight99user]

@@MDTechVideos I didn't look at it in depth because the registry tweak had no effect at all on how my picture folders were loading. From the other hand somethings were off with the explorer like i had date instead of date modified on my right click.

[@morphinehvh]

this actually worked 😍😍

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad I could help!

[@morphinehvh]

@@MDTechVideos i thought i was trippin or sum cuz im on i9 and samsung 980 pro and my pc hasnt been like that from the beginning. but tysm its fast af now

[@lite5474]

index options program found 54.940 indexes damn

[@lite5474]

btw it worked ty my man

[@kira13371337]

Nice this helped a lot! thanks!

[@brahimbrd2699]

Nice vid Bro.keep it up😃

[@MDTechVideos]

Thanks.

[@alecialuv]

tysm! The first step worked

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@motionislive5621]

So match thanks!

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped

[@RamiJalabi]

You Are The Best .. Thank you :)

[@jilanidotcom1898]

Thanks from Bangladesh. I like it.

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped

[@mannatkapoor3571]

NICE VIDEO BRO

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!

[@fatherhacker7465]

Thanks...

[@MDTechVideos]

Welcome

[@hauntological]

Thanks a lot

[@MDTechVideos]

Glad it helped

[@hyde0313]

Thank you sooo much!!

[@MDTechVideos]

You're welcome!