September 6, 2023

Surprisingly Accurate: The Windows File Explorer Bag Enhances File Search Speeds

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A user with the nickname @VivyVCCS on the “X” social network has revealed details about a newly discovered bug in the Windows File Explorer application, which can significantly speed up the process of browsing the contents of directories in the application – mitigating one of the program's biggest problems. This bug requires manual activation by the user, but is probably one of the easiest bugs to activate.

Windows File Explorer runs faster with bug detected

To run the bug, or in this case the hack, all you have to do is open File Explorer and press F11 once, then expand File Explorer to full screen mode, then press F11 again and then exit full screen mode.

That's it! Once this bug is triggered, you should notice instant content refreshes when changing different directories, even when doing so on different drives. The bug is software-related, so the performance boost works on all drives, from the fastest and best SSD models to the slowest hard drives. The only problem with this bug is that the navigation bar happens to “mess up” when the bug is triggered, but that's a small price to pay for significantly better performance, reports tomshardware.

Did you know you can speedup explorer by use of bugs?

Turns out switching in and out of full screen mode (F11) noticeably improves load times!

Wish this was the performance we get out of box.

(Yes navbar breaks.. tho navbar shouldn't cause such a huge snappiness regression..) pic.twitter.com/GObybf1C8q

— Vivy⚡ (@VivyVCCS) September 3, 2023

If the procedure for activating a detected bug using the F11 key seems too complicated, user Schalk Burger has created an automated script available on the Github service that will automatically activate the bug every time you start File Explorer.

File Explorer used to be very fast, especially on older versions of Windows operating systems, but for some reason it has become increasingly sluggish in new versions such as the “ten” and Windows 11. It is a matter of personal experience and feeling, and it is confirmed by dozens posts from other users complaining about the deteriorating performance of the File Explorer app that comes with Windows 10 and 11 versions.

So far, Microsoft has not commented on this and whether it will fix the observed bug. But we would not be surprised if one day this bug becomes a standard functionality of File Explorer. All kidding aside, we hope Microsoft will also make a performance update to the File Explorer app along with the bug fix. It would be about time he did.