Windows 11 File Explorer: Preloading Offers Limited Performance Boost with Increased RAM Usage

Microsoft's efforts to enhance Windows 11's performance, particularly with its File Explorer, have come under scrutiny. Recent tests of a new preloading feature in the Insider Preview Build suggest that while there's a marginal improvement in loading speed, it's accompanied by a notable increase in memory usage. This raises questions about the overall efficiency and user experience of the latest operating system compared to its predecessor, Windows 10.

The current adoption rate of Windows 11 has been sluggish, attributed to various factors including hardware limitations and user reluctance to upgrade. Microsoft's introduction of File Explorer preloading, which loads the application into local memory before active use, aims to address complaints about slow load times. This technique, while theoretically sound, has yielded mixed results in practical application, as demonstrated by recent evaluations.

Benchmarking conducted on a virtual machine with limited RAM revealed that enabling the preloading feature nearly doubled File Explorer's memory footprint, from 32.4 MB to 67.4 MB. Despite this increase in RAM consumption, the tangible speed benefits are minimal in routine operations. Observers noted that it requires slow-motion analysis to discern any difference in loading times between the preloaded and non-preloaded versions.

However, the preloading feature does offer a more significant performance edge under heavy system load. When the system was stressed with multiple browser tabs, the preloaded File Explorer demonstrated a noticeable improvement in responsiveness. Yet, this positive aspect is counterbalanced by the persistent slowness of context menus, regardless of whether preloading is active. Options like "Edit in Notepad" or "Ask Copilot" continue to experience delays, suggesting that deeper optimizations are still needed.

Users seeking to mitigate some of these performance issues can adjust visual settings within Windows 11. Disabling "Transparency effects" and "Animation effects" in the Accessibility settings can provide a slight speed boost. Nevertheless, the comparison to Windows 10 remains stark. File Explorer on Windows 10, even with less RAM, reportedly loads almost instantaneously, highlighting the performance gap that Windows 11 still needs to bridge.

As Microsoft dedicates considerable resources to integrating AI functionalities, such as its "hallucinating agentic features," into Windows 11, the core user experience for fundamental applications like File Explorer appears to be lagging. The anticipation for a more robust and efficient preloading feature in the upcoming 2026 Windows Update suggests an acknowledgment from Microsoft that significant improvements are still required to fully meet user expectations and justify the transition from older operating systems.