I hope this will help others because all the "solutions" I've seen posted in forums didn't work or were too severe to try (like a reinstall of windows). My windows 11 Pro install isn't typical (see the last paragraph) and may be the real reason I have this problem to begin with but however I got here, this fix worked for me.
Problem:
It was taking about 5 seconds for folders to open each time I clicked one to open it. I would see the spinning curser during those five seconds before the contents of the folder were revealed.
My solution:
I did two things at the same time so I can't tell you which one actually solved the problem for me but after doing these 2 things, opening folders has been instantaneous.
1) The Indexing settings.
2) Delete and rebuild the index. (There's a tutorial from Brink on how to do this)
Same as above except select "Advanced" instead of "Modify" in the 3rd line.
From there, select "Rebuild" and according to what it says to the left of button, it will delete and rebuild the index.
You'll be warned that it will take a while.
It may not seem like the rebuilding is working because it will say indexing is paused but it will continue when the computer is idle and eventually finish rebuilding.
Like so many things with windows, everyone's configuration is different and maybe that's why so many solutions posted (even those that have responses that say it worked) don't work for everyone. This one worked for me. Let me know if it helped you (and lasted past a few days). I'm only on day 2).
Maybe try one at a time so we can figure out what actually fixes it. I think it's the index rebuild but I had some strange locations selected in #1 above.
My somewhat unique install may be the underlying cause. During install, I moved the Users folder to D:\. I used a Microsoft Account which is the default method but then later I changed the truncated (5-character limit) of my username folder. During that fix I had to enable the Administrator account (and later disable it). Then finally after a week or two, I switched from a Microsoft Account login to a local login. All of that could have easily messed with the indexing and caused this problem with opening folders. But again, no matter how I got there, one or both the steps above have fixed it (hopefully it lasts past me hitting the "post thread" button.)
Problem:
It was taking about 5 seconds for folders to open each time I clicked one to open it. I would see the spinning curser during those five seconds before the contents of the folder were revealed.
My solution:
I did two things at the same time so I can't tell you which one actually solved the problem for me but after doing these 2 things, opening folders has been instantaneous.
1) The Indexing settings.
- Go to Settings: Privacy & Security: Searching Windows
- Scroll Down to select "Advanced Indexing Options"
- Select "Modify"
- Look at the top section for the selected locations that say they are unavailable as you hover the curser over them. In my case there were 3 locations with SID names. Deselect any that say, "This location is currently unavailable."
2) Delete and rebuild the index. (There's a tutorial from Brink on how to do this)
Same as above except select "Advanced" instead of "Modify" in the 3rd line.
From there, select "Rebuild" and according to what it says to the left of button, it will delete and rebuild the index.
You'll be warned that it will take a while.
It may not seem like the rebuilding is working because it will say indexing is paused but it will continue when the computer is idle and eventually finish rebuilding.
Like so many things with windows, everyone's configuration is different and maybe that's why so many solutions posted (even those that have responses that say it worked) don't work for everyone. This one worked for me. Let me know if it helped you (and lasted past a few days). I'm only on day 2).
Maybe try one at a time so we can figure out what actually fixes it. I think it's the index rebuild but I had some strange locations selected in #1 above.
My somewhat unique install may be the underlying cause. During install, I moved the Users folder to D:\. I used a Microsoft Account which is the default method but then later I changed the truncated (5-character limit) of my username folder. During that fix I had to enable the Administrator account (and later disable it). Then finally after a week or two, I switched from a Microsoft Account login to a local login. All of that could have easily messed with the indexing and caused this problem with opening folders. But again, no matter how I got there, one or both the steps above have fixed it (hopefully it lasts past me hitting the "post thread" button.)
- Windows Build/Version
- Window 11 22H2 build 22621.1992
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 11 Pro
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Asus
- CPU
- i9-13900K
- Motherboard
- ProArt Z790
- Memory
- 64 GB
... :
