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Feature: improve Files opening time #17903
Description
What feature or improvement do you think would benefit Files?
The opening time of Files should be improved in order to keep up with the Windows File Explorer built-in application.
Especially after Microsoft said that it's thinking about preloading the application in background: an application like File Explorer should be designed for performance, not use workaround to fix slowness.
In this case I think Files has a lot of margin for improvements, but I trust it will become better compared to Microsoft's File Explorer.
I couldn't find a similar issue/feature opened, so I created a new one.
Requirements
-The application startup time should be at least as fast as built in File Explorer.
-The application startup shuold be that fast even without preloading (therefore saving RAM).
Files Version
4.0.20
Windows Version
Windows 11 25H2
Comments
No response
Activity
Josh65-2201 commentedon Nov 24, 2025
Thanks for the feedback, we're tracking this in the below linked issue. You can check there or click subscribe in the right sidebar for updates.
Files already stays loaded in the background, if
Files settings > Advanced > Leave app running in the background when the window is closedis enabled and is the beast that can be done right now.yair100 commentedon Sep 3, 2026
@otrebla-snake-ita we believe the performance issues are resolved in the latest Files Preview build. Can you please try it out and let us know your thoughts? https://files.community/appinstallers/Files.preview.appinstaller
otrebla-snake-ita commentedon Sep 25, 2026
@yair100
I tested it for some time and the performance gain is definitely noticeable.
-With the preload it's very fast (but that's a setting that I usually rather keep disabled)
-Without preload it still takes a bit longer (Windows native File Explorer is faster), but not as much as before and here the performance improvement is noticeable as well.
Also, opening a new tab still takes a bit some time (not very long, but feels a bit sloppy).
So, to sum up: the performance is definitely improved, but it's still a bit slower compared to File Explorer. The ideal target to me is having at least as fast as File Explorer.
yair100 commentedon Oct 14, 2026
@otrebla-snake-ita thank you for checking. Can you please check without the preload in Files v4.3?
otrebla-snake-ita commentedon Oct 23, 2026
@yair100 I tested this for some days.
I have to say, the responsiveness feeling is improved, generally it's way faster compared to the previous versions.
I also compared its speed by opening side by side with native File Explorer (both without preload).
My feeling is that Files UI build-up time is still noticeable (it feels like multiple parts of the UI are being loaded and initialized) while the starting time is still a bit higher compared to native File Explorer (at least 1 second, however I couldn't find a reliable way to measure it).
Now, I also believe that for 90% use cases this is more than enough, but I feel like that if a user needs responsiveness and speed, the natural choice would still fall on native File Explorer.
Up to you and how much room for improvements the devs have!
yair100 commentedon Oct 26, 2026
@otrebla-snake-ita thank you for your feedback.