I recently 'upgraded' to Windows 11 and the new File Explorer is now painfully slow when navigating the Dropbox folder. Simply navigating the hierarchy takes seconds and the Windows busy ring appears twice for each click. I have tried: - reinstalling Dropbox (currently 139.3.4798) - enabling Smart Sync (this will likely save me disk space but seems not to affect performance) - uninstalling any other software that interacts with the Windows context menu (WinZip etc) - restoring the Windows 10 File Explorer (which changed the GUI) but not the speed - running Windows File explorer full screen (F11) a common recommendation that does not improve performance I am running Win 11 Pro on a decent enough 8th gen Core i7 with 16GB RAM that coped just fine under Windows 10, I have 346443 files on my DB. the issue is limited to the Dropbox folder which is why I'm here and not on the MS forum. Any help gratefully received!

I'm not in the camp that this is a windows 11 problem. I had the EXACT same problem while I was running Windows 10. Loading files in explorer is painfully slow (and often they don't load at all). Indeed, my updated to 11 was partially to see if it would fix the dropbox problem. It didn't. I can also report that all my other cloud services work perfectly. Box, OneDrive, for example. It's only dropbox that isn't working. So I think it's a dropbox issue. My issue is on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, and I've tried virtually every workaround I found in this community and elsewhere.

I reported this issue to Microsoft via the 'Feedback Hub' app about 24 hrs ago (https://aka.ms/AAfbwsp) but, perhaps unsurprisingly, not heard anything yet. I've also been scouring the web for other solutions and the general consensus appears to be that it is a bug identified in an early beta of Windows 11 that was only partially fixed prior to release. This doesn't explain why there isn't a huge uproar about performance more generally (perhaps only a select few are affected). Microsoft themselves do not list this as a recognised bug on the Feedback Hub yet. I suspect the more people that report this to MS, the more chance there is of action so feel free of booting up that app and logging a bug too. One thing I have noted is that, while performance is laggy across the board, the performance of my Dropbox folder is noticeably worse. Will keep reporting back if there's any news!

For anyone having a similar issue (slowdowns in Windows Explorer) and storing large numbers of files in Dropbox (1M+), I found that disabling Windows Search Indexing (or removing the Dropbox folder from it) sped up my computer significantly, aside from every few days when Dropbox does some sort of automatic "re-indexing" which takes awhile (v154.3.5344). To do so:Click on the Start buttonType "indexing options"Enter the Indexing Options panel, and see how many items are indexed. If it's in the millions, it might be DropboxRemove your Dropbox folder from the Included Locations list via the Modify buttonApply the changes and wait for the "x items indexed" to updateRestart your computer/DropboxAs someone who stores over 2.6 million files on their Dropbox account, I am undoubtedly an edge case scenario... but I have a hunch that Windows search index wasn't designed to work with Dropbox with so many files at once. Hope this helps.

Hello all, For information after removing iCloud from my computer dropbox seem to work properly again.

Hi. Yes and yes. I have only one third of my files on my desktop, the remaining is not synchronized.Furthermore, these slow-downs are clearly an issue between dropbox and Windows file explorer. If Dropbox is shutdown, there is no more slow-down. More I rename and add/move files, more the slow-downs are long, sometimes crashing File Explorer. I'm also pretty sure that it's far slower if I have more than one file explorer opened. But as soon as I used another tool than File Explorer to rename or add files, there is no slow-down anymore.

Dropbox folder in File Explorer in Windows 11 is painfully slow

57 Replies

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Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago
Hi jaymeetee, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

It looks like you’re running the beta version of the Dropbox desktop application.

To install our latest stable version, visit this page and switch ‘Early releases’ to Off.

Afterwards, re-download the app from here.

Keep me updated with any progress!
jaymeetee
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago
Jay, thanks for getting back to me. Yes I remember switching to the 'early releases' nearly ten years ago when I was having trouble syncing more than 100k files (back in the days when this was a limitation). I have flicked the switch, installed the new (old) stable version (138.4.2392) and Dropbox is re-indexing everything. Once that's complete I shall reboot and let you know if things are better. Thanks again for your help, James
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago
Hi jaymeetee, I am glad to see Jay could help you with this!

If you need anything, you know where to find us.
jaymeetee
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago
Hi Jay and Megan,

Thanks again for your support. Sadly the new (old / stable) version of Dropbox (138.4.2392) did not fix this issue. I allowed a full re-index, then rebooted but It still takes seconds (and two appearances of the Windows wait ring) to move up or down a folder in my Dropbox. Any other ideas? Thanks again for your help.
jaymeetee
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago
I just tested a theory by killing the Dropbox process; File manager navigations is still very slow. This makes me think that the issue is down to the Windows 11 upgrade and probably nothing to do with Dropbox. I'll try asking my question on the MS forum and I'll report back if there is a solution.
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago
Hi jaymeetee, that's what I was about to suggest myself too.

I think it'd be wise to check in with Microsoft.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
Tom01
Explorer | Level 4
4 years ago
Hi @jaymeetee,

I upgraded to Windows 11 yesterday and had the exact same experience. Please let me know how you go with MS.

Cheers
jaymeetee
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago
I reported this issue to Microsoft via the 'Feedback Hub' app about 24 hrs ago (https://aka.ms/AAfbwsp) but, perhaps unsurprisingly, not heard anything yet. I've also been scouring the web for other solutions and the general consensus appears to be that it is a bug identified in an early beta of Windows 11 that was only partially fixed prior to release. This doesn't explain why there isn't a huge uproar about performance more generally (perhaps only a select few are affected). Microsoft themselves do not list this as a recognised bug on the Feedback Hub yet. I suspect the more people that report this to MS, the more chance there is of action so feel free of booting up that app and logging a bug too. One thing I have noted is that, while performance is laggy across the board, the performance of my Dropbox folder is noticeably worse. Will keep reporting back if there's any news!
Tom01
Explorer | Level 4
4 years ago
Thank you. I have opened a MS case and will let you know if I get any updates as well.

Thanks
jaymeetee
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago
It's been over a week now an, perhaps unsurprisingly, Microsoft have not responded. Just checking in to let you know I'm still on this but since this seems to be a minority issue (there don't seem to be many of us complaining about it) I'm beginning to wonder whether a clean install of Windows might fix the issue.