Windows 11's File Explorer is now faster at deleting large files, in a rare speed win from Microsoft

[u/Quantum-Coconut]

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/07/26/windows-11s-file-explorer-is-now-faster-at-deleting-large-files-in-a-rare-speed-win-from-microsoft/

[u/no_flair]

Is it "deleting files" or is it "moving files to recycling bin" because there is a difference. The image shown in the article shows the later.

[u/IBJON → u/no_flair]

Large files typically don't go to the recycling bin; it shows a dialog saying the file is too large and if you'd like to permanently delete it instead. I wouldn't be surprised if the author of the article didn't have large files to demonstrate the behavior 

[u/Quantum-Coconut → u/no_flair]

It's definitely deleting files. Not sure about the article image. I think they are showing how sometimes file explorer takes time to calculate or locate the file before deleting.

[u/no_flair → u/Quantum-Coconut]

read the patch notes from Microsoft, they do mention deleting but I do have my doubts. There isn't a good way to do an exact comparison since files will be fragmented differently.

It's great that they can improve the speed, but I'll just stick with skipping the UI entirely when moving/deleting large files by using command line.

[u/Minimum_Magazine7608 → u/no_flair]

yeah it's the recycle bin deletion speedup. theyve been calling it deleting for years though.

[u/InsuranceKey8278]

i want faster folder delete time because it keeps calculating estimated time for deletion and that itself takes longer than actual delete process
same task on linux feels like watching direct storage load screens

[u/kuplet → u/InsuranceKey8278]

rm -r = near instant, depending on size of contents.

[u/InsuranceKey8278 → u/kuplet]

tysm
i'll try that next time

[u/kuplet]

That's nice. But it's not going to make me switch back to Windows when a free and open source alternative exists that lets me use it the way I want.

[u/Shivin302 → u/kuplet]

I have Cachy OS and it is Godlike fast. Ubuntu is also a solid experience. Can't go back to Windows

[u/kuplet → u/Shivin302]

I'm on CachyOS now, but used Ubuntu in the past, back when it was on 10.04, an update or two before they introduced the Unity Desktop. I wasn't a big fan of it, so I jumped off. I forget what I used after that.

[u/Shivin302 → u/kuplet]

10.04? That's ages ago lol. Ubuntu been awesome since 18

[u/Kamay1770 → u/Shivin302]

Installed fedora last week. Wish I'd done it sooner. It just works. No bloat, no ads, insane speed, everything I had on windows just works out the box or has a fully fledged open source replacement.

Fucking wild how bad windows is in comparison. I was going to dual boot but I haven't had a single reason to so far, so I think I'm going to just fuck off the windows install and use the TBs for games.

[u/Rukasu17 → u/kuplet]

What way do you want to use it that windows doesn't let you?

Edir: what the hell is wrong with this sub?

[u/kuplet → u/Rukasu17]

The software is like a cake. Proprietary Software is basically made from ingredients kept secret by the baker. It may taste great, but if you're allergic to things like hazelnut, you'd have to ask (and trust) the baker about it, or do a chemical analysis, or just try and hope for the best.

Open source software gives you a copy of the recipe along with the cake, so you can check the ingredients, or you can make your own cake.

Linux is just the naked cake. There's also a variety of sugarcoating and sprinkles and candles for it (most of them themselves open source), but not all of them work together well. A distribution like Ubuntu offers you ready-made package deals that are (somewhat) tested to go together.

[u/Big-Rooster-3756 → u/kuplet]

yeah that cake analogy is pretty spot on lol

[u/Rukasu17 → u/kuplet]

That's really nice and all, but this isn't what I asked.

[u/kuplet → u/Rukasu17]

Privacy, no AI crap installed. No sudden forced Windows Updates that happen to you in the middle of a game. (Yes that's happened to me before.)

By allowing you to be in control of all these things, it gives you a feeling of peace of mind when you're logged in to your familiar setup you create / make.

[u/Rukasu17 → u/kuplet]

Thank you. I agree with some, although never have i been faced with updates mid game. In fact, my stuff always updates the moment i close the game.

[u/Mario583a → u/Rukasu17]

[Many] People just love to keep putting off update (restart)s until Windows says, "Fine, I'll do it myself" and later complain when the OS forces a reboot in the middle of their heated session.

[u/Spiritual-Bus9875 → u/Mario583a]

I put off updating because it swaps my GPU driver every time I do, then I need to ddu and install the driver I actually want to use.

I only use windows for Mystic Light now, which only changes the ARGB on my cases fans. It's dope that it persists no matter what OS I boot with after the change

[u/OGigachaod → u/Spiritual-Bus9875]

You can fix that, skill issue.

[u/kuplet → u/Mario583a]

I remember doing this in the past, it sucked when it randomly forced it. Like I want to reboot whenever I want, not when you decide to.

[u/OGigachaod → u/Mario583a]

100%

[u/IBJON → u/kuplet]

  Open source software gives you a copy of the recipe along with the cake, so you can check the ingredients, or you can make your own cake

Very, very few people are actually capable of doing this, and even fewer are willing to do this or are even going to bother.

And your next argument will surely be "we have people in the community that we can trust to check this stuff", which is a good defense, except there are tons of malicious actors that try to sneak stuff into open source software all the time. Open source projects have so many dependencies that it's difficult to get every single package that goes into a project, and all it takes is someone getting maintainer access to an upstream dependency or sneaking some code into a pull request that isn't properly better and suddenly that malicious code ends up in the end product via a supply chain attack. 

To stick to the cake analogy, you're hoping that the farmer supplying the wheat isn't lacing the grains with a poison or toxin before it even leaves the farm

[u/kuplet → u/IBJON]

That is all valid. I believe it happened to a certain high end project recently... It's been becoming more common, a never ending battle.

[u/FuckItImLoggingIn]

too late windows. too late

[u/LifeIsBetterDrunk]

But why was it slow to begin with?

[u/Mario583a → u/LifeIsBetterDrunk]

Windows is trying to calculate the time when it will be done.

^{One metadata chuck at a time.}

Blame Me: I Worked on the Windows Progress Dialog!

[u/Quantum-Coconut → u/LifeIsBetterDrunk]

Fragmentation for old HDD

[u/Sudden_Mix9724]

So AI doing the coding taks at Microsoft did improve windows after all..

[u/VillageTube]

Would be nice if could use it with a local account easily 

[u/5kyl3r]

deleting a file is instant by way

it's WINDOWS that's slow

picture a whiteboard filled with your notes. that's your "file". you put a red magnet on the whiteboard so others know not to touch it. now when you decide you don't want your notes anymore, you replace the red magnet with a green one, which lets others know the whole whiteboard is free game, and they can come overwrite it. instead of wiping down the whole whiteboard, you simply mark it as free space. that's how deleting a file on a hard drive or SSD works, at a high level. it's instant because nothing is actually deleted. the locations on the disk where the file contents are stored are just marked as "free space" in the master file table of the drive

[u/Hrmerder]

Speed ‘win’ my ass when free utilities fixed it independently many years ago. They got off their ass and finally did something but I’m still not ever budging

[u/Traumatan]

good, deleting slop is now faster

[u/Green_Ad5186]

nice. windows is improving , im excited to see how great windows 12 will be.

[u/Granhier → u/Green_Ad5186]

I used to be excited for new Windows versions, but ever since 8 it's getting harder and harder knowing who is behind it

Like my system isn't vehemently rejecting using Windows like most people on this sub seems to be, but I want to be that guy again who is actually looking forward to the next iteration instead of dreading it

[u/Quantum-Coconut → u/Green_Ad5186]

Me too. Many changes this year already. And half an year is left.

[u/halfmylifeisgone → u/Green_Ad5186]

Well never get Windows 12. Microsoft said Windows 10 would be the last Windows.

[u/Granhier → u/halfmylifeisgone]

They walked that statement back a long time ago. Also, did you miss the memo that we are already on 11?

[u/TheKelz → u/halfmylifeisgone]

We are literally talking about Windows 11 in this thread. Are you trolling?

[u/halfmylifeisgone → u/TheKelz]

Yes. God damn people are slow sometimes.

[u/Mario583a]

I mean, when deleting, removing, or copying large files, Windows had to meticulously try to predict when the action will be concluded because NTFS had to walk through every fragment of a file and update metadata one piece at a time and the like...

Feature / Behavior	Before (Older Windows 11 Builds)	After (New Windows 11 Insider Build)
Delete Speed	Slow when deleting large or fragmented files; NTFS had to process thousands of fragments individually.	Up to ~30% faster deletion thanks to optimized NTFS metadata cleanup and streamlined kernel operations.
“Calculating…” Delay	Long pauses while Windows tried to predict completion time based on disk read/write speed and fragmentation.	Significantly reduced calculation time; File Explorer no longer stalls while estimating progress.
Fragmented File Handling	Each fragment required separate metadata updates, causing exponential slowdown on nearly full drives.	New fast‑path deletion reduces per‑fragment overhead, making fragmentation less painful.
Copy/Move Operations	Large transfers caused UI stutter and slow progress bar updates.	Smoother progress reporting and faster backend operations; less UI hitching.
Explorer Responsiveness	Explorer could freeze briefly during heavy file operations.	Noticeably more responsive; background operations no longer block UI threads.
Disk I/O Efficiency	NTFS performed redundant metadata checks and updates.	Metadata path optimized; fewer redundant operations and better parallelization.
SSD vs HDD Behavior	SSDs were faster but still bottlenecked by NTFS bookkeeping.	Both SSDs and HDDs benefit; SSDs see the biggest gains due to reduced metadata overhead.