Fixing the “RAM Tax”: Microsoft’s New Plan to Make File Explorer Search 2X Faster
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Revamped "Start" Menu Interface
Microsoft is currently testing low-level improvements to File Explorer in Windows 11, aimed at significantly reducing memory consumption and improving responsiveness when users search for files such as images and documents.
At present, File Explorer searches tend to consume substantial amounts of memory and often feel sluggish. Fundamentally, the search feature relies on Windows’ indexing system, which pre-indexes files and then retrieves results during a search. The new under-the-hood changes focus on eliminating redundant indexing operations, thereby enhancing search performance. In practical terms, this means avoiding repeated scans of the same files or folders, which substantially reduces unnecessary system work.
These optimizations are already present in Windows 11 Build 26220.7523 and later. Microsoft notes that while the existing Windows Search Indexer employs certain heuristic techniques, it can still reprocess identical files and directories under specific conditions.
With the updated approach, the system proactively skips superfluous search and scanning tasks, leading to lower disk I/O, reduced CPU cycle usage, and fewer background indexing jobs. As a result, overall resource consumption during searches is expected to drop noticeably, with memory usage in particular seeing a meaningful reduction.
Further testing is still required before these changes are finalized. However, based on Microsoft’s typical release cadence, the improvements are likely to reach stable Windows 11 users via cumulative updates around January or February 2026.
That said, even with these enhancements, File Explorer may still lag behind third-party tools such as Everything. Users who search frequently across large volumes of files may wish to consider dedicated third-party indexing and search utilities for a faster and more flexible experience.
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