Windows 11 File Explorer Will Finally Use Less RAM

Microsoft is rolling out an update to Windows 11 File Explorer that reduces RAM usage during file searches. The company announced improvements in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7523, which is currently available only to participants in the Dev and Beta channels.

File Explorer often checks and indexes the same file paths multiple times. This happens especially when users search across different drives or in overlapping folder structures. This wastes RAM, CPU cycles, and disk resources without improving search results.

Microsoft's fix consolidates these duplicate actions into a single index. Early tests on Insider builds indicate that searches may execute roughly twice as fast as with the previous method. Users searching across multiple folders and drives will see the biggest improvements. The change reduces overall system strain by lowering CPU usage and decreasing disk input/output demands.

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