{"id":539881,"date":"2026-04-19T19:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/539881\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T19:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:34:12","slug":"microsoft-is-giving-windows-11-file-explorer-a-speed-boost-dark-mode-fix-and-reducing-explorer-exe-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/539881\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft is giving Windows 11 File Explorer a speed boost, dark mode fix, and reducing explorer.exe crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Windows<\/a><\/p>\n

Microsoft promised<\/a> that it\u2019ll steer Windows 11\u2019s development in the right direction by scaling back Copilot integration<\/a> and focusing on core components. What\u2019s more \u2018core\u2019 than File Explorer? Microsoft now says it\u2019s preparing a big update for File Explorer that would allow it to run faster, address \u2018white flashes,\u2019 add new archive support, and more.<\/p>\n

Microsoft has rolled out Windows 11 Build 26200.8313 to testers in the Release Preview Channel, and I\u2019ve been testing it for the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that File Explorer is in better shape than before, as it loads faster and no longer flashes a white background in dark mode.<\/p>\n

Build 26200.8313 is only available for Windows Insiders, but all changes in this update will become available to the general public with the April 2026 optional update. If you don\u2019t install monthly optional updates, you\u2019ll get faster File Explorer and all other fixes, including more reliable folder views<\/a>, in the May 2026 Patch Tuesday update.<\/p>\n

Windows 11 May 2026 Patch Tuesday update is scheduled for May 12, 2026, and it\u2019ll begin rolling out at 10 AM PT.<\/p>\n

File Explorer feels faster and no longer causes white flash in dark mode<\/p>\n

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that File Explorer feels faster, especially when you launch it for the first time after booting to the desktop.<\/p>\n

Right now, File Explorer is a big mess on low-end hardware, and it\u2019s quite evident in the recording below.<\/p>\n

File Explorer takes a couple of seconds to finish loading, and that happens on the second or third attempt as well.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, File Explorer is now a bit faster in the preview builds, and it\u2019s not due to preloading that\u00a0Microsoft previously tested for File Explorer<\/a>. Preloading means File Explorer would launch automatically in the background to reduce load time.<\/p>\n

In this case, it looks like Microsoft has made File Explorer itself faster, not just in performance, but also in how it handles Windows 11 themes.<\/p>\n

I use File Explorer in dark mode, and I\u2019ve configured it to open with the \u2018This PC\u2019 tab, not the default \u2018Home\u2019 tab, because it\u2019s faster that way. However, if File Explorer is set to open \u2018This PC\u2019 in dark mode, you\u2019ll notice white flashes when you open it, create new tabs, or switch folders from the This PC view.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also experience a white flash when you try to resize File Explorer\u2019s Details pane.<\/p>\n

The good news is that Microsoft has finally managed to patch these white flashes when File Explorer is in dark mode. The fix is included in Windows 11 Build 26200.8313 or newer.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Microsoft is adding support for new archive formats. This means you can now right-click on file formats like xar and nupkg (NuGet packages) to extract their content. The full list of newly supported archive formats includes cpio, uu, xar, and nupkg.<\/p>\n

Microsoft says it\u2019ll add more archive support and improve performance in a future update.<\/p>\n

Explorer.exe no longer crashes as frequently as it did in the past<\/p>\n

Microsoft has improved the reliability of explorer.exe-related processes, and it could actually make Windows 11 more stable.<\/p>\n

When you interact with File Explorer and suddenly close its window, the explorer.exe process won\u2019t take a hit. Right now, sometimes, when closing File Explorer or booting Windows, the taskbar and system tray flyouts start crashing or lagging, largely due to explorer.exe issues.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s preview update should make interacting with taskbar flyouts and even Task View more reliable. In fact, Microsoft confirmed that unpinning items from File Explorer\u2019s Quick Access menu is more reliable after the update<\/p>\n

In addition to all these performance improvements, Microsoft is adding the following features to File Explorer:<\/p>\n

Ability to preview internet downloaded files by clicking \u2018Preview anyway.\u2019
\nThe search bar in File Explorer now uses the same iconography as the rest of Windows 11.
\nRight now, if you set a certain folder view, such as adjusting it by icon size, it reflects immediately. But when you access the same folder\/path from another app, such as Microsoft Edge, Windows ignores your preferences and goes back to the default filters for sorting. This has now been fixed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of Microsoft\u2019s efforts to make Windows a better operating system<\/a>, and as expected, it\u2019s not just words.<\/p>\n

Microsoft is actively testing these improvements, and most changes highlighted above will begin rolling out in May 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Microsoft promised that it\u2019ll steer Windows 11\u2019s development in the right direction by scaling back Copilot integration and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-539881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}