How to Enable or Disable Folder Discovery in Windows 11?

Improve Windows 11 File Explorer speed: Disable folder automatic recognition function

By default, Windows computers enable automatic folder recognition. If you have special needs, you can choose to turn it off. For example, disabling this feature can speed up opening of large folders in Windows 11. This article will guide you on how to do it.

To speed up the opening of large Windows 11 folders, you can disable the automatic folder recognition feature on your computer.

Speed ​​up the opening of large folders in Windows 11

After upgrading to Windows 11, you may find that File Explorer runs slowly, such as opening large folders is slow. Sometimes, Windows updates may cause some users to fail in file managers.

Microsoft may solve the problem of slow file explorer speed in the future. But what if you want to solve this problem now? Here is an old feature in Windows: automatic folder recognition . By turning off folder auto-recognition in Windows 11, you can speed up the opening of large folders.

About automatic folder recognition in Windows

Windows has automatic folder recognition, which was originally introduced in Windows XP. When enabled, the Explorer can apply the appropriate templates based on the content type of the folder. For example, the system can display thumbnails in folders by default, especially if the folder content is mostly pictures or videos.

Therefore, your folders may take different templates or folder views based on their content, which may be an advantage. Disabling automatic recognition for folder types (trying to analyze every file in an unspecified folder) can significantly improve folder opening time, especially in folders containing hundreds or thousands of files.

If your download or document folder contains only a small number of files, it may not be worth it to disable folder type automatic recognition . Similarly, if you want File Explorer to maintain a consistent view across all folders, you can choose to disable folder auto-recognition unless manually adjusted.

How to enable or disable folder automatic recognition in Windows 11

An easy way to turn off folder automatic recognition is to create a new value in the registry to bypass the folder type automatic recognition process.

How to disable folder automatic recognition:

Step 1. Open the Registry Editor. You can type "Register Editor" in the search box and select "Register Editor" from the search results to open it.

Step 2. Go to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell .

Step 3. Right-click the blank space on the right, then go to New > String Value and create a new string. Then name the newly created string FolderType .

Step 4. Double-click the FolderType string to open it and set the value data to NotSpecified .

After turning off folder auto-recognition in Windows 11, File Explorer will no longer spend time scanning each file to determine how to display the contents of the folder. Modifying the registry not only speeds up File Explorer, but also standardizes views of all folders.

How to enable automatic folder recognition:

However, if you want to enable folder auto recognition again, you can directly delete this FolderType string in the Registry Editor.

What to do if the required folder is missing

If you can't find the folder you want on your Windows computer, you can first try to find the folder by name using the Windows search feature. However, if this method does not help you find the folder, the folder should have been deleted from your computer. In this case, you can try using professional data recovery software to scan your drive and find and recover it.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is such a data recovery tool that can even scan specific locations for missing files and folders. You can first try MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free to see if it can find the folder you want. You can also use it for free to recover 1GB of files.

Summarize

Disabling automatic folder recognition in Windows 11 can help you open large folders in File Explorer faster. You can learn how to do it from this article. In addition, if you have problems using MiniTool's data recovery software, you can contact us via [Contact Information].

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