Windows 11 File Explorer is about to get a speed boost

File Explorer is about to get a boost on Windows 11. Microsoft just rolled out an update to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel that improves the performance of File Explorer when extracting zip files.

The change comes in Windows 11 Build 27818. The "Fixes" section of build change logs is important but generally mundane.

But occasionally they include an interesting tidbit, such as the mention of File Explorer improving performance.

The most noticeable performance improvement should be seen when unzipping a large number of files

The update also removes a feature. Starting with this build of Windows 11, you will no longer see suggested actions when you copy a phone number or future date.

Microsoft outlines the changes in a blog post.

Windows 11 Build 27818: Changes and Improvements

General

• This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Windows Security

• We are beginning to roll out a change in the Windows Security app where will show more details such as manufacturer and manufacturer version for Pluton TPM chips if your PC has one under Device security > Security processor details.

Other

• Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated. We are disabling this feature.

Windows 11 Build 27818: Fixes

General

• Fixed a d3d9.dll crash which was causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

File Explorer

• Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.
• Fixed an issue where File Explorer Home might not load correctly and just show random floating text saying “Name”.

Taskbar & System Tray

• Fixed an issue with the taskbar app window previews, where the corners of the flyout weren’t drawn with the correct radius in certain cases.
• Fixed an issue where the underlines under app icons in the taskbar may get stuck showing even if the app had been closed.

Input

• Fixed a high hitting ctmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.

Settings

• Fixed an underlying issue which could result in Settings failing to launch with “The instruction at 0x00007FFEDEBDC003 referenced memory at 0x0000000000000010. The memory could not be read”. If impacted, you might also see a similar error message with RuntimeBroker.exe.
• Fixed an issue for Japanese users, where the name displayed at the top of Settings > Accounts showed First Name Last Name instead of Last Name First Name.

Graphics

• Fixed an issue which could cause sluggish video when using multiple monitors after changing from Second Screen Only to Duplicate display mode in the latest Canary builds.
• Made a couple of fixes to address issues which could cause Settings > System > Display > Graphics to crash.
• “Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to certain games failing to launch after an upgrade, saying DirectX function CreateComputePipelineState failed with E_INVALIDARG or StorePipeline failed with E_UNEXPECTED.

Admin Protection

• Fixed an issue which could cause Visual Studio Code to not be able to be installed when Admin Protection was enabled.

Remote Desktop

• Fixed an issue which could lead to Remote Desktop freezing when connecting.

Other

• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing certain apps to fail to open with an error saying “The application was unable to load a required virtual machine component”.