Windows 10: Speed Up File Transfers on Windows 11 With These 7 Tweaks

If moving files on your Windows 11 PC feels slower than it should, you’re not imagining things. File transfer performance depends on more than just your computer’s raw power—it’s affected by storage type, ports, system settings, and even background processes. The good news is that several easy tweaks can noticeably speed things up.

1. Use Faster Storage Whenever Possible


The biggest performance boost comes from using solid-state drives instead of traditional hard drives. SSDs handle data far more efficiently, while NVMe drives push speeds even further. If you’re still copying files between older hard drives, upgrading even one side of the transfer can make a major difference.

2. Plug External Drives Into the Right USB Port


Not all USB ports are equal. Connecting a modern external drive to an older USB 2.0 port will slow everything down, even if the drive itself supports faster speeds. Look for USB 3.x ports—often marked with blue coloring or “SS” for SuperSpeed—to unlock much faster transfers.

3. Stick With NTFS for Windows Drives


Windows performs best with NTFS-formatted drives. If you’re transferring files to or from a drive using FAT32, speeds may suffer, especially with large files. NTFS also supports better caching and file handling, which helps keep transfers smooth and consistent.

4. Use Robocopy for Large Transfers


For big folders or bulk file moves, Windows’ built-in Robocopy tool can outperform File Explorer. It uses multithreading and handles interruptions more gracefully, making it ideal for long or complex transfers—especially across drives.

5. Temporarily Pause Real-Time Antivirus Scanning


Security software often scans files during transfers, which can slow things down. Temporarily disabling real-time protection while copying large amounts of data can improve speed. Just remember to turn protection back on once the transfer finishes.

6. Compress Files Before Moving Them


Sending many small files individually is slower than transferring one compressed archive. Zipping folders reduces total data size and simplifies the transfer process, helping Windows move everything more efficiently.

7. Close Background Apps


Running apps compete for system resources. Before starting a large transfer, close unnecessary programs—especially those accessing storage or running in the background—to ensure Windows can prioritize the copy operation.

File transfer speed on Windows 11 isn’t fixed—you have more control than you might think. By combining faster storage, proper ports, smarter tools, and lighter system load, you can significantly reduce wait times and keep your workflow moving.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Speed Up File Transfers on Windows 11 With These 7 Tweaks appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

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File Transfer Speed from Windows 11 to Synology NAS is VERY SLOW vs. Windows 10

I have a new Windows 11 PC and I'm noticing that the file sharing to my Synology NAS is very slow vs when I transferred files from my older Windows 10 PC.

File Transfer Speeds:

• Windows 11 to NAS (DS1520+) = 11.5 MB/s
  
• Windows 11 to Windows 10 = 112 MB/s (much faster)
  
• File size = 30GB
  

Note:

• Windows PCs and NAS are all Ethernet connected on 1GB home network.
  
• Running: Windows 11 Pro 23H2
  
• Running: DSM 7.2.1-69057 Update 5
  

Any suggestions on how to speed this up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Performance and system failures***

 

Windows 11 vs Windows10 For SMB File Transfers Slow Speeds

we have two different locations running over a 1G dedicated connection. we have a scenario that looks like pointing to a version of Windows at this stage. wonder if someone can throw some light here.

File Transfer from Location A ( windows11 ) to Location B (windows 11) --> Speeds are at 50MB/s

File Transfer from Location A ( windows11 ) to Location B (windows 10) --> Speeds are at 50MB/s

File Transfer from Location B ( windows11 ) to Location A (windows 11) --> Speeds are at 50MB/s

File Transfer from Location B ( windows10 ) to Location A (windows 11) --> Speeds are at 1.5MB/s ----> This is a issue

i did go through some old posts and found "receive window auto-tuning level" is not turned on windows10 and turning it on will fix issue, in my case this was already set to normal on windows10 and windows11.

Found some other old post from 2011 where windows10 "RFC 123 Timestamps" is disabled and allowed on windows11, i did enable this on windows10 to see if that helps but did not.

MTU of ethernet is 1500 and interface negotiating at 1G Full duplex.

@Gary Nebbet, i did see you helped with some similar things in past, any suggestions if you are around.

 

Windows 10 extremely slow file transfer speeds


I have three pc's on my home network. One had windows 10 from the factory the other two were Win 7 and 8.1 and all were experiencing 70-90MB/sec file transfer speeds. My internet was and still is 60MB/sec. After upgrading to windows 10 the file transfer speeds went to 5-8MB/sec. Internet speed is unaffected. I have followed many forums and tried every suggestion and nothing has resolved this issue. The last big windows 10 update did slow down the native windows 10 machine from 70-90MB/sec to 50-60MB/sec. Also, the native Win 10 machine is connecting via wifi and others via ethernet (wired)
Any new ideas? Yes, latest drivers. Yes, Large Offload is disabled and many other suggestions.