6 Ways to Fix Slow USB File Transfer in Windows 11

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he’s a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.

Fix 1: Change USB Drive Policy to Better Performance

By default, Windows 11 employs the Quick Removal policy for all USB devices. Changing the USB policy for your device to Better Performance can improve data transfer speeds on Windows 11. Here’s how to do the same.

Step 1:Click thesearch iconon the taskbar, typedevice manager, and pressEnter.

Step 2:ExpandDisk drives, right-click on your USB drive, and selectProperties.

Step 3:In the Device Properties window, navigate to thePoliciestab and selectBetter performance. Then, hitOK.

Fix 2: Check the USB Device for Errors

Problems with your USB device can cause slow file transfer speeds on Windows. You can scan your storage device for file system errors or bad sectors to see if that helps.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Eto open File Explorer.

Step 2:Navigate toThis PC, right-click on your drive, and selectProperties.

Step 3:Under theToolstab, click theCheckbutton next to Error checking.

Step 4:SelectScan drive.

If Windows finds any issues with your drive, follow the on-screen prompts to resolve them.

Fix 3: Change File System for USB Device to NTFS

Another thing to look at is the file system your USB drive uses. If it uses the FAT32 file system, you must wait longer while transferring large files to and from your drive. In that case, you can change the file system for your drive from FAT32 to NTFS to get better transfer speeds.

Since this process necessitatesformatting the drive, ensure you back up all your drive content before proceeding.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Eto launch File Explorer and navigate toThis PCusing the left pane.

Step 2:In the right pane, right-click on yourUSB deviceand selectFormat.

Step 3:SelectNTFSunder File system and clickStart.

You should notice an improvement in file transfer speeds after formatting your USB drive to the NTFS file system.

Fix 4: Restart Optimize Drives Service

Optimize Drives is a Windows service that helps the system run more efficiently by optimizing files on storage drives. If this service is not running, you could experience slow USB file transfer speeds in Windows 11. Here’s what you can do to fix it.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Rto launch the Run command, typeservices.msc, and pressEnter.

Step 2:In the Services window, locate and double-click on theOptimize drives serviceto open its properties.

Step 3:Change the Startup type toAutomaticand clickApply, followed byOK.

Fix 5: Disable Drive Indexing

Drive Indexing is a useful feature that lets youquickly search for fileson your external drive. However, this feature can also slow down other operations. To avoid that, disable the drive indexing feature for your USB drive by following the steps below.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Eto launch File Explorer, right-click on your drive, and selectProperties.

Step 2:Under theGeneraltab, uncheck theAllow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file propertiesbox. Then, hitApply, followed byOK.

Fix 6: Update USB Drivers

Outdated or faulty USB drivers can also slow down USB file transfers in Windows. In that case, updating the USB device drivers should help fix the issue.

Step 1:OpenDevice Managerusing the search menu and double-click onUniversal Serial Bus controllersto expand it.

Step 2:Right-click on the firstUSB Root Hub> selectUpdate driverfrom the list.

Then, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process. If your PC has multiple USB ports, update each of them using the steps outlined above.

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Last updated on 24 April, 2024

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