Fix Slow file copy speed in Windows 10 / 11

The issue of slow file transfer in Windows isn’t new. As and when they kept bringing up newer versions of Windows, Microsoft tried to improve upon this problem. However, despite all attempts, Windows 10 and windows 11 users still face this problem. The slow file copy speed issue is observed more while transferring files to and fro external drives.

Also Read: 12 Best Free File Copy Software for Windows 10 to Copy Faster

Note: If you have Anti Virus installed on your PC , Please turn off / Disable Real Time Protection in it. This seems to be a culprit most of the times for many users.

Try the following troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue:

 

Fix 2 – Disable Windows Auto Tuning

1] Search for Command prompt in the Windows search bar. Right-click on the option and select Run as administrator.

2] Type the following command and press Enter to execute it:

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

3] Now, try to transfer the file again.

If it is not working change it back to normal.

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

Fix 3 – Disable Remote Differential Compression

1] Search for “Turn Windows features on or off” in the Windows search bar. Open the window.

 

2] Uncheck the box for Remote Differential Compression API support and click on OK to save the settings.

 

3] Restart the system.

Fix 4 – Change the USB ports

Change the USB ports to verify in case the issue is with the ports. If yes, either get the port replaced or use a working one.

Fix 5 – Disable Windows search service temporarily

1 – Search Services in Windows taskbar search box and then click on Gear shaped services icon coming in the search result.

2 – Now, Double click on Windows search service.

3 -Click on Stop to stop the service.

 

 

Try to copy the file again and see if it fixes the issue.

You can also select startup type as disabled to prevent it from restarting when your reboot PC.

Fix 6 –  Change hardware settings for Better Performance (Enable write caching)

1 – Right click on the USB drive and click on Properties.

2 – Now, click on Hardware Tab

3 – Now, select the desired USB drive.

4 – Now, click on Properties.

 

 

 

5 – Now, Click on Change Settings

 

 

 

6 – Now, Choose Better Performance.

7 – Also, Check the Option saying Also enable write caching in this device.

 

 

Note, that Now, you will have to be careful when ejecting USB from PC and always use safely remove hardware feature otherwise data loss may happen. As the earlier option quick removal get rid from always proceeding with safely remove hardware while ejecting USB.

Fix 7 – Disable Drive indexing

1. Right click on the drive to which or from which you are copying the file, and click on properties.

2. In the general tab, just uncheck option Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties

Fix 8 – Check the drive for error

You can also check your hard drive or external hard disk or USB for errors.

Just do a right click on hard drive and then click on tools tab.

Now, click on check to fix errors in drive.

 

 

Fix 9 – Update the USB drivers

Here’s the procedure to update the USB drivers:

1] Press Win + R to open the Run window and type the command devmgmt.msc. Hit Enter to open the Device Manager.

 

2] Locate the Universal Serial Bus Controller drivers.

3] Right-click on them one by one and select Update driver.

Fix 10 – Using Service manager

1. Press windows key + R to open run.

2. Write services.msc in it and Click OK.

 

3. Now, In the registry editor locate Optimize drives.

4. Right Click on it and choose Properties .

 

5. Click on Start to Start the service

6. Change Startup type to Automatic

6. Click on Apply and Then OK.

 

 

7. Close the windows and Try again.

 

 

Fix  11 – Format the drive as NTFS partition instead of FAT32

1] Right-click on the external drive partition and select Format.

2] Change the File System to NTFS (default).

 

3] Check the box for Quick Format and click on Start to initiate the formatting process.

Fix  12 – Update Windows and Run Full scan

1] Update Windows: Windows keeps pushing out fixes from known issues like this one. The fixes are in form of Windows update. Here’s the procedure to update Windows.

2] Run a CHKDSK scan on the system. Here’s the procedure for a CHKDSK scan. This is in case the file transfers within the system are slow. It might be an issue with the Hard Drive.

3] Check if copy speed is slow with the same device being used on other systems as well.

Thereafter, proceed with the following solutions: